Colorado Again

We had a week free to travel and Matthew wanted to go to the  Colorado house. Fortunately I am mostly caught up on my long-arming for the moment and Phoenix has a heat index warning this week so a great time to head for the "hills"!
As we left Phx there was a big accident on I-17 that held us up a good half hour. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I did get a couple of pics of the massive two storey high boulder that crashed down onto the road a couple of weeks ago, ten miles west of the town of Dolores. DH was returning to Phx the following day and had to detour through Utah.

 This doesn't begin to describe the immensity but the best I could do as we drove by. 

 More debris, there were several piles like this it must have been very lucky no passing car got hit, no one would have survived. There is still only one lane open for traffic and will be so for some time.

Matthew was a great passenger, no complaining, just a happy child.

We got into Ridgway in time to get pizza at Colorado Boy Brewery then on up the mountain to the house.

 First thing next morning "what are we going to do?" So off for a bit of exercise, a nice hike around the area.

Nova is loving it, such an intrepid little explorer, though she needs a good brushing after. 

 That's Mt.Sneffels in the background, DH and Matthew's Daddy have both climbed it's 14,150 ft.

 The memorial tree, a Noble Fir, behind our house, for his Uncle Matt.

  In the afternoon we three [well four counting Nova] took another little hike down below the house. It's a bit steep, I think a thirty degree slope, so careful going down and a little huffing coming back up! Makes me glad I do cardio every day at the gym!

 You can just see the house to the right of the nearest tree

It's cool here at 9,000 ft elevation, 34 degrees in the morning and mostly 60's during the day.

We took a drive into Ouray, about thirty minutes away, to allow the boy to enjoy the Hot Springs, that's him and GF walking on the other side of one of the pools! I chose to stroll up the town with Nova rather than swim. The Hot Springs is a great place though, with the addition of two big slides for the more daring alongside the four pools, each with a different level of heat. One is a lap pool for serious swimmers.

A visit to Ouray would not be complete without stopping in at Mouse's Chocolates for a treat. All hand made in the store, unending gourmet choices of chocolates and baked sweets plus wonderful beverages including a hot caramel apple cider! Make sure you try a "Scrap Cookie", oh my!

Ouray is a small town with old world charm

 You can see a waterfall behind the Town hall.

 Ouray was established in the 1800's as a mining town and is surrounded by very tall mountains!  It's very popular for summer vacations but the season has barely begun, so as you can see there are not too many visitors yet.