I told Dave yesterday I wanted to go for a ride. At first, I thought we were going on a trek that friend Judy told us about.

Little did I know that Dave had no such plan. Instead we headed off in the direction of Telluride, but I had no clue yet where we were going.

The scenery before me as soon as we got clear of Dolores was a picture postcard around every bend of the road. My jaw stayed dropped for miles. How do I describe the beauty?

Imagine green as far as you can see. Pine trees in rows and rows climbing up as far as the tops of the mountains mixed with other trees, but you couldn’t really tell. It was every species of pines mixed with the occasional boulders in some places and others solid trees.

Around the next corner the sandstone colors gave way to red rock and dirt like the Mississippi dirt I remember so well. Before long the falling rock danger gave way to felled trees here and there and the mountains grew taller. The next thing I knew we were in Rico.

Small town, almost gone really. There was what remained of an old mine, marked by the rusty remnants and a few crumbling buildings. We stopped for gas and Dave pointed out hordes of hummingbirds fighting over two feeders near the doors of the gas station. I got out and tried to capture them.

He asked me then, if I wanted to turn around or go on, and seeing how close we were to Telluride, I agreed we should just go. The terrain was changing along with the weather. We were climbing and the rain was starting to come down. Dave was apprehensive but bless his heart, he kept pushing on.

Through construction zones, rain, and ever higher altitude, we finally broke through to see the beautiful town of Telluride stretched out before us. “You want to see how the rich people live?” he asked me. I looked to my left as we passed the fancy houses in the outskirts of the bustling town.

Pulling into town the beautiful mountains were divided in the center by a waterfall and on the right I saw the ski runs and gondolas carrying people across the mountain range.

The down itself was cram-packed with chalets, shops, and restaurants. The clouds were approaching casting a fine mist down as we looked for a place to park. We walked down one street and turned back because he wasn’t sure that we weren’t supposed to pay to park. We walked down a different street and I ducked into a clothing shop while he went back to find a kiosk to pay.

He never did, so we made our visit quick. We shopped in a different store, the one I was in was for someone who had more money than sense. I picked up a soft as butter sweater and checked the tag. $198! A pair of shoes, $258!

Dave bought me a T-shirt that I never would have in a different shop along with a sticker to commemorate our trip. Both said Telluride on them. The tee was $32! Its very soft though, I can’t wait to wear it.

We ducked out of the rain to this wonderful bakery -I forget the name, unfortunately -and waited an obscene amount of time for a slice of pizza. It was so busy and they had one cashier and some entitled arse at the till. It was a one-stop-shop for breakfast or lunch -not sure about dinner. There was donuts to pasta and everything in between.

Then there were the flowers. Omg, I have never seen so many beautiful flowers all over town. In the center streets, hanging from shops in overflowing cascades of color. Traffic was so heavy I couldn’t snap all I wanted, therefore I didn’t get the most colorful in my photos. Even the mountains were covered in various places by flowers and some kind of plants that were yellow and made me think they were flowers.

As we drove home, the clouds covered the opposing mountain tops, even dipping into the valley.

Now for the sad part. My pictures haven’t downloaded, and I had a whole gallery ready.

So since I can’t, I’ll share one more new thing we did together. Saturday night, we went to the Ciderworks and saw this great folk music duo, Jamie and the Dreamers. Funny thing is, there is no Jamie. Its a combo of the couple’s names. He’s Jodie and she is Amy. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I enjoyed it immensely and whats more, so did Dave!

I’d never had real cider, only the bottled hard ciders. So I tried one made with apples and apricots and it was ok, but believe this or don’t, I liked the one Dave was drinking better. His was apple cider that was aged in bourbon barrels. I hate bourbon!

We got a little tipsy, so we left during the second set. Probably a good thing since our mouths were so dry the next morning we were sucking down the water. 🤣

I’ll post the pictures asap. I’m off to finish tonight’s entertainment, Rushmore. More on what we are watching in a future post. Stay tuned!