After a great stay with the Chansky's, it's time for us to head on down the highway again. Apparently Sophia is an early riser (to the chagrin of her folks), and even after not going to bed until close to midnight, the kids were up by like 6AM - so by the time B and I got in to the house close to nine, the had already been up for hours. Good bye's all around. We enjoyed the stay and the area so much that we will definitely be coming back regularly. We figure that Colorado will replace Monterey Bay area for a while in our "periodic pilgrimage" so will come back at least next summer, and perhaps before, depending on the faites, etc.
When the reality that we didn't make any reservations for the impending Memorial Day Weekend struck us, we decided to dynamically change our plans a bit, and instead of heading for Sedona, we've decided to do "the road less traveled" sorta thing and toodle about. Since yesterdays shwarma sandwich quest was a failure, we decided to try again for lunch on our way out of town. Found a parking place for the RV after some interesting manuvers, and I hopped out and ordered the meal to go. This time they had the bread, but not the deserts - we ordered Baklava instead. Interestingly, as we were waiting for the food, the shop owner asked if I was strong, and ended up recruiting me to help lift and haul a freezer out of his truck into the back of the restaurant. In return, we got a size upgrade on the tea, and an extra baklava. The whole thing was SO yummy. If you go to Manatu Springs, you must eat at "City of Jerusalem" which is on the main drag.
Looked at the map, and decided to take highway 24, which is a small highway that runs through Manatu Springs and west. We were rewarded with some of the most lovely vistas we have had driving. The weather danced from sunny to rainy, and finally to a full snow storm as we crossed into the higher mountains. Delilah slept for like 4 hours...
By the time we hit the Continental Divide, there were inches of snow, snow plows running, and trucks pulling over. We hopped out for just a few minutes of snow fun, and then jumped back in for more beautiful drive down the other side.
Barbara has taken on several significant roles on the road trip beyond her usual responsibilities - these include stewardess ("Would you like some water, or a snack?"), chief navigator, and tour guide/chief researcher. She had been doing some pre-reading and found a stretch of highway on the way to Mesa Verde and Four Corners that was supposed to be some of the most remarkably beautiful in the country, or even the world - a stretch of highway leading into a little town called Ouray. A fabulous trip indeed.
Ouray is a little known gem - called the Swiss Alps of the Americas for good reason. They have natural hot springs here, and we decided to stay in a hotel with a spring water jacuzzi (natural hot springs feed the pool) and pools, as well as tubs, and this hotel actually has a separate little room with bunk beds for Delilah! A great place (we'll take pictures tomorrow of the hotel, since we took so many pictures today along the way, the memory on the camera is full). A great hotel, with a real Alpine Charm in what looks to be a really fun town. To top it off, they have tons of travel literature for B to digest, free Spiced Chai and other teas and beverages, and a hot breakfast included!
More tomorrow as we explore, but I suspect we might have to stay another night here!
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