2013 Ouray Trip - Part IX - Great Sand Dunes

We didn't do much our last day since we had to drive from Southwestern Colorado to Northeastern Colorado and we knew it would take all day.

We did decide to take a little side trip to visit the Great Sand Dunes.  Eventhough we had been there several times in the past, we decided to stop and see them again in case we never make it down there again.

We stopped at Coney Island for dinner.  I forgot to take a picture of the cute exterior (it's shaped like a Hot Dog), but here is the interior...

2013 Ouray Trip - Part VIII - Mesa Verde

On Sunday, we got up quite early and headed to Mesa Verde, which isn't far from Durango.  It had rained the night before and this morning was a little damp and foggy.

Driving to Mesa Verde

We were very excited to go to Mesa Verde National Park.  My husband hadn't been there for about 20 years and I hadn't been there for about 10 years.  (My youngest daughter and I visited Mesa Verde in September 2011 while my husband had business in Durango).  The last time our family had been there, we weren't able to go to Balcony House because the wait was too long.  Now they have a system where visitors buy tickets to tour Balcony House and Cliff Palace, so we stopped and bought tickets on the way in.  Our tour of Balcony House was at noon and our tour of Cliff Palace was at 2 p.m.

 30 foot Ladder to Enter Balcony House

View of Ladder from Balcony House

 Kiva at Balcony House

View of Cliff Palace

We started at the arrow & walked down into Cliff Palace

Another view of Cliff Palace

We also drove around the park and took several self-guided tours, such as Spruce Tree House where you can enter an underground Kiva, Sun Temple, Pit Houses, and others.  We were fortunate that it didn't start raining hard until mid afternoon.  That evening we stayed inside Mesa Verde National Park at the Far View Lodge.

One of the best things about staying at the Far View Lodge was that the charge was only $125 and then we got coupons worth $50 to use at the Restaurants and Gift Shops in the Park.  We each enjoyed out own "Create your own Pizza and Salad" for dinner (a $30 value which we got free).

2013 Ouray Trip - Part VII - Durango

On Saturday morning, we left Ouray and headed to Durango.  We had reservations to stay at the Strater Hotel and in the evening we had reservations to go to the Bar D Chuckwagon for an evening of yummy food and wholesome entertainment.

We had stayed in the Strater Hotel on our Honeymoon 40 years ago, but I wasn't impressed.  This time I was really impressed.  The owners have been collecting Victorian furniture for years, so every room is decorated very nicely and although the rooms are small by today's standards, they are suitable.

 The Strater Hotel

 The Strater Hotel Lobby

Our Room

Another View of our Room

Bar D Wranglers (the entertainment after our wonderful BBQ dinner)

2013 Ouray Trip - Part VI - Owl Creek Pass

On Friday, we decided to take it easy a little bit.  We had been getting up quite early every morning so that we were on the road by 8:00 a.m. most mornings, so we needed a little respite.  So, we didn't get up quite as early and just went up Owl Creek Pass near Ridgeway which wasn't really a jeep trail, but just a nice leisurely drive.  We stopped here in the lovely meadow which my husband is convinced is the place they filmed part of the 1969 John Wayne movie called "True Grit".  I know they did film some of the movie in this area, but I don't know if this was the place.

 Hot Air Balloon on the way to Owl Creek Pass

 Chimney Rock on Owl Creek Pass

Meadow where scene from True Grit may have been filmed

Then we went back to Ouray to have lunch at the Beaumont Grill at the Beaumont Hotel.  My husband's mother offered to pay for the lunch because she thought I would enjoy it.  What I really enjoyed was the tour of the Beaumont Hotel that we took at 2 p.m.  The hotel had been abandoned from 1967 until 1998 & then was purchased and renovated to it's original splendor.

2013 Ouray Trip - Day V - Engineer Pass

On Thursday, we took our very favorite Jeep Trail.  It was the first Jeep trail I was ever on when we rode in a tour Jeep on out Honeymoon 40 years ago.  It is so beautiful, but a little chilly at the summit (since it was over 12,000 feet).

Engineer Pass

When we returned to Ouray, we decided we would like a rather special dinner.  I really felt like spaghetti, so we went to a cute little restaurant in the basement of the St. Elmo Hotel called Bon Ton.  We didn't realize it was a very fancy-schmancy restaurant until we got there.  The cheapest thing on the menu was spaghetti, but that what we went there for so we had a nice little spaghetti dinner.  Of course, the server acted like we were a poor little old couple who couldn't afford a more expensive dinner...

Bon Ton Restaurant

2013 Ouray Trip - Day IV - Ophir Pass

On Wednesday, we took one of my favorite passes called Ophir.  It starts out green and beautiful, but at the top it is extremely rocky.  Almost every time we go over the pass, there is a friendly little marmot at the summit waiting for people to drop snacks for him to eat.  We didn't see him this year.

Most days on the trails, we take along a cooler and have sandwiches for lunch, but today we were in Telluride at lunch time, so we did a little shopping and stopped for lunch at Brown Dog Pizza.

 Brown Dog Pizza (from balcony)

Since we had a very yummy pizza for lunch, we shared a Cobb Salad for dinner at the Gold Belt Restaurant in Ouray for dinner.

2013 Ouray Trip - Day III - Corkscrew Gulch

On Tuesday, we  drove over Corkscrew Gulch, Hurrican Pass, Califoria Pass, stopped at Animas Forks to snap a few pictures and at Animas Forks.

 Corkscrew Gulch

Hurricane Pass

 California Pass

Walsh Mansion at Animas Forks

We ate dinner at the BBQ place where we ate 2 years ago.  It's called "Thee Pits, Again" and has some connection with Guy Fieri - I don't quite understand the name & I didn't take a picture this year, but their BBQ Brisket is delicious and their potato salad and baked are great, too.