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    CO -- Ouray

 

They call themselves the "Switzerland of America."  I was afraid it would be overdone, but this was one of the best cities we visited.  Be aware of the seasons, as much of the town closes during the winter, and the pass is subject to close during storms.

 

Located between Ridgway and Silverado, they are extremely convenient to most of the sites along the  San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway, as well as home to a great motel (Hot Springs Inn) and the Box Caņon Falls Park.  They have quite a few restaurants, as well as 2 gas stations, but gas was about 10 cents cheaper in Ridgway to the north.

 

Box Caņon Falls Park is a "must-see," but try to do it when it isn't raining, as some of the area is exposed to the elements.

 

Hot Springs Inn ranks #1 on the list of the places we stayed, and was a highlight of our trip.  You'll have to stay there and experience their hospitality to understand why.

 

Ouray is on the north end of the most treacherous part of the Million Dollar Highway, and the pass is absolutely beautiful.  It's also very narrow.

 

Spend a half or full day with Colorado West Scenic Jeep Tours.  You can rent a Jeep and follow their maps, or take a guided tour.  We took the guided tour, as it was our first trip.  Hal was our driver, and we recommend you ask for Hal if you take a guided tour -- he was great.  There are port-o-lets on the mountain.

 

Elkhorn Cabins:  A fantastic idea, executed very poorly.  Their website calls them the "leader in luxury-mountain living."  I'd call them the "leader in exaggeration."  So deceptive, they rate their own page in our site.

 

Hot Springs Park:  A large pool, separated into 3 sections (temperatures).  The heat comes from the natural hot springs and is piped in to each section to keep the temperature as desired.  There is no sulphur in their water, unlike most hot springs, so it doesn't stink and you don't have to discard your swimsuit when you're done.  This was very relaxing.

 

 

Restaurants:

 

Buen Tiempo -- Mexican, dollar bills stuck to ceiling make for an interesting decor.  Food was okay, their "world-famous" margaritas may be world-famous, but if they are, it's for tasting like dishwater.  Food was okay, service was superb.

 

Mouse's Chocolates -- Desserts;  don't miss it.  Not a restaurant, but a place that sells chocolates.  They accept Amex.

 

Outlaw -- Steaks, one of the few places that accept Amex.  The food was good, but not as impressive as we'd been led to believe.  My prime rib had a lot of fat;  it didn't seem like a "restaurant cut."  Expensive, even for a tourist town.  The service was very good, but our waitress left shortly after leaving our check, before we left our table.  We left her a 25% tip, but I might not have if I'd known when I wanted another refill on my drink that she had apparently gone home.

 

 

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PICTURES

(Some may have been taken while moving, or in dark places, so please pardon them being a little blurry.)

Click on thumbnails to view full-size picture.

 

 

Around Town

 

Left -- a deer taking a stroll across one of the streets in Ouray.

 

Below -- Ouray is in a valley, surrounded by majestic peaks.  It's one of the most beautiful towns we've visited.

     

 

 

Box Caņon Falls Park

Walkway into Caņon

Looking down from walkway

From river bed to outside;  notice old mining equipment

The amazing thing is not the waterfall, but the scenery of the cavern and the rocks as you hear the tremendous roar of the almost-hidden waterfall.  The beauty of the rocks and the cavern will absolutely astound you.  We thought it was a great deal for only $4.

Looking back outside

The waterfall

 

Looking up

Bottom of waterfall

   

     

 

     

Looking outside;  note the beauty of the rock and the old mining equipment in (L) & (R)

Looking up from the river floor toward the "entrance" level.  It was several flights down to the river.

Stairs (shown) and are trail required to get to "top" bridge (R);  "center" is looking back down from the "intermediate" area.  Warning:  the upper trail is rocky and muddy, and there are no handrails.  We did not go all the way, as we considered it too dangerous during the rain.

 

 

Hot Springs Inn

 

 

 

I can't say enough about how nice the folks were at the Hot Springs Inn.  They made sure we enjoyed our stay, which was easy considering the Texas-sized room and the almost-Texas flag and Yellow Roses on the wall.  You don't have to be a Texan to stay here, but if you are, you won't be treated like a "Texas Turkey."

 

The clean, spacious rooms have 2 king sized beds with wonderful mattresses, a large flat-screen TV, a ceiling fan that really blows air, and a romantic faux fireplace that my wife really liked.  The river view from our private back porch (top left and right) was breath-taking.  They suggest leaving your window open to hear the river, but we never did.

 

This is one of the few motels where the designer had the sense to put the sink outside the commode/shower area, preventing the mirror from being steamed over and cutting our dressing time in half.

 

Noteworthy:  The streets in Ouray are a rock & dirt combination which the locals call "paved;"  we called it "dirty."  Hot Springs Inn was on the only paved street in town -- US 550 -- but there were 2 more paved streets in 2012.  Hot Springs Inn has an asphalt parking lot, which is very unusual.  Tell them the Awesome Webmaster sent you.  If you run into Pam, tell her we'll see her again soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yankee Boy Basin

It's a long way down    

    The golden Aspen trees

    Us -- next to a large drop-off

Old mining camp Click on this picture ... there's a cabin on that mountain! The "Coors" waterfalls, although the right one was barely running.  This waterfall was "added" to the mountain backdrop in Golden, CO to create the popular logo.

    Ask for Hal

     

Indiana Jones? Outside of mine -- locked entrance This is what it looks like when you put the camera through the bars and take a flash picture.  You still can't see very well, so click and see what happens when you add even more light via editing.

 

 

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