I have just returned from the absolute best vacation that I have ever been on. I went to Telluride, CO for 6 days of fun with my best friend, his wife and an Aussie that was staying with them for a bit while on walkabout.
I got there Sunday at around 6pm. It only took 6 hours to get there from here going west to Grand Junction and then south to Telluride (which is located in the southwest part of the state, btw). Awesome view coming into town - it's situated in a valley.
That night I met up with them at the Excelsior (a pub and restaurant) and had a great dinner and a few beers. It turns out that if you're not used to being at 9,000 feet, you should probably skip alcohol and a hot-tub on the first night. I mostly drank water during the day after that.
For three of the five weekdays, we went off-roading in his Jeep Liberty. It was awesome. We went up to the tops of both Imogene and Engineer's Pass (both approximately 13,000 feet - Imogene is slightly higher). We all got lots of great photos from the top, as well as lots of nature/waterfall shots. There's also a great waterfall at the east end of Telluride itself. Russell (the Aussie) was in love with the old mining equipment that was still around and took lots of pictures of that.
Tuesday was mountain biking day - lots of fun, especially when I caught my best friend wiping out on video (he wasn't hurt). I think all of us got some road-rash. I wimped out a little early because my ass and hands were so damn sore. The seat was hard and, when you're going downhill at the angle we were going, you're gripping the brakes almost contantly, hence the sore hands.
Friday was town day, and we shopped up and down the main street of Telluride, then hung out at the one of the pubs in Mountain Village (where our rented condo was) and turned in early so we could check out early. The only bad thing that happened was on Thursday evening, when we blew *two* tires in the span of 10 minutes. Fortunately, we were already close to home and the tires had enough air pressure to get to the station and to the repair shop the next day.
On the drive back today I decided to take the scenic route, taking 50 East past Gunnison, and then Northeast past Fairplay. Much, much more scenice drive and, surprisingly, only took about 20 minutes longer to get home.
My task this week is to record the video tape to CD and VHS and send out copies to my friends. :)
PS - 48 mpg from Denver to Telluride. 57 mpg from Telluride back to Denver. :)
