Day 14: Sat, 6/25: Durango, CO

Day 14:  Saturday, 6/25: Durango, Co:  Biking the paved bike path along the Animas River and BMX course

We parked at Santa Rita Park in Durango and then rode our bikes south along the beautiful Animas River on the paved bike trail.  The views were great of the valley walls and the river.   After going about a mile, we came across a large free BMX bike park right next to the bike path. There were huge berms, jumps, bumps, etc.  All four of us had so much fun for about 1.5 hours riding this dirt track.   We would try to jump and race each other.  This was the highlight of our day.  We were hot and exhausted after hard riding at 6500 feet above sea level.  We then rode north to the kayak park that is on the river and enjoyed watching the white water rafts, stand up paddleboarders and surfers all take their turns on the rapids.  It was really fun sitting by the pretty river watching all the local adventurers play in the 40 degree rapids.   We wish we had a river near our house to play in—the LA River just doesn’t quite cut it!  After lunch in the campground, we played tetherball and horseshoes until it started raining hard.  Andrea may have had the worst horseshoe toss ever.  Somehow the horseshoe got stuck in her hand so when she threw it, it went almost straight up in the air.  We all laughed—including some other campers who were watching nearby--because it didn’t even go half way to the post she was aiming for (it went higher than it went horizontally J).  Later, we cooked dinner and played Spades again.  It was the mellowest of our days so far but a lot of fun in the BMX park and along the river.

Add caption

Mom getting some air racing Sarah after coming out of the big berm and the 3rd jump.  Gnarly!

The race is on!!!

Day 13: Fri, 6/24: Ridgway, “Million Dollar Highway,” Silverton, Molas Lake, Durango

Day 13:  Friday, 6/24:  Mountain Bike Ridgway, Drive “Million Dollar Highway” through Ouray, Silverton, lunch at Molas Lake, to Durango

We woke up and while cooking breakfast, a beautiful deer walked through our campsite right by us.  What a great way to end our time in the Ridgway campground.  We then drove to the Dennis Weaver Park (Ridgway) along the Uncompaghre River and did the beginner 3.2 mile mountain bike trail.  It was a narrow singletrack with wonderful views of the snowcapped Rockies in the distance and the river below us.  After the ride, we then drove the RV (towing our car) along the spectacular “Million Dollar Highway” through Ouray to Molas Lake.  This lake is over 10,000 feet high in the Rockies. We stopped and ate lunch here overlooking the beautiful lake surrounded by high peaks.  It started raining again so we continued driving through Silverton and on to the Alpen Rose campground in Durango.  This drive is wonderful.  In camp, we rode our bikes for about an hour, ran errands in town, and then played the card game Spades after dinner.  

Mountain biking Dennis Weaver Park near Ridgway, CO with the Rockies in the background

Mountain biking before the storm rolls in.

Day 12: Thurs, 6/23: Ridgeway, Ouray

Gorgeous campsite with view of mountains, ponds, and river.  We slept to sound of river at night!

Day 12:  Thursday, 6/23: Fishing at Ridgeway campground and driving to Ouray for the day

The four of us went fishing in the ponds just below our campsite right after breakfast.   There was a beautiful blue heron who would “honk” like a goose and fly in low and then stalk fish.  We watched him catch and eat one only about 30 feet from us!  Predation at its finest J.   We had a lot of fun.

After lunch, we drove up to Ouray, dubbed “The Switzerland of the United States.”  What a cute town at over 9000 feet in a beautiful setting surrounded by alpine peaks!  It like a combination of the tall, jagged Swiss Alps and the impressive red rock of the southwest US.  We drove past the town to Crystal Lake along the “million dollar highway.”  Wow, that road is beautiful!  The weather was alternating between pouring rain and hail with thunder/lightening to partly cloudy/sunny skies.  After walking by the lake and enjoying the gorgeous peaks and the reflections in the lake, we headed back to Ouray, and ate afternoon treats—moose tracks ice cream, an oreo shake,  and a lemon cupcake.  We saw a few deer nearby on the way back to our campground. 

In the mid-afternoon, we all fished again but this time to catch them for dinner.  Sarah, Ryan and Andrea all caught a fish just before a lightening storm came rolling in!  It was scary with lightening and then only a 1 second delay between the loud cracking thunder.  Sarah, Andrea and Ryan hustled back to the RV to escape the lightening while Sam took the fish to the cleaning station the other way.  Andrea and the kids watched the lightening from inside the RV while Sam cowered in the men’s bathroom like a sissy waiting for the storm to go further away before cleaning the fish at the outdoor station.  We then fried the trout we caught.  They were so good, even Ryan liked them J.

After dinner, we saw bunnies, blue birds, magpies, and a deer in the campground.   Sarah and Mom walked over to the deer and got to within about 20 feet of it.  She was beautiful.  We saw the heron catch and eat another fish.  Then Sam took Sarah and Ryan fishing again as it was getting dark while Andrea got some relaxing time to herself in camp. They each caught and released 3 fish (9 total).  Sam and Sarah were fishing with their fly-fishing rods and flies and a few of the low flying bats were going after them.  We got back to the RV after 930 pm and went to bed.  It was a fun day.

Giant Blue Heron stalking trout near Ryan!  Awesome predation--we watched him catch a fish from here!

Ryan catching us a 10 inch trout for dinner!  He caught 4 fish today!

Sarah casting with the heron on log right in front of her hands in picture.  

I love this picture.  The kids were cold at Crystal lake--over 10,000 feet high in the Rockies.

Ouray, CO

"The Switzertland of America."  This picture doesn't do it justice.  We took this picture out the window driving by without a wide-angle lens.  Nice shot of the sign Sarah while we were driving by!!!

Southwest US (red rock 1/3 of the way in from left) meet the Swiss Alps???

Day 11: Wed, 6/22: Ridgeway, CO

Day 11:  Wednesday, 6/22:  Ridgeway – White Water Rafting on the Uncompahgre River

We got up early and headed to Rigs shop to go white water rafting (class II and III).  The river was fast-flowing and very cold, about 38 degrees? . This was the first river we’ve rafted on which is not controlled by a dam.  Rather than stretches of calm, slow-moving water followed by thrilling rapids, this river was never calm and slow.  It was continuously fun and challenging, and we did a lot of paddling, as instructed by our guide.  We had a lot of fun and we all got pretty wet, which was perfect on this hot day.

In the afternoon, we drove the motorhome to our next campground, Pa Co Chu Puk campground (still in Ridgway State Park), which has a river and 2 ponds stocked with trout.  In the evening, Andrea and the kids watched a movie in the motorhome while Sam went fly-fishing in the ponds and caught 8 fish!  The lesson he and Sarah took paid off as he was able to cast, set the hook, net them and set them free (catch and release).  It was awesome!  Finally, he found a great fishing spot and he started making plans for fishing with the family the next morning.

Sarah ready to whitewater raft the class II and III San Miguel River near Telluride/Ridgway, CO

We had to constantly paddle this class II and III river.  It was a working boat.

We loved the views, including the Red Rock canyon we went through.