Saturday, July 16, 2011

Which Way To Ouray?

First of all, we are excited that Greg, Kate, and Zachary have joined us for a few days here in Durango.  Andrew and Lauren were glad to see Zachary and of course, I had to get their

DSC_0574

Vacation 2011 picture taken as soon as possible.

So, now for today's adventure.  We headed north to Ouray, by way of Silverton. But, oh my, by the time we reached Red Mountain Pass, I was beginning to wonder

Ouray 2011

which way to Ouray.

  There are 155 curves from the pass into Ouray.  The shops in town sell shirts to prove it!

Finally, after that last curve, we found ourselves in downtown Ouray.  Since this was our first time to be here, we found the Visitor Center and after browsing through all the brochures, we found as couple of fun activities.

First, the kids wanted to go to the

DSC_0632

Old Mine and take a train ride.  We purchased our tickets and had time for lunch at the outdoor cafe there on the premises.  Soon, our tour would start, but, before we could

 DSC_0640

board our train, we were issued these

DSC_0667

great outfits.

Once, everyone was loaded onto the mine train, we

DSC_0644

headed into the old mine.  After we traveled some 1850 feet into the mine,

DSC_0649

we unloaded.  Our lead miner then told us all about mining, not only in this mine, but others throughout the state of Colorado.

Afterwards, both

DSC_0656

Zachary and

DSC_0658

Lauren got to try their hand at mining.

I guess they didn't care for mining, because, once, we were out of the mine, they decided they would like to try

DSC_0691

panning for gold.  They worked pretty hard at it and finally got a little help

DSC_0704

from Mom, Dad, and

DSC_0701

Poppa.

When all was said and done, they decided they really didn't want either to be their jobs, but, were pretty proud of their

DSC_0713

little bottles of gold.

Next, we were off to Box Canyon.  We made our way

DSC_0736

up to the top to catch

DSC_0738

this view of the canyon and the

DSC_0741

falls.  Then, we made our way

DSC_0761

down, down, down to catch this view of the the falls.  And, to see

DSC_0763

just where we came from high above the canyon floor.

Before leaving, we had to do just a little

DSC_0780

shopping on the streets of the historic downtown area.

We really enjoyed our day in and around Ouray.  But, then it was finally time for us to head back to Durango by way of those 155 curves in the road...and now, you too, know...which way to Ouray!

4 comments:

  1. We have never been to Ouray and looks like we missed something special... hopefully next time we are out there we'll get to visit it!
    Have fun with the kids
    Travel safe
    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are you going to make it to the Pikes Peak region? We sure would like to see you guys again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The mine tour looks neat! We missed that on our trip to the area earlier this year. Enjoy your family vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The hot pools are great in Ouray. Too bad you didn't get to experience them. I love Ouray just for those pools.

    ReplyDelete