Today started out on a sad note for us. One of the couples that we have been working with headed home to Texas today. Jane was the manager of the cafe and among numerous other things was up at 4am five days a week to get everything ready for campers coming in for breakfast, Freddie supervised the young kids who did the heavy outside work and was responsible for keeping them in line - a big task and Harley, their chocolate lab guarded their toy hauler. Since there are so few of us working, we did become like a little "family", so it was difficult to see the first of the group leave.We will miss them both and hope that they have a save trip home.We are still anticipating leaving the middle of September. The truck needs to be emission tested before the end of the month for new plates - not what we had planned originally! We decided to take a short road trip today to Ouray, north of Silverton. It is called the "Switzerland of Colorado because of the immense mountain ranges. The road to Silverton is a nail biter because of the drop offs, however the road from Silverton to Ouray is a nail biter down to the quick!!!Oh my gosh, the mountains are phenomenal but the roads are narrow and there are no guardrails. Not exactly the best experience for someone like me - a tad afraid of heights - and always on the outside. Of course, Bob suggested that I drive and I shot that down in a heart beat. It would be difficult to drive with my eyes closed! Today, of course, they were resurfacing the road and redirecting all traffic to the "drop off side" - just my luck. Bob was a trooper and as calm as could be as I was having a nervous break down! All kidding aside, I can understand why John Denver loved the Rockies; they are breath taking. I am going to find it difficult to leave. We were amazed to still see snow on some of the higher peaks. This is August for heavens sakes. We made it to Ouray in one piece and it is nestled at the bottom of mountains on all sides. We took Dharma for a walk on main street and headed back to the truck on a side street. We were sitting having a quick lunch and 2 deer came walking down the street, into a yard and were having a quick lunch munching on apples in a tree. When they finished they walked right past the truck and went on their way. It was so cool. We drove around Ouray for a little while and then headed back. We stopped at Ice Park, a part of Box Canyon. We left Dharma in the truck and walked up this path to a spectacular view of this deep gorge with waterfalls and cascading water. They had metal observation platforms in various spots so that you could look down into the gorge. It was a little unnerving until you got use to it, then it was amazing to be able to look down into the narrow crevice and see this rushing water. This was just on the outskirts of Ouray.
On the way back "home", we stopped at Molas Lake to check it out for fishing. It is another public lake that has a daily fee of $7.00. It looks like an area where we can take Dharma. We are hoping to head back there tomorrow morning to do some early morning fishing. I can't leave this state without catching at least one more fish! We may also do a little gold panning at Lime Creek . Bob has been wanting to gold pan since we got here and Alec, one of the kids working at the resort this summer, told Bob that he and his grandfather use to go there gold panning. We'll see what kind of luck we have, hopefully better than fishing!