This is a different kind of travelogue, since I wasn't the one doing the traveling. Rather, my son Randy, my DIL Amy, and those two beautiful grand-daughters Ashley and Lauren, came to visit me from 12/31/18 until 1/6/19. Since they enjoy snow and cold weather activities, it was good that a system came through just in time for their arrival. Here was the view from my second story window onto the street out front, after several inches had fallen.
Lauren was quick to seize the opportunity and build a snowman on the driveway, and the rest of the gang showed up to help with the finishing touches. For some reason, Lauren named him "Arv".
After touring around Montrose and doing some shopping on New Year's Day, we headed out on Jan. 2 to visit Crested Butte, nearly 100 miles away. We saw some pretty scenes along the way, snow covered mountains and canyons, but didn't take time for photos. One exception was when we saw the steam rising dramatically from Blue mesa Reservoir.
Following a quick stop in Gunnison for coffee and a brief look around, we drove the remaining distance, stopping first in Mount Crested Butte, the ski resort next door to the old mining town. We watched a few cross country skiers start out on the trail, but some of us decided that was too much work. So, we admired the scenery and drove around some of the residential areas. Too bad the back roads I enjoy in the summer are closed by deep snow in the winter.
Amy found a nice place for lunch in downtown Crested Butte, after which we walked the streets admiring the 1870s's architecture and checking out the shops and galleries. The town may look Victorian, but the prices are completely up-to-date.
Another day was spent hanging out around Montrose, including a visit to Menoken thoroughbred farm, where Lauren worked in the summer of 2017. Everyone enjoyed meeting Linda, the owner, and walking to different pastures to see some of this year's horses. Of course, the beautiful saddle horses, Monte and Moki, were crowd favorites.
A trip to the nearby Museum of The Mountain West was very interesting. This is a private enterprise primarily put together by one man who is passionate about collecting artifacts from the old West. His life-long pursuit is displayed in a number of buildings that appear to be a complete town. He estimates there are roughly 500,000 items in his collection, but we didn't have time to see all of them. Tour guides are local volunteers, mostly seniors who have actually lived through the periods represented here.
No visit to Montrose would be complete without going to Dead Man's Hill, where locals gather to enjoy sledding. Using metal discs and inner tubes, our gang showed that Floridians can sled with the best of them. Of course, the competition ranged from five to ten years old.
I'll take a break here and resume later with adventures in snowmobiling.
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