Colorado Day 4: San Juan Skyway, part 1

 After a fabulous morning at Black Canyon of the Gunnison and lunch at the Rib House in Montrose, we headed south on 550, to Ridgeway, CO, and the beginning of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. At first it was a nice highway in a wide valley with steep mountains on either side. Ridgeway is another of the old mining towns that are typical in the area whose 19th-century Main Street has been preserved along with a lot of delightful old houses.

But soon the valley narrowed and the road began to climb. This is the major route from Ridgeway to Durango, but it isn't fast. It IS awesome.

The town of Ouray is another of those mining towns turned tourist center. We didn't stop on Main Street for a picture, but there was a look out at the top.

We climbed over three separate 10,000+-foot passes.

It the peaks had not clouded over we would have been blinded by the glorious aspens, and I would have been begging Steve to stop for more pictures. Believe it or not these are all I took in the afternoon. 

We arrived in Cortez a little before 4:30. I'm beat. Ready for a quiet evening. Steve is watching the Lynx basketball and I'm getting ready to read my book. 

Tomorrow is the goal of our journey--Mesa Verde.

Part 2 of the Snn Juan Skyway won't be until Wednesday. Hard to believe it will be as spectacular as this afternoon.

Today's route:

Colorado Day 4: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Almighty and everlasting Father, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, I worship you...over and over today as we explore your incredible creation.

I had never heard of this park before we started planning this trip. Wow! I guess you could figure if it is a National Park it's gonna be good. (Our senior cards that get us in free were the best money we ever spent.) When we first arrived, the sun was just rising and we could see NOTHING of the canyon. So we decided to drive to the far end and work our way back.

We loved the twisted Utah junipers.

Steve not only agreed to, but he SUGGESTED, stopping at every overlook. They all involved a short, or not-so-short, walk. We realized that if we had Claudia waiting in the car, it would not have worked because you could never see much of anything from the parking lot. 

But oh! from the end of the path!!! This overlook was called "Dragon Point."

So many deep black crevasses.

DO NOT drop your phone.

Every overlook was unique, and I was grateful that Steve agreed to so many stops.

After exploring the overlook at the Visitor Center, Steve drove to the last overlook and I walked the short Rim Trail. The view was different from anything we had seen.

We could have spent all day exploring the South Rim, but we still had the San Juan Skyway ahead of us for the afternoon. I'll put that in a separate post.

Colorado et al: Days 1-3: Top of the Rockies

In the fall of 2022 we made our last road trip west with Steve's mom Claudia. (She passed away quietly at home in February of 2024 at age 98.) On that trip we considered going to Mesa Verde National Park but discovered we were too late in the season to actually explore the pueblos. So we put it off for another trip--this one!

We began on Thursday, Sept 26, with a Minnesota Orchestra coffee concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. A couple wonderful Ravel pieces and a couple contemporary pieces we were less enthusiastic about. Another woman was sitting next to us in what used to be Mom's seat. She was sweet, and we chatted a bit. Her response to the most contemporary piece was "I can't imagine spending the time needed to practice something like that!"

From the concert, we headed to Waseca for a late lunch with friends and then on to Des Moines, continuing to Denver on Friday. Flat prairie. No pictures. But it WAS a beautiful day. Denver is NOT in the mountains, but by the time we reached the edge of the city, faint lines of blue mountains showed through the haze to the west.

This morning we took off a little after 7, headed west on I-70. Colorado is the only state I know where even the Interstate can be jaw-dropping beautiful.

At Copper Mountain we headed south on CO 91 on the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway. Just past a major mine, we came to this valley where three mining villages thrived in the 19th century. Abandoned in the 1950s, the valley was later filled in with mining slag. One of those towns was Kokomo. My dad (who celebrated his 102nd birthday this week) grew up in Kokomo, IN, so I had to take this picture for him of the site of Kokomo, CO.

Some great photos can happen when you take a wrong turn. This one (which we thought would take us into Leadville) took us instead to a tiny community of double-wide manufactured homes with freshly painted wood siding. Every house was different, but similar enough that we suspected it was a company town. This view is from a dirt road beyond the community, which led to a dead end. Not to Leadville.

From Leadville, we continued south on CO24. Our Scenic Highways and Byways book recommended a side trip to up CO82 to Twin Lakes, a tiny tourist town of log houses and shops. We continued up 82 as far as Independence Pass where I hiked with my sister a decade ago along the Continental Divide at the top of these ridges.

On the way back to CO24 we stopped for lunch at a picnic ground along one of theTwin Lakes. The sun felt good in the breeze.

I had a note in my plans to take 306 out of the town of Buena Vista into a part of the map that is REALLY hard to read because of the small print. Colorado is NOT good at marking roads, but Steve spotted a sign that said "Cottonwood Pass" and went the right direction, so we took it. Never did see a sign that identified what road we were on but people we talked to at the top said it was 306. Cottonwood Pass turned out to be the place where my sister and I left my mother-in-law Claudia in the car with her embroidery and a book. By the time we got back to the car, it was snowing. In the weeks before she died, that was one of the memories Claudia commented on.

Here is Cottonwood Pass today. No snow.

We continued over the pass and down the other side. (We know from people we talked to that the road number changed, but never saw a sign indicating what it was.) Spectacular scenery. The aspen are at peak at elevation. When the sun shone on them, the gold color was almost blinding. We ended up following this trout stream for miles. So gorgeous.

Someone had recommended Crested Butte because of the aspen, so when we hit CO135, we turned north. The scenery was beautiful and lots of aspen, but the day had begun to cloud up so the color was not so brilliant. Then I checked the GPS and discovered that this route (all marked scenic on the Colorado map) was going to take 3 hours to get to our hotel and it was already almost 4. Uh... We turned around and took a shorter route, also scenic. (I don't think there is anything NOT scenic around here.) It only took us two hours.  :-) So much to explore; I guess we'll have to come back. :-) 

Mi Mexico in Montrose for supper.

Today's route: 

Aegean Day 8: Athens again

We didn't. Feel up to the Parthenon in the heat, that is. We were able to get into our hotel room earlier than expected. What I WISH we had done was go to the Acropolis in the late afternoon when the heat let up. 

We had tickets for an outdoor Greek play in the evening at the Koilon Theatre at the base of the Acropolis. The area was delightful pedestrian streets with outdoor cafes. I'm pretty sure there was a back way to the top from there if only we had come earlier.

Even the taxi driver had trouble finding the place. The small parking lot overlooked the Roman Forum.

From the rooftop you could see the Acropolis.

I had feared the play would be something sappy for tourists, but not at all. The frame had a modern tourist (who emerged from the audience with his cell phone ringing) knocked unconscious and transported back to ancient Greece where a comic tells him stories of the past, including Odysseus

and Medea.

These were speeches from actual ancient plays. One segment included a chorus. The actors were all men as they would have been originally. I was amazed at how little a beard mattered when the character was wearing a female mask. Definitely worth doing.

We flew home the next day. Another marathon of three flights, but all went smoothly. I had picked up Steve's sniffles and wore a mask the whole time. Good thing. When I got home, I tested positive for Covid. Hence these post-dated entries. Sigh. At least I have a microwave for hot food at home.

Aegean Day 7: Mykonos, Greece

Today was supposed to be our tour of the ruins at Delos, but that involved a mile walk in the sun, and I was quite sure I shouldn’t attempt that. Steve’s drippy nose has turned into a miserable cold, so he stayed in the room. I took the “seabus” to the old port and walked around an area much like I imagine Santorini would have been minus the cliffs.

 

I sat down in the shade in several places.

It was Sunday and when the crowd left after morning services, I sat in an Orthodox church and prayed for a bit.

I headed back to the ship before it got too hot. 

There were lots of lovely shops. The only thing that interested me was the clothes, but there was nothing I could imagine wearing in Wisconsin. Besides, it would have taken more effort to choose than I was willing to put in. The other thing that tempted me was the oyster bars, but I was pretty sure my stomach wasn't ready for that.

It did occur to me that one doesn't have to cruise to enjoy Greek islands. I saw signs for B&Bs. One could fly to Athens and take the ferry to someplace quiet and enjoy a week without the crowded cruise ship. Probably not Santorini since I read they are trying to limit the number of tourists.

 

Tonight we have to put out our suitcases before bed. Tomorrow we have to be out of our rooms by 8, but not off the ship until 9:30. Then we have the day in Athens, but of course, can’t get into our hotel room until mid-afternoon. Sigh. I have not been to the Parthenon since 1965. I hope we both feel up to going.

Aegean Day 6: Santorini, Greece

I had really been looking forward to this. Everyone I know who has been here raved about it. But Steve had been hesitant from the beginning about the downhill walking, and I definitely didn’t feel like going anywhere. So this is all we saw of Santorini. 

Ate a little soup for lunch. Joined Steve in the dining room for supper but ate little. The pool area, normally so crowded, was deserted. If only I had felt up to the waterslide!

Aegean Day 5: Ephesus, Türkiye

We were originally scheduled for a tour of ancient Ephesus at 7:45 in the morning, but with the Kavalas, Greece, stop, the ship only arrived at Kusadasi Port at midday and our tour moved to 12:45 PM. Not ideal with temps over 100. 

We were both here nine years ago when we did the 7 church of Revelation tour following the ICETE conference. I was back when the conference was near here. Consequently, I felt no need to take pictures. The reason I chose the tour we did was that it included the Terrace Houses, a wealthy neighborhood, that we hadn’t seen before. 

It was hot. Again, I filled my CamelBak with ice. I soaked my Mammoth Cave Wild Cave Tour bandana in water and draped it around my neck but it soon dried. About the time we entered the covered area at the Terrace Houses, I was feeling sick to my stomach. I sipped ice water from my CamelBak, but was definitely overheated. This was the one place where I DID want to take pictures.

But about half way through I was wondering if it would be better to thrown up on two-thousand-year-old mosaics or on the fiber-glass walkway where people would have to step in it. In the end I sat on some steps and threw up into my bandana. 

Steve had already wandered ahead. But someone else reported to the tour guide that someone was being sick down there. He came back with a couple bottles of water that he had me pour over my head. That helped a lot. Steve and I left the tour and wandered slowly ahead to the bus parking lot where we sat in a café and I drank a 7Up. The bus returned to very near the ship, so it was easy to skip the shopping and carpet exhibit. I threw up again back in our stateroom, although there was nothing left in my stomach to come up so it was just dry heaves. Sigh. Steve went down and cancelled our tours for days 6 and 7.