Dolores, CO

We have friends who have a home on the Dolores River outside of the town of Dolores so we spent Monday traveling south through the mountains and then westward past Durango to spend a couple of days with them. The drive was really pretty as the aspens are really starting to change. One hillside looked as if a painter had taken his brush of gold paint and slashed it across the green pine hillside. The southern part of Colorado has not seen as much of a change as around Breckenridge, but the signs of change are obvious.

We arrived at our friends' home around 5 PM and had a lovely evening of wine, food and conversations. Tuesday dawned bright, sunny and warm so we climbed in their Jeep and drove up into the mountains. It was so pretty and peaceful. We had lunch at a small cafe in Rico. The afternoon was spent visiting and playing horseshoes, then we had dinner at the local brewery and pizza joint. When we got back to the house, the stars were beaconing to be watched. So we got out the binoculars and star charts and tried to find Orion, the north star and Mars. We were not very successful but enjoyed the endeavor.

Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we started toward our grandsons in Norman. We drove as far as Santa Rosa, New Mexico and pulled into a state park campground for the evening. Pam got real excited about seeing this spider -- is it a tarantula??