Tuesday, May 12, 2015

May 11, 2015. Scenic byway drive

CAMPGROUND: Another night at 4J RV Park
LOCATION: Ouray, Colorado in south central CO
WEATHER: Warmer. Sunny and highs in 60s

It snowed all night.  I guess we won't be grilling tonight...

We took a 6-hour drive on one of Colorado's scenic byways.  It is a loop that winds through mountains, canyons, cattle ranches, and high plateaus (mesas).  Beautiful.  One stop along the way was this Hanging Flume that the gold miners built in the 1800s.  It was a 10-mile "trough" used to provide water pressure to hose down the gold in placer mining.  They say it is an engineering marvel.  Not much is left...

Another stop was Gateway.  A billionaire, the owner of the Discovery Channel and other networks, built a fabulous resort here, not caring if it made money.  It is out in the middle of nowhere.  It is adobe style and has magnificent landscaping.  The owner has also collected the world's largest collection of antique cars.   We had planned to have lunch there and visit the car museum, but a private group from Hollywood  was renting the entire resort and closed it to everyone else. So, we had a sandwich at this Airstream diner...

As we were driving along, a cowboy was herding his cattle on the highway.
 
It felt like the real West!


Back in Ouray, we dropped by the town's second brewery.  It really warmed up so we could sit outside.

DINNER:  Bean soup.  We had bought some Anasazi beans in a town that proclaims to be  "the pinto bean capital of the world".  I soaked and cooked them with a hatch pepper.  Then, using part of the beans., I made a soup with onions, garlic, a bit of leftover hamburger, and the beans.  I cheated and used a can of bean soup, too.  Really tasty. We also had a salad of mixed greens, still using up the CSA gift.  

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