Durango Mountain Resort

... rises quickly) and little other life was visible, but like I said slowing down was not really in our interest. Rising back into the higher elevations on the other side of the valley, the air cooled and life was a little more enjoyable. It was great to experience the temperature changes but I couldn't imagine being one of those people out on their touring bicycles heading through the valley.

We soon arrived at Zion ...

... zilla all weekend. And she was. But it was all in good fun! The hike up to the lake was STEEP and strenuous, and there wasn't a lot of oxygen at 12,000 feet, but it was worth the pain. The upper and lower Ice Lake basins were incredible! There were so many vivid colors... rolling hills carpeted in green, red, and yellow... lichen covered boulders... silver creeks... jagged gray peaks... and the bluest lake I have ever seen ...

So I just get back from Colorado where I hung out with old friends for a buddy's bachelor party.

It was an amazing trip. We were very blessed to have a free condo to stay in which was plenty big enough for the 7 of us. A special thanks to the Jays for letting us stay there.

We did a ...

Durango – Ouray – Montrose –
Gunnison

By far mums favourite day on the road.
As we drove north through the San Juan National Forest we saw some of
the prettiest scenery ever. Huge mountais surrounded us as we drove
over narrow passes to be greeted by more beautiful scenes. We then
found Ouray (pronounced you-ray). It is a town named after Native
American (Indian) Chief Ouray who was a peacemaker. It is ...

Yesterday was a huge day in Mesa Verde National Park. We staggered into Durango, Colorado for much needed rest. Mum has not been feeling well today, some sinus thing that she got on the flight over no doubt. This town inspired Ayn Rand to include it in her epic novel Atlas Shrugged. It is a very ...

Yay! Tonight we had our first show (1 of 2) in Durango, CO and it went phenomenal! Everyone kept talking about how "it' happened. For those of you that have been involved with theatre before, then you know that "it" is. During each of our songs tonight there was an ephemeral moment, a moment in which we all felt the goosebumps and had to blink back tears. We felt like the audience could really understand our message and music. We touched lives tonight ...

... that makes trails for hikers and bikers around the Durango, CO area. Our job was to help create a new set of trails. After a brief safety discussion, our leaders showed us our tools and how exactly to create the trails. It seemed like pretty strenuous work but Cast B 2009 was up to the challenge.

Oh, did I mention that in order to create the trails we had to hike 2 miles up the side of a mountain in 90 degree heat and reach an altitude of ...

... to save an hour and a half on the return journey). Bus back was also worthwhile as the driver gave an interesting commentary all the way back, and the road scenery was good for me to see (as I had been concentrating on the road yesterday when driving the same route). Arrived in Durango around 4:30 and more sightseeing, plus a compusory Cold Rock icecream. Dinner at Cyprus restaurant again, good again. Off to Mesa Verde tomorrow.

... Strangely enough, not mentioned in Lonely Planet - and we wondered why - because it was really quaint and presented as one of those places you could happily retire to. Another place - Chama - not mentioned in Lonely Planet - is a railway town where tours on a narrow guage railway are done into the mountain passes. One street town but with delightful buildings. Arriving in Durango - famous for the narrow guage railway ...

... a brilliant way to try and find truth in a foreign people-on foot, dressed in local clothing, speaking the regional dialects. The closer one gets to the ground, the more genuine they become, and the more genuine their interactions are. One the other side, there was this Durangoan Che impersonator. But seemed to make some progress as the articles went along, I'll admit, and offered glimmers of hope that he wasn't simply another wealthy American with spare cash and too much free ...