Ridgway

Ridgway, Colorado is one of my favorite places in the world.  Our friends, Jerry and Diana, have a house there, and during the summer we love to visit them and escape the desert heat.  It's pretty much perfect -- gorgeous mountains, cool temperatures, loads of aspens, and nearby hot springs.  It's always amazing to start driving after work, get there in the dark, and wake up to an unbelievable view of the Sneffels Range.

Sneffels Range

The view from the porch was gorgeous as always, but it was a little disconcerting this time around.  Usually there's a layer of snow coating the uppermost peaks, even in summer.  But now the peaks look totally bare!  Jerry has been in the San Juans for decades, and he's never seen a year with no snow.  Spooky.  This year has been so ridiculously dry.

The next morning we took the quads up to the Uncompahgre National Forest to hike around and have lunch.  We rode through endless aspen groves, then built a little fire.  A storm rolled through, but we all ducked under a patch of trees and munched away.  By now a little rain is sort of a nice novelty!

Uncompahgre National Forest

lunch!

Jordan and I spent the rest of the rainy afternoon at Orvis Hot Springs.  Orvis is a natural hot springs resort near Ouray with water that ranges from 98-112 degrees.  It also naturally contains lithium, which makes you feel super relaxed and loopy.  There's a couple big pools, the "lobster pop," a sauna, and two massage yurts. Ahh ...

We spent Monday at the Ridgway Rodeo, which was a blast.  I haven't been to a rodeo since I was a little kid, and we had a great time downing beers and watching crazy people ride bronchos and bulls.  Seriously, who was the first guy to decide that riding a pissed off bull was a great idea?  It was fun to bask in a bunch of balls-out Labor Day Americana, although I feel like I should eat some granola or tie-dye a shirt to maintain my hippie credentials...

Ridgway Rodeo

Jerry and Diana