Dinner and Hiking

Last night, we had a very nice dinner with Don and Vivian.  We met them through our friends Pat and Kay.  Don and Vivian are from Wichita Falls, Texas and have a place in Crested Butte.  When Vivian saw a picture of some fish we had caught at home, she thought a fish fry would be in order.  So willing to accommodate, we brought fish with us from Dallas.  We had a lovely evening reminiscing about out trip to Lake Como, Italy a couple of years ago. That same group will be with us later at Gold Beach, Oregon.

This morning, the weather was just perfect again.  Cool and clear and made for hiking.  Geared up in our hiking shoes, clothes, and a picnic lunch, off we went.  However, it turned out to be a “car hike.”

The road up the Slate River called to us.

 It’s a beautiful drive and we were gifted with sights of magnificent scenery, chipmunks and an elegant doe.

We followed the winding river, though forest and past a small alpine lake and many campsites.

 For me, the drive became more  and more treacherous as we started a steep climb up the mountain, especially when we met oncoming cars and trucks on the unpaved, very narrow, no side rail, rocky road.

Fortunately, I have great confidence in Tom’s driving, but I did convince him to turn around before we reached the summit because we still had to retrace that scary way back down.

Just below our condo on the mountain is the “Space Capsule” house built by astronaut Gus Grissom.

We returned to the condo to enjoy our picnic lunch, with a “friend.”

After a short rest we decided to hike for real down to the ski base area.  Thinking we might enjoy a cool drink and maybe a snack, we were surprised to find everything closed. Again the hanging flowers are always a treat to see.

This virus has really shut so many things down.  That’s ok, we would rather be safe than sorry.  Our motto on this trip is “Be Safe.”