Day 9 - Grand Junction to Cortez


 We woke up early to get to Colorado National Monument (a really big supercool rock formation) before the temps soared to the 100's.  Colorado National Monument did not disappoint, but then again, I don't think anything in CO disappoints!


Mal shows us just how big the monument is. 



Looking down over the edge about gave me a heart attack.














Big Rock 














After the quick tour of the monument we headed down to meet the McBones. We met up at Freddy's Burgers and Frozen Custard in Montrose, CO, which was delicious, but sorry no pics.  From there we all went to Telluride, with a scenic turn off on the way. 

So, Ralph Lauren, the American designer and owner Polo brand has a ranch in Ouray which is on the way to Telluride.  The Double RL Ranch is 16,000 acres of prairie, forest, rock and herds of cattle at the top of a mountain.  The entire Ranch is surrounded by a teak fence. These next few pics are from a pull off adjacent to his ranch. 




Ralph's fence

















Jer and I with Ty and Lauren McBone in front of Ralph's fence. 















The Children

Interesting thing about Telluride; their free public transportation are gondolas which provide very scenic views of the Telluride valley. 




Once we descended into the picturesque town, we did a little walking around.  There was a bluegrass festival happening so the town was definitely popping. 







And then it was time to head back over the mountain and to the bus to head to our final destination for the evening, Cortez, CO.


Here are some more scenic pics and some of the flowers blooming in town. 


Meg and Cowboy by the flowers.

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't post this weather event that happens in our dry states.  
This is virga, you can see the vertical rain coming out of the clouds on the right side of the picture, but you see that the rain only goes about half way down the picture.  The rain evaporates before it gets to the ground. 











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