We decided to check out Ouray, Co! It has two waterfalls, both city parks! The first one we went to was Cascade Falls, just off of 8th Avenue. By the way, I was so surprised, Jeff was not, that only the main street in Ouray is paved. The rest is gravel. Anyway, we went down 8th street and there was a gravel parking lot and a path that just started going up into the mountain. It was about a 1/4 mile upward and we got to stop and rest a few times. The kids had lots to look at and take pictures of. We ended up propping Rachel's walking stick against a tree, because she had just entirely too many things that she had to carry! :) Wow, what a sight when we got up to the falls. It was spectacular and much more than we expected! Zane got to play in the creek that came off of it and everyone got to do a little exploring. Zane was NOT ready for it to end, so after we got our fill of the waterfall, we started up a path up the mountain. He loves hiking! Jeff and I ended up carrying Rachel up and down quite a bit, but she was extremely happy when we did. It was so cool. They have a perimeter hike that actually goes completely around Ouray. It was more than we could handle, but it was sure neat to do even part of it.
 |
| She needs a little help sometimes. :) |
 |
| Big static hair! :) |
 |
| He was so happy to get up there and a little scared, but he wanted to do more. |
 |
| Walking through the creek! |
After Cascade Falls, our next stop was Box Canyon-another city park with a waterfall. We ate lunch there and a group of families came and ate at the picnic table beside us-maybe 20 of them, talking a different language. We never could figure out what it was. Jeff laughed because they sort of came in a wave, talked up a storm, and left in a wave. Funny.
 |
| It's so hard to eat when there is so much to look at. |
 |
| What's over there? I better check it out. |
 |
| I'm a puppy! |
 |
| Hmm, what's down there? |
I personally liked the bathrooms here. Very clean and neat.
So, another wow, we had NO IDEA what to expect. The first place we went to in the park was up, up, up and up some more to a metal bridge across the canyon, over the river. Wow! Then we went through a tunnel in the mountain that connected with the perimeter trail that I spoke about earlier.
 |
| Rachey gets to see! |
 |
| That bridge at the top is where we walked! |
 |
| Discussing the map. |
Next, we went down and saw the waterfall-I can't even really describe it-pouring water had carved out part of the mountain and was just gushing with so much power down inside this mountain and then falling out into the river below. It wasn't as long as Cascade Falls, and just so different, it was just amazing. We went down metal stairs to the base of the falls and Rachel enjoyed feeling the freezing cold water. There was a sign that said in the spring, the water is much higher and you could feel spray from it. Right now we are finding that the rivers and lakes are very low due to a very mild winter here.
After that we walked around a nature loop and were fixing to go somewhere else, except that Zane still wanted to hike! He just was having so much fun he didn't want it to end! So he and Dada went on another hike and me and Rach went to get my phone at the cabin and pick them up. Rachel fell asleep after her Oreo snack and continued to sleep even after I picked Zane and Dada up and we started walking around stores in Ouray.
The kids were getting tired, both were getting pick-ups and I decided we could try the public library because we knew if we went to the cabin it would be hot-no AC. So we did and it was a very pleasant stop. The kids got T-rex cookies from a book reading held earlier that day and played puzzles and colored. It was fun. I got to take pictures of their children's section-it was very attractive and children friendly.
We stopped by the mercantile and bought some vaseline-everyone's lips are so dry, especially Rachel's. The climate here is much different from our home. And we are enjoying it so much! It's so pleasant to go out and do these fun things outside.
We took a late evening trip to Walmart in Montrose specifically to buy two box fans, but we got some other things too. On the way, Jeff spotted two elk! I asked him to turn around and we got out and got some pictures. It was sooooooo neat. They were two bulls with horns-one had lost his velvet and the other hadn't. They got a whiff of us and it wasn't long before they were running across the field. It was quite a sight. So glad we could see them.
I realize the pictures aren't exactly with the text correctly, but perhaps I can go back and fix it some day when it's not so late. :)
Another wonderful day!
No comments:
Post a Comment