Well, this is the final day. :(
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| View from room at River's Edge |
We emerge from our rooms to a cool, crisp Autumn morning. The guys were already out cleaning off their cars. We had a good complimentary breakfast at River’s Edge. Dave and Shari, Fernando and Phyllis and Jim and Denise are staying at Twin Peaks up the street as the River’s Edge sells out quickly, and we couldn’t all stay at the same place. They arrived just before 9 am. Phyllis had a water leak in her Monte Carlo, and that was rapidly repaired by our pit crew.
We left the River’s Edge and headed onto the Million Dollar Highway, and oh, my goodness! It was spectacular!! The fall colors of the aspens were like a painting...so beautiful that they didn’t seem real. But they were real, and we were in their midst.
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| Car show in Ourary! |
The Million Dollar Highway stretches for about 25 miles and follows route 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. It is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive, with steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails. It is marked with hairpin curves and narrow lanes—many cut directly into the sides of the mountains. During this ascent, the remains of the Idarado Mine are visible. Travelling north from Silverton to Ouray allows drivers to hug the inside of curves; travelling south from Ouray to Silverton perches drivers on the outside edge of the highway. What a drive!
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| Long Distance Award (Missouri) |
We stopped at a few of the turnouts for some photo ops. The cars were simply beautiful all in a row with a background of gold-colored aspen leaves! We had lunch at Fiesta Mexicana in Durango. After lunch, some of us went into downtown Durango while others went right back up the Million Dollar Highway. We all met back in town at 5:30 for our final dinner at the Outlaw in downtown Ouray. An interesting Outlaw claim to fame is that in 1968 when John Wayne was filming True Grit in Ridgway, he ate at the Outlaw and left his hat here. This restaurant is unique--a mixture of rustic, cowboy, and class, all accompanied by a honkey tonk pianist playing music from Scott Joplin to the Eagles.
After dinner, we all met back at the River’s Edge parking lot for our final gathering. We finished up the poker run. Best hand was won by Terry and worst hand was won by Norb. Raffle tickets were drawn. Fernando seemed to be winning almost everything, from scotch to a detail car cleaning kit and an MP3 player. The Sony camera was won by Norb. The Kindle was won by Jim! And Fernando won the 50/50 raffle! After all the prizes were distributed, we discussed ideas for next year’s Western Scenic tour. The night ended with hugs, handshakes, and final exchanges of phone numbers and addresses.
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| Social Gathering |
So, that ends the 2013 Western Scenic Tour! We explored wonderful landscapes and a few National Parks. We drove through deserts and mountains. We experienced 106 degrees in Vegas and 26 degrees in Mount Carmel. We were driving through dust storms, and we were driving next to snow. We passed by cacti and we passed by colorful aspens. We drove on long straight stretches of highway at spirited speeds and we drove on curvaceous roads at 5 mph. But the best part of all? --we made new friends and we had fun.
What an incredible tour.
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| Million Dollar Highway |
So as I complete this blog (which I HOPE gives our tour justice), I look back on the last few days with a smile. I can hear the grumble of Doug’s, Norb & Terry’s, and Dave and Shari’s Corvettes as they rev up; I see Jim and Denise sitting in the Panoz roadster with Denise’s hair flying all over the place; I see Ed and Mary in their beautiful red Camaro with Mary snapping photos and Ed smiling; I see Ken and Linda in their bright green Camaro making friends with all the people wherever we stop; I see Rett yelling out the window of his Shelby; I see Phyllis and Fernando making sure we’re all in the caravan. But what I see the most is the big smile we have all had on our faces this entire trip. I see that bright-eyed look in all of our eyes that says one thing: We are happy. We are living our lives and enjoying it from our cars, and we are happy.
Drive on.
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| See you next year! ---Doug and Michille |
