Who ya' gonna meet? Guess!

You never know who you'll meet on any given day.  That was proved to us multiple times today!

 Today as I carried my ladder around the coach washing 2,000 miles of dirt off the windows I looked over at our neighbor at Ouray KOA and saw Ron.  Ron was letting some of the the air out of his jeeps tires preparing to take his wife, son and daughter-in-law and grandkids on an off road jaunt up into the Ouray Hills.

We struck up a conversation about his 40' Dynasty Coach and our 35' Alpine and before you know it he's telling me they have full timed for almost 8 years and I'm telling him I'm a retired United Methodist Pastor.

His comment to that?  "That's 110% OK with me!"  He's a Dallas, Texas, lifetime Methodist. Both of us were heading out to worship God in His creation today, and we did.


We headed for Telluride, Colorado and the San Juan Range of the Rockies.



Along the way we met some horses pastured with some cows.  The cows couldn't care less about us but both stallions seemed interested in having the paparazzi of the highway photograph them for posterity.

The beautiful gray came over and spoke with us about terms and licensing fees.  We couldn't come to an agreement on the percentage their agent should receive so...

That was the end of that discussion.

 In Telluride we took the free gondola ride up to the top of  one of the ski slopes.  It goes on over the mountain to the new upscale 'ski village' but we got off to tour some of the run starting points.

 On the way up we met Avery and her dad, Jonathan. Avery is a very wise and fun eleven year old who told us she was very happy with her new home, and the new skate board park near the town park and concert stage, and that her skateboard work was really improving, and that the 'Chocolate Truffle' in town had the best chocolate she'd ever eaten in her ENTIRE life... even though she knew she had only been eating chocolate for about 10 years.

We made the CT our destination when we got back to town. Jim found it first and brought us all a sample of some really fine chocolate!  TY Avery!



It was at the top, after we'd gotten off the gondola and Avery and Jonathan went on to their new condo, that we found CHURCH. We hadn't walked 50 yards when we found a small congregation of locals who worshiped each Sunday morning at the very top of their world.

I joined them for prayer and received a blessing in return.  When asked I requested prayer for safe travels as we were new full time RVer's in a big machine.  Pastor said all should pray especially for the others riding with me.  Now how did he know that, do you think?




When we returned from about 10,500 feet to 9,500 (town level) we walked to the large town park. Several times a year this field becomes home to the finest music of it's kind in the USA.  And no music venue at this park is more famous than the one held just a week ago right here; the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It was here that we met, sort of, the famous Doc Watson and Bill Monroe.

Well, I said 'sort of'' didn't I?  We found their labeled risers still stored under the stage.  

Hey!  That's pretty cool, isn't it?  Their very own feet touched those risers just a week ago.  It said so, right on the side.

'So what?", you say?  I say if it's the closest we ever get to meeting Doc Watson and Bill Monroe, then we met them this way and that's that.

Though I must admit, neither riser had any opinion on the direction bluegrass music is going in the next ten years.


From downtown Telluride we drove up the the base of the box canyon which is part of what makes the music venue so unique; its distinctive high walls, which resonate just enough when filled with the sound of music... these hills really do come alive!

At the end of the canyon those walls rise up almost vertically to the highest free fall water fall in Colorado: Bridal Veil Falls. At 365 feet in length these falls welcome climbers, or passengers of 4 wheelers, to a refreshing cool mist where they crash into the rocks at their base and the water continues down the almost vertical mountainside.



Its almost two miles up by rocky  1 1/2 car width road with an altitude gain of over 1,200 feet. As you rise with the road you see the remains of gold mining  from the 1800's along the hills and the vestige of the original burro road that took supplies and men up and down the mountain at about 1/2 a modern cars width.



Along the way I realized that while Jim was well acclimated to such a climb, I've only been at this altitude for several weeks and neither of us had brought water along.  Jim was OK, but as we walked I needed less distance between breaks.  When we got to the base of the falls I was getting parched when Jim saw the driver of a four wheel drive mountain tour with his party. And suggested I ask him for a bottle of water. So  it was time for another meeting...


Richard, of Telluride OUTSIDE was more than happy to help!  TY Richard!

Needless to say we made it back down the mountain fine, though our Facebook posts from the walk created some concern for a few:  Dave, the friend of Jim you met last week who lives in Denver, and Mona who was waiting for the two of us in the car at the base of the 4 wheel drive road,  and our daughter Jenn who found the fact that we hadn't taken water along and her dad is not quite the mountain man that Jim is, a bit disconcerting. Others began responding too and several raised prayers.
TY all for them!

While we were busy preparing to meet Richard and his bottled water Mona met a smaller friend down near the car. A Pika, cousin of the prairie dog and chipmunk, came near and proceeded to pose just for her.

Jim and I saw no wildlife other than a few birds. But the falls, and the view, was thrilling.

The way back was gorgeous under the early evening sun, and then, just when we thought our meetings for the day were over, we met a small herd of young elk, all females but one short horned buck, just relaxing in a field waiting for us to take their pictures.

Wonderful, wonderful day.

Then we met John Wayne.

Well, the spirit of the man was surely present in the town and region in which  he filmed his one Oscar winning role, TRUE GRIT.  

In tiny Ridgeway, on the way home from Telluride to the KOA Campground, we had a good dinner at The True Grit Cafe which was built after the movie was made against one of the prop walls from a building used in the film on that site.  As described on the back of the menu, we also sat on the porch for dinner across from the hanging tree used in the film.

 We never expected to meet a Hollywood star in Ridgeway, but then, we never expected to meet those bluegrass musicians in Telluride, either.

You say we didn't meet anyone at either site, just remnants of what they did?  I ask you, is it better to shake the hand of a movie star or singer, or dine next to his hanging tree?


One final meeting, and this amazingly busy day was over.

We met an ice cream cone in the old mining town of Ouray, just a couple of miles from the campground. It was dark, but this Sunday night the tourists were out and about as we drove in and one IC shop was ready to sell us just what we wanted.

And Mona met a bookstore.
Closed, but she never met a bookstore she couldn't strike up a conversation about, this time, with Jim.


-Ken