I am completely aware that I am the absolute worst at keeping a blog up to date. This year Fran I visited Aruba in January, Disney World in March, and a Cruise to Cozumel and Progresso in April. All of which I failed to document in my blog. I wish I could say I have been to busy living an epic life every day this year, but that would be lie. I live a pretty epic life, but only until about 9pm or so. All of or vacations this year have been amazing firsts.
But this post is going to be based on our most recent adventure. On August 21, 2017 we flew to Montrose, Colorado, rented a car and spent 5 days in Telluride. Y'all, this trip was one for the books. I came across Telluride by googling and pinterest-ing small towns in Colorado. I had envisioned a peaceful getaway that involved walking the local streets drinking hot tea, exploring bookstores and local boutiques. I wanted to go somewhere where I had the freedom to do nothing. I wanted mid-day naps and breakfast at 12. Telluride and Mountain Village ticked every box my imagination sought after.
Fun fact: Colorado temperature is much more welcoming than the Texas summer hell heat.
Fran and I loaded up our small Hyundai rental and headed towards Telluride with a GPS estimate of 1.5 hours. Let me tell yall, the drive was the most refreshing and the most beautiful experience. We rolled down the windows, drove below the speed limit, pulled over to take pictures and appreciated the now of that day. I am a firm believer that the pace of life is slower in the mountains. And we groveled in it's presence.
We were able to check into our resort early and received an upgrade to a room with a balcony. The day only seemed to get better. We had a picturesque view with a beautiful room at The Peaks Resort and Spa. The bed had the softest sheets with a down comforter and pillows I could die happy in. And guess what y'all, it even had a ceiling fan! Literally Colorado had everything I could have ever dreamed.
After freshening up from the flight and drive, I could hardly wait to try out the GONDOLA.
(Gondola; noun- a cabin on a suspended ski life)
Yup. The gondola that connects Mountain Village and Telluride is the only free form of transportation of it's kind in the world. Yes, I said free. A free ride via suspended cozy cabin over the mountains from village to village. And yes, it is just as perfect as it sounds. Until, there is a power outage that takes down both towns and you are suspended in the air with four other strangers for over an hour. It sounds unfortunate, but we had overcome so much bliss since we had arrived that we did not even care. We met two locals who owned businesses in town and a young couple on their honeymoon. We exchanged conversations and laughs until the people below could manually bring each cart down from the line.
Telluride does not have a single chain restaurant or store. Every single business is local and family owned. Remember earlier when I mentioned that daydream of hot tea, book stores and boutiques? That is Telluride. And a nice surprise is that nearly everyone has a beautiful dog with them. I know it sounds strange, but dogs are allowed everywhere in Telluride and Telluride dogs are . questionably and unearthly beautiful. One of our favorite stops was a brunch place called the The Butcher & The Baker. The atmosphere was like a storybook and they had the most perfect blueberry muffin I have ever tasted. It was so good that I found it important to document it in my blog so that it will exist for all time. (It was really that good, really.) 
We spent another day on out trip traveling form Ouray to Silverton. The road between the two villages has the nickname Million Dollar Highway because of the obvious million dollar views that we got to witness the entire day. Driving up the mountains is beautiful and terrifying in all of its one-lane mountainous glory.
(Ouray, CO)
On our last day I booked us a tour with one of the locals, Herb, who owned a Swiss army vehicle that had the capability to drive us to one of the highest points in the Rock Mountains, Imogene Pass. He also had a dog, Rocky, who accompanied our thrilling excursion. Guys, it was the most breathtaking experience, and I don't just mean the lack of oxygen from the altitude. We saw abandoned ghost-towns. The remains of homes and schools dating back to a hundred years ago when mining was all the rage, I loved imagining the families who lived among the mountains. Again, pure bliss. 
It took us a total of four house to climb to the top of the Rockies and make our way down. We were able to see our very first marmot, run our finger tips through lasting snow while driving up the mountain and learn about the city of Telluride. Apparently, the average home in Telluride in over 2 million dollars! There went our dream of purchasing a small home in the little village. We will have to settle for vacationing there, which we are completely okay with. 
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