When the Mango Tree coffee places closes I drive to the town of Golden just outside of Denver. It’s a nice little mountain town and I have dinner at a Mexican restaurant and walk through the town center for a bit. Then I drive to a campsite about an hour further where I’ve stayed a few years ago. It’s on a dirt road in the national forest. When I arrive at the spot where I want to park, there are already some tents. I ask the people if it’s okay if I park next to them and they’re fine with that. In fact, they invite me to join them by their campfire and we make s’mores together (one of America’s great inventions: marshmallows between chocolate and crackers). We stay at the campfire until it gets dark and starts to rain a bit.
In the morning I think about what to do today and I decide to have a relaxed day driving slowly through Colorado. After a stop at a coffee place for some reading time I drive via highway 285 to the town of Breckenridge. The drive is very beautiful through snowy mountains. The town is little, but cute. I stop at an art gallery and another coffee place before I drive further to the town of Vail. That town looks a lot like a German town and is also in the mountains. It’s quite busy there this weekend and there is a bluegrass festival going on. I walk around an listen to the music for a while before I continue driving. I get the spontaneous idea that Ouray isn’t too far from where I’m now (about four hours driving) and that I’d like to go there for another day. So I drive further south. When I get closer, the beautiful mountains appear at the horizon. I had actually forgotten a bit how beautiful it’s here and am really excited to be back here. I had not expected to come back to Ouray and Telluride on this trip, but I’m thankful I made it all the way here again.
In the last bigger town named Montrose I fill up my car with gas, get dinner at Wendy’s and fill my cooler with food at Walmart. When I’m close to the fork in the road between Ouray and Telluride I think to myself that I would much rather drive a bit further to my favorite campsite at the mountains of Telluride and so I go there. I drive up there and arrive at the beginning of the evening. Last time I was here all alone, this time there are a couple of other campers out here. Fortunately there is a place free for my car and I park there. Next to me is a friendly couple from Texas with two dogs. I sit with them and play with the dogs for a while. When it gets dark we go to our own campers and I enjoy the view of the mountains until I fall asleep.
In the morning I make a plan for the last few days of the vacation. It’s still about 14 hours driving to get back to San Diego, so I can do that in two days. I decide to stay in the mountains for another day and have a relaxed day in Telluride. After I’ve made breakfast I drive to town and park close to a hiking trail. I’ve done this hike last year and it’s nice and easy. There is some elevation, but the trail is good. At the end is a big waterfall. I’m glad I started hiking early in the morning, because when the sum comes out it quickly gets warmer. On my way back I meet a friendly guy named Clay and we start a conversation. I invite him for a cup of coffee at the bakery and we continue our conversation there. He’s from Louisiana and has a cool accent. After an hour or so we say goodbye and I stay at the bakery to do some work. Later in the afternoon I walk through the main street in town, visit some shops and then go to a restaurant / bar called Brown Dog where they have good pizza and beer. I sit down at the bar and the guy next to me starts a conversation with me. His name is Ken and he turns out to be a super friendly guy as well. We talk the rest of the evening and in the end he insists on paying my bill. American friendliness at its best. When we say goodbye he says I need to tell some good things back home about the Americans. He doesn’t need to tell me that, I’ll do that anyway. Time and time again I’m amazed by how friendly people here are. I drive back to the campsite in the mountains and arrive there just after sunset. Unlike last night it’s pretty quiet again with only two cars on the other side of the campsite. I park my car at the same spot as last night and enjoy the view again before I go to bed. The view of these mountains never gets old. I’m realizing that these past few days of the vacation have been some of the best. Hiking in the Rocky Mountains and being back in the south of Colorado came as a surprise and I loved it.
