Changing seasons......

We moved up the road a bit and now have in-house WIFI.... feels a bit luxurious and decadent.   But this private campground doesn't allow campfires so we're still deciding if it was a good tradeoff.   The stars out here are brilliant and worthy of contemplation amid the pines and crackling fire each night.   But it is a lot colder than when we arrived so maybe our non-crackling electric fireplace will have to suffice.     Interesting note:   Ouray County has an ordinance that limits outside night lighting to 40 watt bulbs....and we haven't been in town at night to see if and how that would be accomplished.   

On Sunday, after we had moved, the skies darkened and torrential rain and even hail came down.   Even pea sized hail sounds like rocks on the MH roof..... This CG is located  a few miles south of Montrose...a nice community of about 20,000.   As you drive further south towards Ouray, you see the San Juan Mountains.   This is an view when we first came to the area a few weeks ago.

 This was the same view after all of the rain................stunning and magnificent.

 This is the land of large ranches .....horses in abundance as well as cows, mostly black and sheep in the higher country.    But occasionally, you find a bit more exotic sights......like these yaks.   We've seen another small collection closer to Ouray.    The yarn store in Ouray sells local yak yarn....very soft.  

 But we didn't expect to see this in the same field.  

 We wandered a bit farther up the mountains  and the snow cover seemed even deeper.   We're wondering if some of our trails are now impassable.  

I noticed this sign as we were exploring.....not sure if you can read the first word "DEAD"....The road is actually listed on the map.   All of the area streets have regular city street signs but suspect that this one kept being 'removed' so they gave up and someone made a wooden one.   The original probably graces some realtor's wall.  

P has been playing PB with a group on a regular basis about 4 times a week.    Coincidently , one of the guys retired here from Bethel, CT, which is the next town over from where we lived in Newtown.  Last night, we joined him and his wife for dinner.    She grew up in Newtown, as did her mother so we had a lot of history and commonalities to talk about..     And then, later, another couple popped in and they were from Southbury....the next town north of Newtown!!  Small world and fun to share stories.

Looks like we'll hang around here 'til the end of the week or so and then maybe head back to Denver before going to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque on the 5th.   Our time on the road is getting shorter and we're beginning to feel the pull of home and friends.