Lake City, Colorado - Headed home on Thursday

As we headed back to Keller, we had to stop for a few more photos.  The aspens were gorgeous and that Colorado blue sky is so beautiful!  Memories to last until another visit!

 

Lake City, Colorado - Wednesday adventures

We drove the Alpine Loop this morning to Cataract Gulch.

 We picked up sandwiches at the local grocery store that had a nice deli in it - they were delicious!  We went to the city park to eat.  Ron started laughing - said he bet people walking by thought we were so poor that we couldn't even afford a proper picnic basket - still eating out of our cardboard box!

After lunch, we headed out to Blue Mesa - more beautiful Aspens, mountain views, lakes and streams.

This small church was located at the Ute Trail Sky Ranch.  We stopped to check it out.  It's a Christian ranch run for family vacations and retreats.  Beautiful buildings and grounds.  

Relaxing after a long day of sightseeing - Ron was driving Miss Daisy all day!

We stopped at the grocery to pick up a carton of Blue Bunny for a late afternoon snack.  We couldn't eat the whole thing and had no way to keep it so we looked for someone to share it with.  Our neighbors weren't home so Ron went out to where some guys were moving into the next group of condos.  He couldn't get their attention so I went out, carrying the ice cream - they took it!  Guess they only responded to a pretty face!

Finding open restaurants proved to be a challenge on this trip.  We tried to eat at The Climb, which was an upscale restaurant that we had enjoyed in the past, but they were too short-staffed to seat us.  So we went back to Southern Vittles for another meal of fried everything!  We had eaten there on Tuesday night.  I need to put more variety in my food box since it seems to be the best option these days.  Another change to our lifestyle caused by Covid!

Lake City, Colorado - Tuesday adventures

 We headed out this morning to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison - what an adventure.  We were advised to take the cut-off to Hwy. 50 and it turned out to be a dirt road with nothing much to see.  We finally made it to 50 which was closed along the south rim.  We headed north on the road to Crawford along the north rim.  

We ate a picnic lunch out of our box (goes on every road trip) in Crawford at a city services building that had lovely grounds with several large trees but no bathroom facilities for the public.  We finally found a service station in the nick of time.  Something did a number on my tummy!  So I was about done with eating for the day.  

 

On the way back from dinner at the Packer's Cannibal Grill - we spotted a deer on the roadside.  I had a very light dinner of a grilled chicken sandwich.  Packer's Grill is named after Alferd Packer,  a mountain guide who supposedly resorted to cannibalism during a harsh winter trip in 1874.

Lake City, Colorado - September 12-17, 2021

Our stop for the night on Sunday was The Raton Pass Motor Inn which was an old motel that had been decorated reminiscent of the old west.  We stayed in the Butch and Sundance room.  It was clean enough but the bathroom was small.  Certainly adequate for one night!  For future reference, Trinidad, Colorado would have more options for food and motel.

We had remembered traveling to Lake City in July of 2019 and having a difficult time getting meals - very crowded and slow.  We had lunch on the first day of this trip at Rock Inn Cafe in Memphis, TX and had a bit of a wait again.  Small town and a popular spot with the locals.  Food was pretty good and plentiful but we should have packed a lunch to save time!

First look at the mountains as we drove from Raton to Lake City, via the scenic route.  We stopped in Cuchara to check out a touristy store and then continued on to Creede - our lunch stop.  We ate in the park by the local grocery store.  While eating, the sprinklers came on at another picnic table and the people playing cards there made a quick dash for dry ground.  I didn't see any sprinklers close to us but it wasn't long before more sprinklers came on and chased us to dry ground.  It was a bit chilly for getting wet!  After a walk up the main street to window shop, I was all dry and ready to move on to Lake City.

Our first stop is usually North Clear Creek Falls to check it out.  Still beautiful!

We were stopped by a traffic jam on the road that leads to the falls - cows!