Helen, Georgia

On Sunday we took a drive over to the alpine village of Helen, Georgia. We had visited there a few years ago when we lived in Atlanta. We are currently at a campground that is about an hour away so decided to drive over and spend the day. Along the way there and back we made side trips. The next few days I will post photos and tell you about some of the things we saw. I will start today with Helen. As you will see in the photos here every building in Helen has a German flare. This includes all buildings, even the post office, banks, fast food chain restaurant’s, etc… it was interesting to see an entire town like that. The town is a tourist area, so it was swamped with lots of people and traffic. There is only a 2-lane road that goes through the town. Here are some of the photos of the town. Enjoy!

Colorado - Durango

The reunion ended and David and I made our way back to the little airport in Durango only to find out we couldn’t fly out that day. The plane was there and it was going to leave however due to weather conditions (very hot) the plane could hold only so many people and so much luggage. The airline asked if we would mind waiting a few more days and being rebooked on a later flight back to Austin. In return they would put us up at a nice hotel in Durango, give us gift certificates to local restaurants there for all of our meals and give us 2 free round trip tickets for future travel. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse! The Doubletree hotel sent their shuttle bus to pick us up and take us to the hotel where a first class room over-looking the Animas River was waiting for us. We spent the next two days touring around Durango, which is a lovely little town. David’s parents were still in the area so they came down one night to join us and treated us to a night at the Bar D Ranch. It was a dinner and show and we had a grand time! We had to pinch ourselves for the opportunity to extend our vacation in such a lovely place and all at no cost to us. During this time that we took the scenic loop drive and we were not disappointed. We drove up to Telluride and spent some time there and rode the tram up to the village at the top of the mountain. Then on to the cute little town of Ouray, where we stopped for lunch. It was a very touristy area and full of people. The Million Dollar Highway is located between Silverton and Ouray and is part of the scenic loop drive. We drove through the Red Mountain Pass with its high elevation over 11,000 feet and even drove thru some snow. Yes it was July and there was snow on the ground in places and on the mountain tops. At times we were above the timber line. The high elevations got the best of me and I had trouble breathing and feeling dizzy while up in the higher mountains. I wouldn’t have traded in a minute of the trip though, it was all worth it to see such beautiful scenery.

the performers at the Bar D Ranch

Joe, Lou, Linda and David at the Bar D Ranch

David on the tram in Telluride

looking down on the town of Telluride from inside the tram

the beautiful town of Ouray

Red Mountain Pass, elevation 11,018 ft

Colorado - Scenery

Colorado is truly a beautiful place. David and I took the time to take in all we could while there. Below are a few of our favorite scenic photos from our travels in Colorado.

Colorado - A Magical Night

As I mentioned on a previous post, in July of 2005 we had a family reunion in Colorado. We stayed at the Circle K Ranch near Dolores, Colorado and had a fun time together. We did a lot of things together and took some side trips on our own too. One of my fondest memories was one night when David and I joined his parents and took a drive a few miles from the ranch where we found a beautiful spot to do some star-gazing in the light pollution free dark Colorado skies. It turned out to be more magical that we could have imagined. We built a campfire and sat around enjoying the evening. We noticed car after car turning up the little dirt road nearby and before long we could hear the sounds of drumming and chanting over the mountain. We were sure it was some sort of Native American ceremony. We didn’t want to intrude so we just listened and enjoyed the night. The next day we decided to go back during the daylight hours but didn’t see any signs of anything that had taken place the night before. The night had been a magical one for all four of us.

the sign at the Circle K Ranch

the whole gang poses at the entrance gate, all wearing our matching reunion T-shirts

Linda, Lou, Joe and David sit around the campfire, listening to the drumming on that magical night