5 Feb- Moving Day, Steamboat to Durango

What a day, had about 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground when we got up this morning and it was falling at about an inch an hour. George and I checked out after an hour of loading equipment. I better not say much to Judith about packing a lot, I had 4 pair of skis 3 pair of boots, enough clothes for a month, and enough grocery's for George and I to eat for 3 weeks.
The Winter Carnival was in full swing today so we decided to enjoy some of the local atmosphere. First was the "Knights of Columbus" pancake breakfast where we met more old folks than you could shake a stick at, what a treat, we were the only out of town guest and stayed a couple of hours talking and eating, a great way to start the day.


Good help is so hard to find these days, here is the dishwasher doing his thing, we did not break a single item the entire week.

The Main Street downtown Steamboat Springs is closed off and they had hauled in about 12 inches of snow, so with the new snow the horses and people could perform the events without getting injured. Lots of local ranchers bring their horses to town for the event, where they tow the youngsters at a full gallop with the kids on skis or shovels. Lots of spills and fun.

Some real live Colorado Cowboys. Most of the riders have been in the Steamboat area for many generations and have participated in the carnival for many years. The kids are great skiers and are provided ski instruction as a school subject. There are more Olympians (52) from Steamboat than from any other area in the US.

You cannot have horses without pickups and horse trailers, hundreds of thousands of $$$ tied up in the nice rigs.

Both Cowgirls and Cowboys participate.

Can you make out the young skier being towed behind the horse ? We must have seen a hundred kids from 5 to 11 and never saw one fall.

There was a large crowd on hand enjoying the event and the snow. We had planned on staying most of the day but about lunch we had had all the fun we could stand and because it was snowing so hard we decided to hit the road and move on toward Durango. Snow was heavy and at times the roads were in bad shape but we traveled south about 200 miles and have stopped for the night at Montrose, CO. Montroses' claim to fame is the Black Canyon.

The Black Canyon (A National Park) is 48 miles long and the river drops 43 ft per mile, making it the steepest mountain drop in the US. By comparison the Colorado River only drops 7.5 Ft per mile going thru the Grand Canyon. The canyons walls are so steep the sun seldom can reach the bottom of the canyon and the walls appear to be black, thus the name Black Canyon.

The snow storm that we had traveled through most of the day hit Montrose about the time we stoped for the night, the photo above was taken after another snow earlier in the year. The canyons roads are so steep they are closed in the Winter, looks like it would be a beautiful place to visit.

We will arrive in Durango tomorrow and check in to our condo, more photos then. Hope you enjoy.