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 During this month's Ticket to Telluride Tour, as we approached the 11,000 foot Red Mountain Pass, one of the locals pointed out that our route crossed six of the twenty highest mountain passes in North America, and we did it all in one day.
The day could not have been more beautiful, not too hot in the lowlands, and at the highest elevations, only the slightest bit of snow in the shadows. The rarified cool Rocky Mountain air can only be experienced, and never adequately described.
The five roadsters who drove up together from Arizona on Friday stopped at
Four Corners, the only place in the US where four states touch, as it
turns out, the same four states which accounted for nearly all of the
attendees at this ride (except for the lone Idahoan).
After spinning around Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, and standing on all four states at once for a photo, the
Arizona folks crossed the Colorado border and met everyone else at the
Durango Travelodge on Friday evening, and then to dinner at Steamboat
Brewery.
 After a hearty breakfast just outside of Durango, 18 roadsters headed up the hill toward Telluride. We stopped at a riverside bridge for a photo, and then entered Telluride. Because of a festival this weekend, there simply was no place to park, and James joked that this is why it is called Tellu-ride and not Tellu-park. Adjusting our lunch plans a bit, we decided to proceed up the hill to Ouray where we stopped for lunch and did some shopping.
From Ouray, we continued up the hill to Red Mountain pass for a photo stop, and then down the hill to Silverton for another quick break, before returning down to Durango. On the way down the hill, Phil from Phoenix lost a collector bolt and the collector gasket, but he continued straight to the parts store and was able to find the replacement bolt, if not the gasket. For the next 24 hours of driving, however, Phil was heard often on the radio announcing that he needed to pull over to "tighten his nuts," so if you were listening to channel 6-21 (Summer Solstice) this weekend in either Colorado, New Mexico or Arizona, that's what the chatter was all about.
 On Saturday night, after regrouping at the hotel following the 200 mile Telluride loop, we decided to head down the street for
some Seriously Bad Texas BBQ, no seriously, I mean really bad, not bad
as in good, but totally bad, like shoe leather.
As a result of the dissapointing BBQ, several folks went to bed hungry Saturday night, arriving famished at Sunday breakfast at James and Deb's house in Farmington, New Mexico (about an hour South of Durango). However, breakfast was satisfying biscuits and gravy and fruit and danishes all served outside, the perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Many thanks to James and Deb for all your hard work in planning this trip. What a blast!
Click on one of the links below for lots more photos from those who attended:
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(3 votes)
Great Time in Telluride
By: darkbluesol ( IP 70.57.110.48) on Sep 28, 2008
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