Vacation Journal

We had reservations for the boat ride on Morrow Point Lake given by the National Park Service. You walk down a couple hundred steps into the Gunnison Canyon just below Blue Mesa Dam. Then you walk downriver about ¾ of a mile on the old Denver & Rio Grande Railroad bed to reach the dock where the large pontoon boat is kept (the boat holds about 40 people). At that point, the river is no longer flowing with rapids as it has entered the upper end of Morrow Point Lake. When we first got into the canyon, the river was flowing very fast with rapids. We had reservations for the 12:30 ride. We got down to the docks about 11:45 and ate a picnic lunch we had prepared. We shared a picnic table with a couple from Massachusetts. They asked where in Oklahoma we were from. When we said Bartlesville, they said they had been there to see the Price Tower. About 75% of the people we meet know about or have been to Bartlesville.

We took this ride last year and enjoyed it so much that we chose to do it again. We had to drive about 75 miles to get here. The boat ride lasted almost two hours. We were in a narrow canyon the whole way with walls several hundred feet tall in most places. When we turned around about three miles above Morrow Point Dam, the water was 280 feet deep with walls reaching 400 feet above the water. On the way, we passed the Curecanti Needle, probably the major landmark of the whole Gunnison Canyon area. The ride was just as awesome the second time as the first. I heartily recommend that everyone try it. It runs between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. The ranger who gave the talk during our ride owns houses in both Colorado and Tucson, Arizona. During the winter he works in Saguarro Cactus National Park near Tucson. He is a retired pilot who flew private jets for corporations.

After the boat ride we drove further east into Gunnison so Charolette could visit the quilt show they are having this month. Then we drove north and went over Ohio and Kebler passes. Our route took us to Delta, a city 20 miles north of Montrose. We drove on about 45 miles of dirt roads and went through the largest Aspen groves we have ever seen. We plan to come back here in late September when the Aspen have turned. Both passes were just over 10,000 feet. Last year the Denver newspaper rated this road as one of the five best places to see Aspen in Colorado. As usual when you are meandering through the mountains of Colorado, the scenery is varied and spectacular. No two roads look the same. There are similarities, but each has its own unique appearance. I don’t think I can ever tire of driving through these mountains.

We stopped at a random restaurant in downtown Delta, right on the highway. We found a gem. The menu choices were basic and simple, but the food quality was excellent. My BLT was served on their own superb, homemade wheat bread. The bacon was unbelievably good. Charolette had smothered porkchops that were excellent. The corn on the cob was locally grown and shucked at the moment it was prepared for your meal. Charolette could see one of the cooks shucking corn from time to time. Even though Delta is 55 miles from Ouray, we plan to get back to “The Eatery” at least one more time on this trip.