Becky and I left Telluride Monday morning and drove to Ridgeway where we picked up the Million Dollar Highway and headed toward Ouray. There seems to be no real agreement as to how the highway got this name; some think it was due to cost and others, to the views. Ouray is often referred to as the Switzerland of America and it is another lovely Victorian town which sprung up due to mining in the late 1800's. As we were driving down the main street, I looked down a side street and saw several deer munching in someone's front yard and heading our way. We stopped to take photos as they neared the main street, not at all afraid of us.
As we climbed, more and more snow appeared along with beautiful views and remnants of old mining operations. There is a lot of pollution due to these old sites which are still being cleaned up. We tried to find a ghost town but most of them are located down old dirt roads, still impassable at this time of the year. However, we did drive into Silverton and that was delightful and so "western." The buildings are beautifully restored Victorian style structures. You could almost picture the sheriff coming out in the street to break up a gun fight. I was surprised at how wide some of the main streets are in these old western towns, as if they anticipated such growth. We had lunch near the stop of the famous Silverton/Durango train. The sun felt so good!
After lunch, it was on to Durango.........
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