The first time I experienced Telluride was over 20 years ago with my oldest daughter Kat. She was 16 and we did a mother daughter road trip to Colorado. Telluride was the first place we saw people wearing shorts, sandals and jackets during July. We had to buy jackets for the cool evenings. Telluride is also the first place that I saw a bear in the wild. As we were taking the Gondola up the mountain we spotted a mother bear and two cubs. It made an indelible impression on me.

Fast forward 20 years I spent a memorable week with my friend and yoga instructor Margaret attending g the Telluride Yoga Festival. We got there a couple of days early to secure our fabulous campsite and did some hiking. I was so excited to bring Vince and Ann and Steve to this magical town.

A former mining town, Telluride has a colorful history. Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank here. It’s full of interesting shops and restaurants, and of course great people watching. It’s also one of the most scenic towns in Colorado.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluride,_Colorado

We got a late start. We drove on 160 to Durango. There was construction, with a good fifteen minute delay at Mancos, we somehow diverted down to Cortez which added a bit to our trip. The scenery was spectacular.

By the time we finally made it to Telluride the priority was finding a bathroom and getting food. There were some people,who will not be named, that were on the verge of getting a little “hangry”.

We drove to the Town Park, parked there and made our way into town.

One of the reasons we chose today (Thursday) to visit Telluride is because there is a big music festival this weekend. We hoped to miss most of the crowds. We missed some I’m sure, but there was appreciably more traffic and people then a few weeks before when I was there for the yoga festival.

Lunch was Detroit Style Pizza at Brown Dog Pizza, here is the link.

https://www.browndogpizza.com/. We all would highly recommend it.

Then we took the Gondola up the mountain to the Mountain Village. It’s free and a unique way to get around.

Next the switchback road up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had to maneuver on the switchbacks a bit in our Dodge Ram Truck. The Wrangler, with its short wheelbase, would have been a better choice.

Steve had no problems on the road although he really had to pay attention and keep it in 4 wheel low.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Telluride)

This is the remanent of an avalanche area

The drive back, without the construction delay and alternate route was beautiful and faster.