Going Places with Lucy & Leo

June 27, 2018

Day trips are one of my favorite things to do, so I’m very lucky that my husband Leo likes to drive. He really enjoys driving especially on scenic highways. Colorado 145 from Dolores to Telluride is one of those beautiful drives than in itself would be worth doing, but having the goal of spending the day in Telluride makes the drive much more enjoyable.

We set out early for our 1 ½ hour drive towards Telluride so we could take advantage of the day there. We planned and timed it such that we arrived just in time for a nice lunch at The Sheridan Hotel, and then the plan was to do some sightseeing and shopping. This itinerary made me giddy since this restaurant came highly recommend by my dear friend Dillie and her sister Bertica (who lived in Telluride for many years, so practically a native).
The Sheridan Hotel, which used to be the opera house is right in the center of town. Telluride sits in a box canyon, and as result, offers up 360 degrees of spectacular views. We noticed the beautiful flower displays used as street dividers and many private gardens on the houses bordering the main streets, just an explosion of flowers. So first things first we grabbed a beautiful outdoor table and sat down for a scrumptious lunch and a bottle of chilled Pinot Grigio. We figured we walk it off before our drive back to Dolores 😄

After lunch we took the gondola (which is free) from the center of town to the top of Mountain Village. The Village is where the ski resorts sits but today was thriving with a delightful outdoor market and musical entertainment. The gondola was also full of mountain bikers who where taking their bikes to the top of the mountain and then riding them down the many trails offered. I could see Leo’s eyes lighting up at this idea but I think I’ll skip it and let him go for it if we come back for a return visit, I’ll just wait at The Sheridan bar with a glass of wine 😉

After visiting the village we rode the gondola down and walked the center of town with its numerous gift and specially shops. Overall a delightful afternoon. We really would like to find an RV park close enough to spend more time in this area. Telluride has a little of everything we love to do. We noticed bike paths along the highways entering town and they seem to be very bike friendly all throughout the area. This is now on our “must return list” the list keeps getting longer but we love to plan, discover new places and return to the ones that charm us.