Day 2 Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Ouray

First thing Tuesday morning we headed south to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, dun dun dunnn. My dad has been telling me for years that this was a cool place to see but I had no idea it would take my breath away. Literally. I almost got Vertigo trying to look down into the bottom of this canyon. So cool. I wish we had planned more time to explore. But we had so much more we wanted to see.

Like Ouray. This little town is nestled at the beginning of a huge mountain range in South Western Colorado. They call it the Swiss Alps of America. It was so beautiful.

We made sure to plan time for this cool public swimming pool. It is a natural hot spring that they turned into a great pool. It's divided into sections that are different temperatures. Eden and mom preferred the warm part but Austin was insistent on conquering the slides. As he slid down he would cry "fun!" and as soon as they were down Ryan said he would scream, "slide again, again."

I don't know whether it was a good thing or not but the pool totally wiped out Eden and Austin and they slept for most of the drive to Durango. I have to say it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on and one of the most terrifying. There are some points where you can't go more than 10 - 15 miles an hour because of the steep drops. It got my heart racing at times. But it was green with pine trees,there was snow nestled in ravines, and tons of mining ruins hanging precariously off cliffs.

What a day. We finally made it to Durango around 5:30, had dinner, got groceries, and then headed up to Lake Vallecito. It was another 40 min. drive in beautiful forest. We got to the cabin later than expected but with enough daylight to unload and play at the park for a few minutes before bedtime.