Telluride, CO - Days 2 & 3

Tuesday, September 21

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are “work days” for Andi. He tries to consolidate all his work calls and meetings into those two days, so we’re free to travel and explore more freely the other days of the week. Unfortunately, the inside of our RV isn’t big enough for all of us when he’s working so Andi has been taking his work calls outdoors. It was a chilly office space this morning! When I did my workout outside at 7:00am, the air temperature was 31 degrees. Poor Andi was bundled up outside at the picnic table from 9:00am - Noon until the weather warmed up on the day.

Around lunchtime, we switched spots and Andi worked inside the RV while I took Tory and Aden to the Telluride Library. I saw a sign posted yesterday in town for Totally Tuesdays — a free arts & science class at the library. This week, Pinhead Institute would be leading the class. “What is the class about?” Tory and Aden wanted to know as we walked there. I wasn’t really sure. “What if it’s a math class?” Tory said. “It’d be just our luck.”

The kids played at the library for a bit before the class started, then joined in with a few others at 2:30pm for a STEAM class led by Pinhead Institute. “We’re going to do some cool Geometry activities!” the woman exclaimed, and Tory groaned. Ha! “I knew it,” she said.

The class actually ended up being really fun. Tory and Aden did several activities based on the Mobius theory, before Aden lost interest and asked to go play with the other kids in the library.

The kids played at the library until 5:00pm, then we walked back to the campground. Andi wasn’t there — he went to dinner with his friend Mike and his girlfriend. I made sloppy joes & broccoli for Tory, Aden and I and we relaxed at camp the rest of the night.

Wednesday, September 22

This morning, Andi’s work calls started at 7:30am which is a challenge because nothing is open that early. He decided we should drive into downtown to claim a parking spot for the day, as street parking would be a challenge to find later in the day.

At 6:30am, Andi and I got up and packed up the RV while the kids were still asleep. We drove into town and found a parking spot near the library. Andi wanted to use the library’s fast internet for his video call but unfortunately, it didn’t open until 9:00am. He sat on a park bench outside the building and worked from there. Meanwhile, the kids and I sat in the RV parked on the side of the street and did school. Andi surprised us with donuts from the bakery down the street around 9:00am.

Around 11:00am, Tory, Aden and I went into the library to finish school while Andi worked from inside the RV. Then, during Andi’s work break, we decided to go back to the town park campground to take showers and fill up on water while we had the opportunity. Next, we hustled across town to dump our RV’s black and gray tanks at the city sewer building. This was the weirdest RV dump I’ve ever seen. It was basically a man hole into the city’s main sewer system. Definitely a two-person job to dump as one of us had to pull the tank valves on the RV while the other manually held the hose into the hole to prevent it from squirting everywhere. At $15/dump, it wasn’t a cheap visit either.

Andi’s friend Mike recommended a spot for lunch called Counter Culture which happened to be next to the sewer dump on Lawson Hill. We made our way there next to grab a quick bite to eat before Andi’s next call block. The parking lot was not RV friendly at all, so I hopped out and ordered food as Andi circled for a spot to park. Our lunches looked amazing — I ordered the tuna sandwich with a Caesar salad and Andi got “the banger” which featured one of Mike’s girlfriend’s sausages (she’s the butcher in Telluride) with sauerkraut and potato salad. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a very good internet signal near the restaurant and Andi needed it for his video call. We rushed back into Telluride to find a good internet signal and ended up parking on the side of the street somewhere. Andi was late for his call and we bottomed-out the RV in our haste — we were kind of a mess. While Andi was on his calls, Tory, Aden and I walked to the grocery store and played at the school playground for a bit. Then, we just waited on the sidewalk next to the RV until Andi told us we could come in.

We didn’t have a plan for camping tonight and we couldn’t get Google Maps on our cell phones to load (so tired of having poor cell/internet coverage when we just want our devices to work!), so we accidentally drove right past Trout Lake where we’d planned to hike and camp. Andi continued driving to Lizard Head Pass, but we couldn’t turn the RV onto the gravel roadway because the drop was too steep for our RV. We checked out some dispersed (free) camping nearby, but it was all taken. Frustrated, we continued driving toward the town of Rico. “I just want a campsite with a flat road and an electrical cord. Is that too much to ask?” I said to Andi, defeated. Sometimes “boondocking” (aka: camping without services) is great because it allows us to stay in some really cool areas. Other times, I just want to use our appliances without having to think about conserving power.

Andi pulled into the next campground we saw along the highway called Cayton Campground. Hallelujah! My prayers had been answered. A flat road, electric hook-ups and a quiet campsite nestled in the woods. We snagged a spot, plugged in the RV and then went for a walk along the Dolores River to check out our new home for the night. The changing colors of the aspen trees are beautiful here. It was the perfect fall evening.

We had electricity, but not a spec of cell/internet service which forced the kids outside to play. Andi set up the hammock, and Tory and Aden curled up inside there together listening to Halloween songs on Tory’s iPad. Pretty cute.

Because we had power & could run the microwave/convection oven, we vegged on popcorn, tator tots and chicken nuggets while watching downloaded episodes of Heartland on Netflix. All in all, a great ending to our time in the Telluride area.