Telluride

On Thursday morning we began with breakfast in a New Orleans style restaurant in Ouray.  Eggs Benedict with ham piled high and our now traditional shared pancakes provided a caloric load that was to last me til dinner.  Our waitress was an interesting soul...a native of New Orleans who came west to help with this restaurant, her plans were to join a a friend in Florida in December to begin sailing in the Caribbean for six months.  What a life!

Following our 10,000 calorie breakfast, we left Ouray and headed north towards Ridgeway, CO then turned west on Hwy 62.  The weather was cool and sunny, though it promised to warm up as the day wore on.  Within a couple of miles we reached the turn off for Last Dollar Highway which was a dirt and gravel road that cut over the mountains to Telluride.  KC says when he hits the lottery, he's buying a place along this stretch and I can see why.  The road passed gorgeous ranches with million dollar views of the mountains and several times passed through magnificent old Aspen groves.

Eventually Last Dollar began dropping us into Telluride, CO which is set in a valley.  The real estate was spectacular with homes routinely priced at $10M and up.   Way up.

We checked into a great old hotel on Main Street of Telluride called The New Sheridan.   The hotel had an intimate lobby bar, a full formal dining room and an open air,  roof top bar.  It did NOT have air conditioned rooms and things did get a bit noisy with the fan going full blast and the window open to the late night street noise.  Still, it is a beautiful hotel and I recommend it.

Lucy and Ethel wasted no time in hitting the abundant shopping opportunities that Telluride offers.  KC and I began a leisurely stroll along the shops and almost immediately found an interesting gallery owned by a couple, Bob and Valerie Franzese (http://www.robertjfranzese.com/about/)...she paints and he is a photographer who specializes in black and white landscapes.  Bob studied under Ansel Adams and Gordon Parks.  We struck up a conversation with him (Bob) and he regaled us with stories of his professional career (commercial photographer with clients like Ford, Ferrarri, Jansen Sportswear and Architectural Digest).  I asked about his choice of camera and he brought out his Phase One camera for me to hold and ogle...its an 80 megapixel medium format camera that he helped develop....your price is $80,000.

Bob told us a story about a "stunningly beautiful woman" who came into his gallery and began studying one of his photographs from just inches away.  After 10 minutes Bob's curiosity got the best of him and he asked what she was doing.  She spoke no English, but her husband, a Russian billionaire, explained that she was an amateur photographer.  Bob asked what camera she used and she opened her purse to reveal the same $80,000 Phase One that he used.  Bob said her work was, uh...in need of improvement and he agreed to give her private lessons.  So she now regularly brings the Gulfstream G5 (a $40M private jet capable of intercontinental flight) from Russia to Telluride for a private photography lesson with Bob.

After a delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant (Elk shortloins for me) Lucy and I retired to our room and watch the Patriots conduct a football clinic for the Steelers.  Brady and Gronk put on a show...looks like the Pats may be the team to beat again this year.