Woke up to temps of 27°F outside the van and 37° inside. Now that’s cold! But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the forecast for the next five days is pure sun.
We spent a relaxing day doing laundry and simply hanging out with Alex, who has a month off from work.
After breakfast Joni and I drove to Leadville, which is 35 miles to the south. Alex lived in Leadville for two years and made this drive everyday. It’s a beautiful drive through the mountains, climbing over Freemont Pass, 11,319 ft. The scenery is spectacular and there is no development. Unfortunately the lack of development is due to the toxic waste created by the mining industry. This area is now designated as a Superfund site because the air, groundwater, surface water, and soil are contaminated with radionuclides and metals including molybdenum, uranium, and uranium daughter products from uranium milling by Cotter Corporation. It makes you wonder if this is what will happen to the areas in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument once the Trump administration declassifies 85% of that area in order to allow industrial development. A true tragedy; who needs environmental protection?
Arriving in Leadville we drove past Alex’s old home and Perry and Ed’s Guest House which was operated by former Patriots tackle Nate Solder’s parents. Their home is now for sale; I think the Solder’s have moved on. Parking the car on Main Street we first stopped at the City on the Hill Coffee & Espresso bar for a late morning break. We’ve been there before and can’t go through Leadville without stopping. We then took a leisure stroll along Main Street, window shopping and trying to figure out what shops were new. We then went into Melanzana, an outdoor clothing store that makes all their own fleece garments. They are a booming business that can’t keep up with demand, so they’ve shut down their on-line business and only sell to those who visit the store. Joni ordered a hoodie which they will send to her once it’s made, and I was lucky enough to find one right on their rack.
We returned to Silverthorne along the same route. Many of the major truck manufacturers use this route to test their new vehicles and we noticed a truck that was completely camouflaged but obviously be evaluated.
We lunched at the Dillon Dam Brewery, where Alex and Alice both worked. It was our first meal there and we really like it.
We spent the remained of the day hanging out at Alex & Alice’s place, re-organizing & fine tuning our camping gear in preparation of our two week trip into Utah.
For dinner the four of us went Mexican…great food and huge portions. I think we brought home more than we consumed.
