FORTH OF JULY

AH Colorado was AMAZING!! We made it over the Rockies! Another accomplishment: we didn't get altitude sickness! woo hoo!!! However, the first day that we rode out of the flat lands of Colorado, we both had trouble breathing and had really dry noses, mouths, etc. . But we got over it.

We rode into Silverton, CO after riding over the Red Mountain Pass- a beautiful road called the "million dollar highway" (it cost that much to make it) (which was a lot back then). It was all switchbacks, no shoulder and no guardrails! To our right, the whole way up was a tremendous drop off, the biggest cliff you can imagine. And in that valley was a rushing river. It was beautiful and I was going back and forth between wanting to just gaze into that beautiful valley and focus very hard on staying on the road.
It might have been the most beautiful stretch so far. We stopped close to the top to draw and write poetry and eat peanut butter.

So it was July 3rd when we rode into Silverton and it was packed for the 4th of July. Everyone was really pumped. There was going to be a parade, a water fight, a rhubarb festival and fireworks. We rode up to a group of kids, all camped out in a yard and asked if we could camp there too. They said yes, if we would be there friends, which seemed reasonable.
We ate nachos at a funnel cake recipe,
hung out around a big camp fire and talked to the new friends who convinced us to stay for Independence day.
the next day, july 4th, was as amazing. The parade! (no one throws candy at us any more). The water fight (a serious water fight with firemen hoses, and people drenched). The rhubarb festival! (we split a GREAT Rhubarb crisp). Then we drove all their 4wheel drive vehicles up a mountain road, bouncing all around in the gravel, shoved into the front seat of the truck that they live in (so cool). And we got as high as we could, inching around other trucks coming down the mountain. Then the climbing began! We went up up up, Daniela still wearing her flip flops. Above the tree line into a steep field of wild flowers, ones that I had never seen before, whites and yellows and pinks and purples. It was beautiful. James and Daniela powered ahead, I took my time. And threw a snowball at the top. The view was overwhelming and the wind could almost knock you off your feet. I have never been up on a mountain so tall, and I have never really hiked without trails!
it was great. beautiful. I love Colorado. Everyone has their priorities straight.

that night, the fireworks lit up the entire valley, the mountains bounced the booms all around, back and forth. The 'official' fireworks were sometimes interrupted by 'rebel' fireworks from other campsites. It was incredibly exciting.
We made hot chocolate in the morning for everyone (the group just kept getting bigger), and got a ride into Durango. Yeah, sometimes we cheat.
Best forth of July Ever!
Jocelyn