Sweet Agony

Today, for the first time in 9 days, I actually dried my hair using my hair dryer, instead of leaving it to nature.  No, there has not been an electrical issue, nor has it been the next step in my letting it all hang out and loose and carefree (see previous post) since hitting the road with our truck Benny and becoming full timers in our RV, aka the Jet.

Actually my left elbow has been incapacitated.

Our wonderful but strenuous six hour hike to the 12,000 ft high Blue Lake in the lee of Mount Sneffels ended badly for me, as I slipped on the steep gravelly return path a mere two hundred feet from the end of the trail.  Yes I was tired.  Yes I had a headache, and yes, despite the fantastic scenery,

I had been thinking all kinds of negative thoughts – all symptoms of altitude sickness, I now understand.  No doubt these factors didn’t help when I fell on by backside and my elbow impacted into the mountainside.  There was little obvious damage, but I could not straighten my arm.

The ache was bearable with painkillers, and five days later once the bruising came out, the swelling went down, and movement was somewhat easier.  However, even now, I still cannot fully straighten the joint, and it is still uncomfortable to twist my lower arm.  I am just about able to feed myself.  (I should point out here that in the UK we use a knife and a fork at the same time to eat). I shall have to remain patient, knowing that more time is all that is required for this old retired body to heal properly.

On the upside, I am right handed and no way has my wine drinking ability been diminished.

OK, those of you who do not come from Scotland, please indulge me once again.  I know you know what this is,

but I had not, until last month, seen one of these, in its just-picked form, and was tickled pink.  Who would have guessed that when the leaves are pulled back (which is called shucking) I would find this well known vegetable?

I have to state that the Olathe sweetcorn is the best I have ever tasted, succulent, sweet and juicy, and Richard and I have been gorging ourselves since arriving in Olathe’s neighbouring town, Montrose.

In fact, we have discovered that Colorado is famous for lots more than sweet corn from Olathe.  We have tasted peaches from Pallisade, and I was taken back to the real meaning of peach fuzz – and I’m not referring to the furry nature of the peach skin, but to the fuzzy skein that covers the peach and still has to be removed by hand by gently rubbing during washing.   Oh and how much that extra effort was worth it, even though I had to do it with one and a half hands!  Yep, succulent, sweet and juicy.

The other fruit we have been stuffing ourselves with is melon.  Specifically, Rocky Forde canteloupes.  Look at this colour,..

and absolutely no white flesh beside the skin. I could almost have peeled this by hand.  And yes, you’ve guessed it, just succulent, sweet and juicy, all the way.

It is truly wonderful to be able to get fruit this fresh, and so cheaply, even in the local supermarkets.

And in no way did eating any of the above mentioned cause one of Richard’s molar teeth to break,

Yes - breaking bra’s and horrific hair days have not been the worst of it this month!

Richard swears it was some rather tough celery that was the cause, but I think it was the hard as stone corn nuts snack that he has rediscovered since returning to his home country.  I tried them only once.  I couldn't even get my teeth through one!

It only took two and a half hours for the tooth to be drilled, a root canal to be performed, and a crown created and fitted.  All in one sitting, with antibiotics prescribed after the treatment!  Such instant service is all very surreal for me, erstwhile benefiter of the UK National Health Service - which would have taken a couple of weeks to offer the same service.  However, we haven’t been members of our dental plan long enough to cover us for the cost of a crown. So what we gained in time, we lost out of our pocketbook.  Ouch!

Richard’s quick dental fix allowed him to savor another previously unknown dish the other day.  A Detroit Pizza in, of all places, the ski resort of Telluride.  It is square and cheesier than regular pizza, and despite being doughy, the crust is crispy.  Richard, who is the pizza lover in our partnership, said it was OK.

If you read my previous blog, you will be pleased to hear that I have now discovered where the Carrie Bradshaws of the south west reside.  This town nestled within steep mountains has the charm of a western town main street, supported by the affluent and tastefully restored housing of its backstreets.  The realtor shops that abound let you know that there is plenty of money in this former mining town.  As we rode the free gondola up and back down to the modern skiing village on the other side of the north and south facing skiing areas, I realized that this Ski resort differs from those in Europe because of its abundance of Aspen trees.

I wonder what the hillsides look like in winter, when they are stripped bare of the shimmering leaves. What will the signature white barks scored with random black markings look like in the snow?   Something for me to look forward to seeing this winter…


Telluride is also famous for being the location of Butch Cassidy's first robbery.  Colorado was Butch’s stomping ground, and he spent time in Montrose jail.  The film 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' was filmed in this area, and the local Montrose museum has the rail carriage that the Pinkerton posse jumped out of to chase the thieves down, which I instantly recognized.  Of course it was my favorite film of the early 70’s, and I have seen it plenty of times.  In fact, Paul Newman was my teenage pin up.  By the way, I thought the likeness between him and the real anti-hero was pretty amazing.

Richard and I decided that we needed to take another trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison before we leave Montrose on Saturday.  For me, it was the highlight of our month’s stay here.  We drove along the north rim this time (as I was still a little leery of hiking unknown steep paths especially with bears about) and actually followed the Gunnison River from the Blue Mesa Reservoir as it flows north into the Black Canyon.

As the clouds gathered with the threat of thunder, the light changed from that normally harsh sunlight, and even though the sky was no longer cerulean blue, our view of the “Chasm” and the “Painted Wall” sections was even more fabulous.

Or, as the locals say… sweet!

Further photos of Blue lake hike available here