Most of our posts till now have focused on the adventure portion of our trip; not many delve into our experiences meeting Palisade’s finest.
On one of our first trips to the Distillery (The Still) we met Jesse who immediately welcomed us with open arms as did his fantastic wife Dessa and the rest of the Colorado Alternative Healthcare crew.
Last week Jesse invited us to go camping with him and some of his friends & family at Ridgway National Park which happens to be in the San Juan Mountain Range – our favorite!
When we rolled up, Jesse and Dessa were already at the campsite and helped us get our gear in order. Not a bad place to spend the weekend!
Jesse described this trip as some family and friends getting together for his brother Sam’s birthday. Well, as everybody filtered in (Jesse’s family is dispersed around CO) we realized we were invited to a tight knit family gathering and again we were welcomed with open arms.
We all enjoyed grilling and sitting by the fire that evening, but called it relatively early so we could enjoy the lake the next day.
Just hanging out on the lake would have made for a nice day, but there was lake surfing too!
We both got up which was an accomplishment; Amy turned out to be a natural getting up and staying up on her first try!
Nothing like catching your breath while enjoying these views.
After a few hours we turned in and prepared for the feast to come – steaks, burgers, roasted veggies, salads. When it was all over everybody’s belly was full and plopping down by the fire with the moon as bright as the sun was a perfect way to close out an amazing day.
We woke up on Sunday and enjoyed some coffee with everyone. It can’t be stressed enough how amazing all the folks were that we spent the weekend with – we’re truly grateful.
Another check off the list was to hit a hot spring which is always inconvenient since we are usually traveling with Chica. As everybody started clearing out to go home, we took the opportunity to hit up Orvis since it was only about 10 minutes away from the campground.
We’ve heard a lot about this place being one of the nicer springs to visit along with it being clothing optional, hence no pictures.
The resort is small and beautiful once you get past the fact that folks of all shapes and sizes are running around ass naked. There are a number of stone, natural feeling pools with varying degrees of temperature and the ambiance itself is resortish and relaxing.
Definitely recommend a visit if you’re on the Western Slope.
Finally before the two hour drive home, we decided to head back into the town of Ridgway (which we first encountered on our way to Telluride) and hit the brewery for lunch. Place has good brew, salad and pizza – highly recommended.