The ride to Lake City was quite beautiful. There is a lot of sage, Aspen, isolated cabins and beautiful valleys on the way. About ten miles out of Gunnison, we got to the Blue Mesa Reservoir. We stopped to take off our jackets and snapped a photo or two.
We had more elevation gain (and loss) than we anticipated. I learned quickly that seeing the yellow traffic sign showing the truck heading down a steep grade is a happy sign! Of course, it usually following a steep uphill section.
Happily, traffic was light. We learned that Lake City and the surrounding towns are heavily populated with Texans fleeing the summer heat. Given the license plates we saw, we estimated about 80% of all vehicles were from Texas. Many were hauling large trailers, many had one or more four-wheelers. On this day, no one hung out the window screaming obscenities or tried to run us off our shoulder. Very kind drivers here!
We pulled into Lake City at about 2pm. Our first stop was the first store we saw to get a sandwich and drinks. Yum! They may look like ordinary turkey sandwiches to you, but to us, they were heavenly.
Lake City is a small "historic frontier town." The official visitor's guide describes it as "in the middle of the most remote county in the contiguous United States." It is in Lake City they say that one will find "more mountain wilderness than any place in America (and much less traffic)." In fact, as I rode into town, a deer ran out in front of me.
After killing time at the store eating, we headed for the Town Square Cabins. When we tried to check-in, we learned that we could not get our room until 4. Seems the maid just got started. Check-in is at four. We'd have to come back. No exceptions. Clearly the Town Square Cabins are the masters of flexibility! So, we headed to the city park and killed a couple of hours. It was quite hot, but it provided excellent people watching.
Later we checked into our cabin. NO SMOKING! And if we use the dishes, we have to wash them. No thank you for staying with us. Let's say that these cabins will not be recommended by us. We went to Cabin 6 - our abode for the night. We cackled at the sight of it. It was a pile! The floor was so unlevel that our bikes actually rolled back until they hit the wall. Ah, at least we had more bad cable TV to watch later. :)
We napped and showered then walked through town. It was indeed full of Texans. I wondered what happened the 10 months of the year they were gone. Does the town just shut down totally? Do they let guests in their hotel rooms early? We purchased a beer at the liquor store next door and enjoyed it in front of our cabin (which coincidentally is adjacent to the park we homelessly-napped at earlier).
We opted to dine at the Italian Restaurant (there is only one). It was delicious food, and the owner/waiter Angelo was a classic Italian jokester. It was a fine meal and a good time.
After dinner, we headed back to the cabin, watched a bit more mayhem, murder and depravity, then went to sleep. We hoped to get up early and get a start.
1 comment:
Thanks for the beta on the cabins. The ride looks like a blast.
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