On the second day of our trip we decided to visit Ouray, another little town near by. Well, it would be near by, all we had to do was take a little road up over the pass, Ophir pass, but apparently it had snowed already this year and our little two-wheel drive rental wouldn't have made it. So instead we got to drive around the mountain, about an hour drive.
Thinking we'd be walking around a bit I opted for tennis shoes, and Caleb took this shot of me after I finally managed to put on and tie my own shoes.
Please also notice the state of our two suitcases. Can you guess which one is Caleb's?
When Caleb and his family went four wheeling in the area, Ouray is where they stayed. It's motto is the Switzerland of America. I'm not sure if they gave themselves this name or what, it seems rather lofty, but I have to admit it's what I imagine the Alps would be like.
Much to Caleb's delight, we spent the afternoon walking around the shops. One of the first stores we walked into was a glass and pottery shop. We browsed for a little bit and then I decided to purchase this glass ornament.
The inside of the tag reads that it's made by Sam Rushing, and as the woman was ringing us up she mentioned that every day at 1:20 she's allowed to let people out back to watch Sam blow the glass. Lucky for us, it was just that time. (Looking back, this seems like more than a coincidence, but we didn't mind.) So out back we went and sat enthralled for a good twenty minutes while he made two glass vases. It was absolutely fascinating to watch him work and put color into the glass. While he was working he told us about the history of glass making. I don't remember any of it, I was too busy watching the glass as he worked - it looked like honey, as he spun it around the steel rod.
We continued our walking and Caleb found his new project. So he says.
In black and white, at Caleb's request. He's in love with the black & white. He'd shoot everything in black and white if I let him.
We stopped at another little deli for lunch and snapped a few shots as we were waiting for our food.
My Freak Eye.
Caleb's ridiculous stretchy neck skin.
Then we decided to showcase the wonder that is Caleb's forehead. Again, Caleb seems to have an abundance of extra skin on his body. That, or I have paper thin skin. Or somewhere in between.
This is what I can do.
And this is what Caleb can do.
His brain, it looks like, has morphed to the outside. Squidged right out there.
Thankfully our lunch came and saved you all from further ridiculousness.
We continued our walk and took a few shots of the cute little town.
We walked into a cute little shop called Wheels, Wings & Nautical Things. It had all sorts of fun things, my favorite though was a wooden sign Caleb pointed out that read, "We don't skinny dip - we chunky dunk".
I immediately took a picture and sent it to my dad and sister. That right there is right up our alley, the inappropriate, the dirty, the sarcastic, these are things my family (well, my dad's side) thrives on.
My next favorite store was a cute little candy shop, and Caleb snapped a few shots as we wandered. They're all off center because Caleb has decided his New Thing is to snap random shots from his hip without looking through the viewfinder. Sometimes this works out and other times we get shots of people's crotches. So. There you go.
And you know, I was too busy looking around to see those cute little tins you see on the upper right, which is too bad because I would have purchased one of each to turn into some cute little decorative something. After first enjoying the hard candy, of course.
I was possibly distracted by this:
After sampling a few things (and yes, I partook of the chocolate) we drove up the mountain a little way and found a gorgeous look out.
This is Ouray. That's it. But it's beautiful.
After wandering around for a while we drove back to the Telluride area to the little spot Miss Maggie told us about. This was at my request because we were trying to get a good shot of the two of us and the first time we tried I was wearing that big green shirt and it looked ridiculous and huge and stuff. I picked it up at Old Navy and went for a size larger so that I'd have room to grow (this is the hardest concept to get used to, trying on something that fits and thinking, nope, I need something bigger to get my money's worth) and hadn't washed it (read: shrunk it) yet. So. That's the story.
(Side note: Caleb is going to be upset that I've posted these without letting him "fix them up". But I can't wait for him. I hope to be announcing his own photography website, just as soon as I can get him to agree on a "suitable site".)
First though, we had to fulfill our mission. Find Tom Cruise's house.
I think we did it.
We saw it from a distance and drove around until we found the entrance, the only house that had a gate and security pad.
Caleb was freaking out thinking that some big burly body guards were going to come get us, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a few cheesy shots.
I'll have you know these are all taken from the car, because that's as close as Caleb would get.
This one was harder, I could only jump about a foot off the ground.
After the jumping though, it became apparent that I was indeed going to have to use the roll of toilet paper that I'd thrown in the car, knowing we'd probably be in areas without a bathroom, and that I need to pee every single hour, without fail.
So. I peed in Tom Cruise's side yard.
Hopefully he doesn't mind, there really was nothing I could do. As a pregnant woman when you have to go, you have to go. Now. Then. Right that second.
I can't tell you how flustered this made Caleb, he sat in the car as my "getaway". It was hilarious.
We ended the evening with homemade hamburgers and ridiculously juicy Colorado peaches, and then a long bath for myself. It couldn't have been a better day.