Right after Cannon got out of school on his last day we scooped him up and headed into the mountains for a long weekend.

We camped for one night just south of Grand Junction, at Escalante Canyon Road.

It was just a stop over spot but it was still super pretty and the kids had fun exploring the site.

On Friday we drove south into the San Juan mountains and the views were spectacular. We camped along the Million Dollar Highway, then drove on to visit Silverton.

Silverton was a very quaint Colorado mining town and also the home of the Hardrock 100.

The park that is home to the Hardrock rock has instruments that the kids loved playing.

The kids also got to pan for gold.

We would have loved to take a mine tour as well but since the kids haven’t gotten vaccinated, being in a small space with no air circulation didn’t seem like a great idea. Fingers crossed they can get vaccinated soon.

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On the way back to our campsite we visited the Ironton townsite. I think I was the most creeped out, the kids wanted to go inside the houses that were falling down and full of rat droppings. It was fun to walk around but I was a hard NO on entry.

On Saturday we spent the day exploring Ouray (we spoke to locals, it’s pronounced U-Ray). First stop was Box Canyon.

There is just a short hike into the slot canyon to see an epic water fall.

You can take the stairs down to the bottom where you can feel the mist from the falls and explore a little.

We then hiked to the top of Box Canyon, which was not far but was steep and technical. The payoff was a bridge over the canyon and a cool tunnel.

After our hike we went into town to get some well earned ice cream.

We parked just off the only paved street in town but ended up with a very tired little girl. Emmy was ready for a nap so we decided to take a scenic drive along the million dollar highway while Emmy took a nap.

There are incredible views all the way between Ouray and Silverton.

In the afternoon we moved to Kendall Campground closer to Silverton to a spot right on the river.

We played in our campsite for a bit before going back to Silverton for Dinner. We haven’t eaten at a restaurant in about a year so it was an exciting experience.

The next morning we let the kids play at our campsite while Cory got in a bike ride in the mountains.

We reluctantly packed up our camp site and drove back into Ouray to hike Baby Bath Tubs.

This is an easy little hike great for kids along the Ouray Perimeter Trail, with little “tubs” of water in the creek you can hike through. After our hike we drove on towards Telluride.

There were a few things we didn’t get to in Ouray that we would love to do on another trip down here:

• The Ouray Perimeter Trail looks amazing, it is 6.5 miles with lots of climbing and descending. Cannon isn’t up to that long of a hike and we aren’t up to carrying him that far. Maybe in a few years.
• The Ouray Hot Springs – We were planning to visit but the kids were fighting colds (negative Covid test before we left town) and they don’t want sick people visiting (understandable) so we skipped it this time.
• Cascade Falls – Very close to town, short hike to the bottom of the falls or more strenuous hike to the top!
• There were many places along Main St. we wanted to stop and eat as well but since the kids aren’t vaccinated and fighting a cold we avoided all crowded places.

The drive into Telluride was as stunning as the Million Dollar Highway, maybe even more beautiful. I can see why people are in love with the San Juan Mountains.

We found camping just outside of Telluride on Last Dollar Road with the best view.

On Monday morning we went into Telluride and found coffee + breakfast at a cute little coffee truck called Cowgirl Coffee.

Telluride is STUNNING and probably our favorite of the three towns we visited. The main strip was very cute with lots of restaurants and shops.

We rook the gondola over to Mountain Village, it is very nice that it was pet friendly!

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When we got the village we walked around a bit then we were ready for lunch.

Cannon was extra excited to eat inside a gondola that they had set out in the courtyards.

You could get food from any restaurant and take it to your own gondola to eat.

It was extra nice because it started raining while we were eating. Humphry also enjoyed such a dog friendly town and going on all the adventures with us.

After exploring Telluride a little bit more we picked up our trailer and drove home. There was a storm coming in and we didn’t want to get caught on the side of a mountain in a storm. We drove through lots of rain and some snow to get home around 10 pm.

It was a great kick off to summer trip and we can’t wait to explore more of our home state!