In only two days we had seen some
of the best of Colorado and rounded the
State of Utah with it's diverse terrain. It was time to pack up and look
forward to the next leg of the trip. 
On
our early morning departure from Marble Canyon, the sun bathed the Vermillion Cliffs in
golden and orange tones setting off the various shades of terra cotta
against the light blue sky. Unforgettable would best describe the scenery.
Once over the cliff's edge, the flight to Page is quickly done. Again full
of gas, we pressed on eager to see what was ahead.
Spectacular
sights of Lake Powel passed under us on our way east. We were
thinking that
having floats under the belly for a splash and go would have been great fun.Checking out the Rainbow Bridge is a MUST! What a sight, what a treat.
Monument
Valley, here we come!
Finding the right angle for
picture taking can easily take an hour and we were so grateful to have
plenty of gas for cruising around.
On
the way to Montrose, the Uncompahgre Range welcomed us ahead. In the
distance, the peaks of Telluride with the first snows waved it's flag, bidding
us to come. It was tempting, but the with the feel of all too familiar wind
and it's assortment of bumps, we declined. We circled over the colorful
Aspens, waiting for a clearance to land in Montrose.
A courtesy TRUCK
with over 500,000 miles was offered from Western Skyways, where our aircraft engine had been
rebuilt earlier this year. Happily, we thanked those kind people. It
was just the perfect mountain vehicle. Ueli was in seventh heaven!
We checked out the land situation at Ridgway, where one of our close flying buddies would soon call home for he and his family.
.Grabbing
a cup of coffee and a homemade cookie in the much talked about town of Ouray
afforded us a chance to sit on a real sofa and chill out for about an hour.
The new owner was from Germany and "she" introduced us to shaved Mexican
chocolate sprinkled over our cappuccinos. Bliss is what we remember.
Joan, the flower girl, finds the last of the summer beauties for her collection of dried flowers.
The Aspen present a magnificent last painting before the cold bitting weather descended from the mountains.
Time
to go home, return the courtesy car and get some more updates on the handling
and preservation our new engine in N85S. For now, we say good-bye to Montrose, a town with an exciting
future..... Of all the towns and cities we visited the last 200 hours of
flying in just over four months, we found "the" best restaurant in Montrose,
set high on a mountain desert in the Rocky Mountains. 
En route home, we checked
out the snow conditions for the upcoming season of the well known ski slopes of Copper (left) and
Keystone
(right).
Almost home and having given FSS a final good weather report, a last reminder of how mountain flying can be, bid us adieu. A hair raising descent tossed us about down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains..........We updated FSS and flew on to Boulder.
Finally, we are back home in Boulder with a whole lot to tell and a whole
lot of sleep to catch up on!Of all the many trips we made this past summer and fall, this one was at the top of the list.
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