To Hell Ya Ride & Ouray Brewery Tour

Pleep and Delete were up early and suggested a short jaunt over to Telluride.  Pleep had studied up on the town's history and preferred the orginal name - To Hell Ya Ride - which dates back to the town's mining days.  There are several variations on how the name was derived.  Pleep prefers the one that refers to the raucous behavior of the miners.  The Telluride Film Festival starts on 2 September so the town was busy with preparations.  There was also an abundance of refugees from the 1960s and their descendants which gave the place too much of a California feeling for Pleep.

Ouray is also a mining town but much smaller than Telluride.  Pleep prefers the atmosphere and finds the choices of pubs and restaurants superior.  Ouray has interesting ties to American culture.  True Grit was filmed in and around Ouray.  It was also the inspiration for Ayn Rand's Galt's Gulch, from Atlas Shrugged.  Surrounded by mountains, the town is known as America's Switzerland and the entire downtown is a designated historic area.

With the beer drinker's guide in hand, Pleep led Ed, Peggy and Delete on a tour of the local establishments starting with the Ouray Brewery.  Pleep found a lot to like about the Ouray Brewery.  The swinging bar stools were high on his list and perfectly made to allow a drinking monkey lots of room.  He also liked the town motto: Ouray A Drinking Town with a Tourist Problem.  He thought it fit well with his motto: A drinking monkey with a traveling problem.

When Ed and Pleep went back for a nap, Peggy and Delete decided to wander around the town and explore the many historic buildings.  Delete's favorite place was the Elks building from the late 1880s.  Their front door boasted a sign, Welcome All Visiting Elks, and Delete was particularly impressed with the large bronze elk.  Another favorite place turned ot to be Billy Goat Gruff's Biergarten which offered a true German beer garden and outstanding views of the area.

The day ended up with a final walk through the town and sampling green chile stew at Buen Tiempo.  Thursday's plan is the drive on the Million Dollar Highway into Durango.  Once in Durango, Pleep has plans to head straight to the Ska Brewery in hopes to acquire the last of the Euphoria brews.