Visiting an Ice Friend

I know it seems that we're visiting every small
city in the west lately, so I guess that today
was no exception. We visited our Ice friend, Laura
who is leaving on Thursday to manage a kitchen
at a University of Alaska science field camp north
of Fairbanks. She was staying with some friends
who have a great house just outside of Gunnison.
We had a great time and it was really nice seeing
her. Gunnison seems like a nice little town and
although we didn't really do much exploring, it
seems pleasant with a small state college and
lots of friendly people. Neither of us had been
to Gunnison before but we'd like to go back again
someday.



On the way to and from Gunnison, we drove by the
Blue Mesa Reservoir at the Curecanti National
Recreation area. It was very quiet since the lake
was still semi-frozen, but when I talked to the
ranger at the visitor's center, he told me that
it would be very busy in a few weeks with people
fishing, boating, camping and wind surfing. Parts
of that area reminded me of the Superstition Mountains,
east of Phoenix, Arizona while other sections looked
a lot like the mountain and plain area near Twizel,
New Zealand. Much of that area was seen in the
"Lord of the Rings" movies. It was a pretty area
and we'll visit again when the weather is warmer.