Purgatory, CO-The higher I go, the dumber I get

One thing I know: You need oxygen to provide enough brainpower for sketching! The resort at Purgatory, CO, is billed as "halfway to heaven", with street names like "Sheol" and condominiums named "Brimstone". Until you get used to the altitude, the lack of oxygen wreaks havoc with the sketchbook.

I could see this from my seat at the oxygen bar.

Even after a hit at the Altitude O2 Oxygen Bar, in the main plaza of Purgatory Mountain Resort, CO  this is all I could come up with for an ink sketch at 10,000 ft. The higher the altitude, the dumber I get!

Color added with my Van Gogh watercolor travel palette and waterbrush.

Purgatory Mountain Resort Zipline

Called "The Purgatory Plunge", your zipline ride starts at the tallest tower in the resort, just off the main plaza. Even though it's a relatively short ride, you can reach up to 35 mph because of the drop. Unlike a few of my family members, I'm not afraid of heights. If it wasn't for caution about the altitude, I would have loved to do this!

The kids enjoyed the elevated obstacle course.

Elevations we reached when visiting:

• Farmington, New Mexico:  5,395 ft./ 1,644 meters 1,791 meters
• Aztec Ruins, New Mexico: 5,877 ft./ 1,791 meters
• City of Durango: 6,512 ft./ 2000 meters
• Silverton: 9,318 ft./2,800 meters

• Purgatory Ski Area  (Durango Mountain Resort):

• Base Elevation: 8,793 ft./ 2,680 m
  Summit Elevation: 10,822 ft./ 3,298.5 meters

(I'm still catching up on scans of my sketches from this family trip in June)

Silverton sketches, closeups

Family Trip to Silverton, Colorado

As fireworks are zooming up into the air tonight, I imagine they aren't at any altitude near as high as we went on our recent trip to visit family in New Mexico. Here are some sketches from another high altitude (9,308 ft) excursion during that trip.....Silverton, Colorado.

A day in Silverton, CO. Zoom to see details or read my notes.

So on June 21, we drove from Farmington, NM, (already high altitude) through Durango and on up to Silverton, CO., for a rather late lunch. Grumpy's Restaurant and Saloon is part of the Grand Imperial Hotel on the other end of the main road (Greene Street) coming into town. The honky tonk piano played by Dale Elliott rang out the front door and into the street where we all had to admire the rare 4 wheel drive Checker Cab. The owner of the cab told us that the exterior is authentic but the whole inside has been redone, including the engine, etc.

Next we went into Grumpy's Saloon to listen to the piano and check out the menu. We got good service, since most of the tourists from the train* were just finishing their meal. Very good food, too. After we ate, it was time for a walk up and down the main street. While my husband and I often joined the rest of the gang in the tourist shops, sometimes we just took advantage of the many benches situated considerately along the sidewalk for sea level people like us. Again, verrrrry hot weather this June 21.

One of those benches was right outside the door of an ice cream shop with cool, air-conditioned breezes coming right across my shady seat. The view across the street is the back alley in my sketch above. It's not often that you can follow an alley all the way to a mountain.

Silverton as seen from switchbacks on HWY 550

*On a previous trip, we took the bus to Silverton and the train back to Durango. Silverton is linked to Durango by the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a National Historic Landmark

Meanwhile, the air is smoky and filled with the smell of gunpowder tonight. The neighbors are going wild with their family displays of fireworks!