The week has been characterised by altitude and enjoyment, and you're wondering why, right? Well, we've met up with some of our new friends sharing food, drinks and lots of laughs as well as climbing to the heights of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Mountains have brought with them the surroundings that Rob and myself love so much.

The generosity of the people that cross our paths continues to be what impresses me the most. And so why not start the week on the subject. Drew, one of Jason's friends (the guy we met last week on a cycle trip), offered to take us up to Mesa Verde National Park. Without a second thought we accepted his offer and had a great morning together. The park is made up of ancient native American settlements, taking you on a journey through various generations and showing the development of their technological advancements. This was seen principally in the changing form of the buildings that they constructed. The most impressive thing was how well conserved they were, since they were found under rock overhangs on the side of the canyons that divide up the mesa and enabled the buildings to remain in an impressive state of repair.

But the day didn't finished there, after our cultural sidetrack we returned to the bikes and headed off to see some of our new friends, Jim and Jen, who lived in the nearby town of Mancos and who we had promised to visit. We were now closing in on the mountains and, apart from the cool air, the snow capped peaks left us with no doubt about it! When we arrived, we discovered that they had just returned home from their own trip the day before and we surprised Jennifer while she was giving the caravan a once over; where we were to spend the night. How cool! We had never slept in a caravan and we loved it. On arrival they cracked open the local beers, which were amazing, and with extra wine, laughs and even dancing we spent a memorable night together!

Today it was our turn to return the hospitality of Jim and Jen so we offered to make dinner. We spent the morning walking the dog, Eddie, while admiring the peculiarities of the town and buying what we needed to make the evening the best it possibly could be. We decided to make a Paella to promote Spanish cooking a little in the town. Once the late afternoon arrived we got to it and we truly enjoyed having a proper kitchen at our disposal after so long with the camp stove. We cooked, we laughed, and relished in the result but the effects of the previous evening were lingering in our heads so this time we had a more relaxing one.

Now we had to make some progress, so after breakfast we got our stuff together, ready to head out. We wanted to pass by the public library where there was some internet to finish off the blog and audiolog, since there was some outdoor space where we could use the wifi, and leave town with our "homework done". But as you well know, leaving in a rush is not a good idea... While I climbed the short steps that led up to the caravan to bring down the panniers I tripped up and punctured a hole in my leg so deep that if it were not possible to see the bone, it was darn close! We ran up to Jim and Jen's flat where they patched me up and, soon after, we could carry on with our plan; with the throbbing masked over by the pain killers I'd just taken. When the afternoon set upon us, we had our doubts as to whether to carry on or have another rest day. But in the end we plucked up the courage to get on with it and make it to the next town, Dolores. We passed through this town hoping to find a place to free camp but night found us before we had the chance so we had to turn around for a campsite we'd passed in Dolores to, finally, spend the night.

We had visitors today! How exciting! Dave and Sharon, some of our first new friends, were coming to see us. We'd tried a couple of times to catch up since leaving Flagstaff but hadn't managed until today. They turned up around midday with a couple of pizzas and beers to share, what more could a cycle tourist want. These guys know what we like and how to make us happy! We had a great time together updating each other on adventures and coming plans. They even helped with the wound on my shin, it's incredible how well they have been treating us, we really hope to be able to see each other again before leaving the US!

Returning to reality, we had some big climbs up ahead although we approached them in a positive light as we knew we had some beautiful scenery up the top, some of the best in the state. And it turned out this wasn't an exaggeration. It was a long but productive day, little by little we saw off half the mountain and camped in a peaceful spot full of trees and next to a river, who's rich flow provided us with plentiful water. Up until now we had been really struggling to find enough of the stuff.

We'd heard of some natural hot springs very close to where we had camped the previous night, so we started the search for them. It wasn't hard as they were right by the road. We had to make it down a steep path and there they were, a number of pools that, although we had no idea how long they had been there for, they were well looked after. A man was having a soak in one of them and although the situation appeared a little uncomfortable to me at first (maybe cause he was naked and I wasn't so used to all that) shortly after the three of us were sharing anecdotes and having a great time. Now good and relaxed we returned to the road to finish off the accent, a challenge that would take us the rest of the day. Once at the top of the pass we couldn't help but be amazed by the beauty surrounding us. So after climbing yet another half mountain to a spot we could free camp, we managed to rest up in order to spend the next day checking out the area.

Now with the panniers off the bikes, we descended into the town we had heard so much about, Telluride. A place surrounded by snow capped peaks and, apparently, the highest waterfall in Colorado called "Bridal Veil". The town's economy was based on the mining industry originally, by the 60's/70's this fell apart leaving the town in a sticky situation which was hard to get out of. This was until, with the willingness and imagination of the townsfolk, they decided to turn things around by focusing on the other thing that place had in abundance, snow filled slopes. From then on they started to develop a ski resort that is now one of the principal resorts in the country and where the rich and famous have bought up their slice of the pie. While heading down the main street in town we bumped into a man, a photographer, that had lived his whole life there and was out everyday recording the daily happenings in town with his camera. It was with him that, in between the snapping of his camera, we heard the interesting story of Telluride, a town he promised us we'd want to be homeless in...

We'll return next week with whatever stories the mountains have prepared for us... and we hope that they are all good, see you next week!