No National Parks, so on to Telluride

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

Telluride from the top of the free gondola ride

The view just a few steps from our campsite

 TELLURIDE, CO -- The government shutdown Tuesday scrapped our plans to spend the day in Arches National Park.  So we drove the three hours from Moab to Telluride, where there are no national parks.
 It was a good move.  On the Internet I had found that Telluride has a municipal campground that's adjacent to downtown.  We found it and discovered we could camp here for $10 per night because we are over 62.  Younger folk pay $23.
 It's the second biggest bargain we've found here.  The drawbacks:  No wood fires, even it it's 22 degrees, as it was when we woke up Wednesday morning.  
 The biggest bargain here is the free gondola ride to the top of a mountain that looks down over the town.  From there, you can ride down the other side, also free, to a ski lodging area which is almost a ghost town this time of year.  Yet another gondola will take you to a parking lot outside town, which is why there are free gondolas -- to cut down the traffic in town.