6/19/08, Day 3 of Telluride

10:30AM - As I was plotting the course on Mack's trusty road atlas, I noticed an interesting attraction called 'Dinosaur Tracks'. We figured that it would be what it sounded like, and decided to check it out. After taking the wrong fork in the road, backtracking and finding the real way, we finally saw a giant arrow pointing perpendicularly to the road that signified 'Dinosaur Tracks'. As we pulled off onto the dirt and gravel road, we were unsure what we were getting ourselves into. The only thing we could see was a group of 5 or 6 people sitting under a tent. As we exited the air-conditioned van for the 100+ degree heat, Mack said, "Alright. Let's not get scammed or robbed." Or murdered, I thought to myself... We were led through the tracks by a drunk Navajo guide, who mumbled as he led us farther and farther away from our car. I feared that they walked unsuspecting people far out into the desert and then who knows what would happen. I felt bad for thinking these things, but you would too as the parking lot looked like something from a horror movie. But it turned out to be fairly legit, and the tracks were really cool. I was a little suspicious at first that they tracks were fake, but the guide kept pointing out spots where paleontologists took out fossils in the 40s, which appeared real. The tour ended, so we gave our new friend $15 and hopped back in the car, on the way to Four Corners.
-Joseph.

12:12PM - We checked out of our Cortez Super 8 this morning right at 11. After loading up the car (our instruments sleep in the hotels with us) we went down the street to this restaurant called 'Once Upon a Sandwich'. It was pretty good, I loved the decor. Very summer campy, with brightly colored plastic cups and red + white checkered cloth napkins.
They also had a vegetarian section to the menu, so Mack and I were happy campers (haha.) After lunch, we got gas ($3.96!) and ice for the cooler. Now we're on the way to Telluride! It's a short drive, I am so excited. Colorado is gorgeous. I was actually born here, in Fort Collins, close to Boulder. We moved to San Diego when I was 3, but I have fuzzy memories of everything looking pretty like this. I also remember building my first snowman, and a boy with a plastic chair sitting on it. If we have time, I'll seek him out and get my revenge...wearing a yellow jumpsuit...with Hatori Hanzo steel... We're just driving and listening to Thriller now. Talk soon.
-Black Mamba (Kelsea)

11:53PM - We are in Telluride! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, there is now way to describe this place. It's quite honestly like a movie set, or Mainstreet USA at Disneyland. There are scenic patches of snow and yet the temperature reached 85 degrees today! Let's see... there are a lot of things being let out but I suppose you don't want to know every detail. Such as, we spent 3 hours in Flagstaff watching a VH1 marathon of 'Best Songs of the 80s'. Top 100 countdown. I think we forgot to mention how cool Four Corners was. The monument itself is very majestic and official, but the rickety wooden sales booths were not so much so. We bought 3 t-shirts anyway. We're such tourists. Mine is the coolest. It has a huge dinosaur on it and glows in the dark. They only had kid sizes, so it's a tad bit small, but it was the clear choice. We had a nice short drive today, and what a beautiful drive it was! I saw a deer and a robin for the first time in my life. Every 500 feet, the scenery would change and we'd all say "Oh man..." or "Oh wow..." or "Whaaaaaat?" in unison. The sights of the Colorado mountains are breathtaking. We drove down into town, only to find that our condo was outside of Telluride itself. We drove back and located it, and had to wait for someone to let us in. While we waited, Mack's Aunt Gail and cousin Aly found us and we later went to dinner with them at a delicious organic mexican restaurant. Everything is orgainic here. I am in heaven. Before that, we settled into the condo Joe's mom had booked. Again, only pictures will do it justice. It has 3 stories, is amazing and is within walking distance of the gondola sky-ride, which is the way to get into town. Telluride is so magical, you have to fly in. So far, on the gondola rides, we met a cool Australian guy who now lives here. He told us there are no commercial franchises except for a family owned Ace Hardware. How cool is that?? He seemed proud of his town. We also met a husband, wife and nephew unit, who came for the festival. They asked us about our music and seemed very enthused and promised to come see us compete tomorrow. I should go to sleep, we are getting into town at 9:00AM tomorrow and we still don't know what the order is. We practiced on the porch today, the mountains and pines in the background and I felt confident. We've been saying that we'll either come in first of last. First if they want something new and original, or last if they want a fast pickin' bluegrass band. All of the other bands fit in the latter. Who knows! We'll obviously give updates about the outcome. If we make it tomorrow, it's onto round 2, final round! That would be Saturday. Fingers crossed!
- Tepid in Telluride (K)















(The Road to Telluride)