After two days of driving from Denver to Durango – and back – and a day between of wandering around in southwestern Colorado to visit various places, it’s good to be home.
But the towns in that corner of the state are quite something, with galleries, interesting restaurants, and museums. It is apparent that the people who live in those towns work hard to build a good life, but also to attract visitors and new residents looking for something less crowded, or less expensive, or just less loud and less littered. Plus, they are surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains, the fields, the sweeping views, and the clouds.
Heading up Highway 285 above Salida, there was not much traffic. The wide valley was flanked by mountains, with a lid of clouds in a sky that seemed really low. Colorado seems to grow amazing clouds, which sounds strange, but when you’re driving so many miles, it helps to see shadows grow in front of you. That’s what is in the photo above: Fluffy white and gray above, and spots of black on the ground.
This is not total utopia; when I bought newspapers in Durango brought in from other towns, there was still development and concerns. But the quiet and the odd views above and below even made the detours something different. The detours from Highway 285 south of Fairplay are to be in place until sometime in November, according to a June press release posted by CDOT. New passing lanes, new guardrails, and new road covering will be much appreciated as the state grows.
Chandler in Denver 