the clouds of colorado
“Blue!” Karen would say again and again as we drove through Colorado a couple Tuesdays ago, referring to the wonderful shades and shapes of the clouds of Western Colorado, the wide sky an airy tableaux too large to fit in one frame.
(Note: This is the third of eight posts on this recent road trip. You might start at the first or second post.)
We happened upon Ouray, Colorado (learning the town’s pride in being the “Switzerland of America,”)
and glimpsed the windy roads ahead of us on a spectacular drive that I navigated while Karen’s shutter clicked in documentation (I’ll link to her images later),
until we arrived in the Land of Elk and Honey (and had quite the gift shop experience with a clerk pushing whipped chokeberry honey).
Pulling into Durango after the famous Durango Diner had closed, we took their advice and crossed the tracks to another diner nearby, where Karen proceeded to carboload her veggie burger (roadtrips are all about endurance).
That afternoon we marveled at the red rock formations,
the land being watered (these might be my favorite machines for the garden),
and, in very dramatic fashion, narrowly missed being struck by lightning as the clouds lit up around us.
Dodging further electricity in New Mexico, we entered the Owl Cafe as the sun set, impressed by the wall of badges and the cafe’s alarming embrace of orange cheese product.
Welcoming the warm mineral baths of the Sierra Grande Lodge in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico that night, we rose to see the stone circle,
and cacti in the spare landscape as we took the spa’s vegan scones and headed back on the road…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010, 1:16 pm * Filed in Food, light, Travel. * . Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 17th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kristen Taylor, ev barbarossa. ev barbarossa said: RT @kbarbarossa this was one of my favorite days on the trip. the sky breaks my heart open. @kthread http://bit.ly/doymDc [...]
September 9th, 2010 at 12:54 am
I lived in northern Colorado for 2yrs & feel the same way. Nice job. Refreshing to see these images. Wyoming is also incredible, maybe you made it there too.
September 9th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Courtney, I just couldn’t believe how beautiful the drive was and how close the clouds felt. I can’t wait until Karen puts her images up, as I was driving the tricky mountain turns while she took those pictures. I plan to return (and haven’t seen quite enough of Wyoming), so will need your advice on that, please—
September 11th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
:)
feel free to email me: courtney-at-courtneybolton.com
when the time comes for those travels. I might have some guidance. I know Northern Colorado well.
+ post link here whenever Karen puts up her photos? I don’t follow her threads but I love to see images of Colorado; so am sure these are no exception
September 11th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Awesome, thanks–and yes, I’ll definitely link here to Karen’s photos when they are up—