The road we are taking to Lake City, Colorado, out of Gunnison, follows the braided Gunnison River as we leave town before the sun comes up.

While I could say that I’d love to drive in these mountains every day, I’d be lying because as soon as a flake of snow falls, I’d be wishing to be in Arizona sitting in shorts on a winter day having an iced tea, wishing to be somewhere it’s snowing.

I’m a sucker for barns set in idyllic locations where I could imagine living as a cow, not a steer for slaughter, but a friendly cow that wasn’t being milked by a mechanical octopus sucking the life out of me. My name would be Bessie, of course.

You can bet a dollar we took this route for this reason right here. Alfred Packer ate people on this spot one hundred twenty-nine years ago, and I’d guess he did it with gusto because if you are going cannibal, I don’t believe you pussyfoot into something this serious. You toss the bib and ketchup to the side and hold on tight while you start chewing on another man’s face and armpit; gotta start with the tender spots, right? Sadly, I can’t report that there was any draw to be pulled into that kind of madness as others report when visiting Niagara Falls and say they feel drawn by the water.

Out of gruesome pilgrimage, we return you to blatant scenes of profound beauty where primitive fences lead into wooded areas bordering small idyllic lakes in a valley surrounded by mountains while fluffy clouds dance along the edges.

Looks to be on the shallow side for kayaking, canoeing, or rafting, though who am I to judge such things?

Wildflowers, mountains, and dunes are not something you expect to see every day.

While the Great Sand Dunes National Monument has been authorized to become a National Park with an expansion of its lands a few years ago, it’s awaiting approval from Congress. Next time we visit, hopefully, we’ll be able to brag that we’d been here back when it was a wee monument.

There are at least six people in this photo; can you find them? The mountains in the background are the  Sangre de Cristo Range, which extends down into New Mexico and represents the end of the Rockies.

A road trip to consider would take us from Santa Fe at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Range right up to Toad River in British Columbia, Canada. With this trip, we will see the extent of the Rocky Mountains with our own eyes; sounds like a plan.

During sunrise and sunset, those mountain peaks look red in the “alpenglow” hence their name that translates to Blood of the Christ – Sangre de Cristo.

Trillions of treasures for the eye likely exist distributed throughout these mountains; we see a few dozen and are somehow satisfied. Oh yeah, this just happens to be Treasure Falls in the Pagosa Springs area of Colorado, should you be wondering.

This horse left her pasture, and her hooves failed her on the asphalt; down she went with some road rash for her desire to explore the larger world. We’d seen her go over the fence as her companions running with ferocity approached the edge of the property, so while Caroline kept her company and reassured her that we’d find someone to bring her safely back to the fold, I went onto the property to get the owner’s attention. Back she went to the nervous herd that had been anxiously standing by, and we drove off happy that this beautiful white horse hadn’t been hit by a passing car.

Tonight’s sleeping adventure is being brought to us courtesy of Aztec, New Mexico, over in the Four Corners region. Time for some desert exploration.