Yes, more Day 3. Photos from a scenic overlook at nearly 11,000 feet.
Day 3, continued. We leave Vallecito Lake and start our trek to Ouray, where we’ll spend the last night of our trip.
To get to Ouray, we travel the famous Million Dollar Highway. Nearly each time we see a scenic overlook, we take the opportunity to look (the photos here were taken at our first two stops). And we don’t regret a single stop. Every view going up and down Red Mountain is amazing.
The drive is terrifying at times. Winding up and down the mountain, often without guard rails, is incredibly frightening. Addison and I take turns driving (don’t tell our rental car company) so that we can both experience the sights.
This is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to—this is the drive I wanted to show my wife. It didn’t disappoint her.
But, we’ll both come to realize that the Monday drive home is just as stunning (though quite different) as the drive over Red Mountain.
Day 3. Sunday, June 26.
We wake up and hit the road, driving 30 miles outside of Durango to Vallecito Dam / Lake. We’ve read that it’s beautiful.
It is. The lake nestled in between the mountains. Breathtaking.
The lake is the first large body of water I’ve been this close to since I moved away from South Carolina. The first thing I think of as I stare at this beauty is all the time Addison and I spent on Lake Murray in Columbia last summer.
We were lucky enough to have wonderful, welcoming friends who invited us to their house on the lake. We spent hours swimming and boating. We even took a two-day boat trip, riding the rivers of South Carolina all the way to the ocean; it was incredible.
Vallecito Lake reminds Addison and me of how much we miss the water. But it’s hard to come by in Colorado (in South Carolina, we had tons of lakes, rivers, and beaches). We eat up the wet air and put our feet in the chilly water.
Day 2. Saturday, June 25.
After a quick walk through downtown Durango in the morning, we spend most of the day at the Four Corners Pride Festival.
Staffing the One Colorado booth (and giving a quick speech) at the festival is the primary reason for our big lesbian road trip. A wonderful excuse to get out of Denver and explore Colorado.
After Pride is over, we enjoy dinner and do some window shopping in adorable downtown Durango.
More Day 1. Told you there were a lot of picture-taking stops along the way.
Addison has now seen what I’ve been telling her for months: Colorado is a breathtakingly beautiful state.
We’ve just recovered (we actually returned a few days ago) from our four day road trip from Denver to Durango to Ouray and back to Denver, and as I look at the photos we took, I’m struck by a sad reality: photos never do justice to what you witness with your eyes.
And yet, Addison and I still took photos. Hundreds over them over four days. Because we get so excited about sharing our experiences with family and friends who read this blog. In fact, it’s because of all of you that Addison forced us to stop at nearly every scenic overlook throughout our travels. She wanted to share the sights and the beauty with you.
So that’s why you saw photos throughout our travels (taken with and posted by our phones) and why the next several will show you some of the photos from our actual camera. :) We hope you enjoy them.
But before we get started with the photos, let me orient you to where we traveled. We started in Denver and followed the red route to Durango, taking a small detour to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
On day 2, we did no traveling at all as we were working the Four Corners Pride Festival (the actual reason / excuse for this little road trip excursion).
On day 3, we followed the blue route, driving two hours on the Million Dollar Highway (so named because it cost a million dollars a mile to construct) to Ouray, a town just northeast of Durango.
On day 4, we left Ouray and traveled back to Denver, taking an alternate route than the one we took on day 1, traveling north and then east and passing through popular ski areas such as Vail.
All in all, it was an amazing trip, as you’ll see by the photos. And one I’d gladly do again if family and friends would like to travel west to see us. :)
