Monday, September 2 (Labor Day) – Denver, Colorado to Grand Junction, Colorado

We left the motel in Denver about 7:30 am, then stopped for fuel next to this pretty lavender at Sapp Brother’s Truck Stop which was beside to our motel.

This is where Chaplain Rich serves (see previous trip post).

Looking back on the chapel as we entered the interstate. Notice the Rockies in the background.

The foothills of the Rockies

Snow on the top of Peak 1 at Lake Dillon

Peak 1 is to the right of this photo.

Lake Dillon – also on the previous map.

A crow sat on a rock and watched me taking pictures…

…until I got too close

Cooper Mountain ski area

Our trip odometer reached 2,000 miles at Vail.

At one point on this drive across the Rockies, Cerwin said, “I had no idea that I chose such a beautiful route when I chose I-70 west.”

We saw this beauty at a scenic pull off.

More travel beauty

As everyone knows, photos do little justice to the beauty we saw.

Parachute, Colorado, was my favorite rest stop. There was no one in the building, but it was designed as a place to stop, rest and read. There was even an area with free magazines and books that said, “Take one or two along on your trip.” I chose a Taste of Home magazine. Notice the solar power flowers.

I enjoy reading this kind of information as we travel.

More traveling beauty

We arrived at our motel early – about 1 pm – and were allowed to check it, but could not get into our room. We knew that possibility because check-in was 3 pm. We asked the desk clerk if she recommended a scenic two-hour drive. She suggested Silverton which was just over two hours away. She said, “You will find it spectacular.”

We decided there were a lot of people in the area who would not do well in a city because we rarely saw a house during the first hour of the drive.

The scenery was fabulous.

Then, just like that we were in a farming area.

More rocks and mountains in designs and shapes that amazed us. We were pleased to see one mule deer in this area. We have not seen much wildlife on this trip.

Entering the mountainous area that the desk clerk described as spectacular.

The town of Ouray

Thirteen miles of beautiful, white knuckle driving.

There were no guardrails and driving on the right side of the road definitely got my attention.

That is the road ahead of us. I found myself leaning to the left to help keep the car from going over the edge. 🙂

More road ahead of us. At one point Cerwin asked how many times the car would roll over if he missed a turn. I said, “More than twenty.”

An avalanche bridge – protecting cars from tumbling snow and rocks.

The late afternoon sun illuminated the beauty of this section of mountain. Look at all the shades of red, brown, gray and green.

Notice the snow in the top – right of center – area.

Notice the patch of snow just above the car level. Right after I took this picture, there was snow on the ground in the trees just below us. There was no time to get a picture.

There is a lot of off-roading here and they came back into town on main street. I think we have several grandchildren who would enjoy this.

There weren’t many choices for supper, but we loved the atmosphere of this old mountain town.

Notice the open door and window. Oh, how I enjoy unique restaurants.

We enjoyed delicious panini sandwiches.

Then it was time to head back over the mountain. It was much more comfortable to be driving on the right side of the road this time because we were not on the no-guard rail side.

That is not snow, but sun on the almost bare mountain.

We saw this display of old vehicles in a town on our way to the mountain, so stopped to look at them on the way back.

Oh, the stories they could tell.

Evening beauty as we approached Grand Junction

The sun was setting as we neared the motel.

We told the desk clerk that her suggestion was certainly spectacular. 🙂