Our next stop is an overnight stay in Salida which is on the way to a long stay in Telluride. On this drive, all I could do was stare at the sky and land. These pictures are SOC—straight out of the camera. No cropping, contrast, photoshop, etc. Most of my pictures have very little post-processing because I like to take good pictures….not create good ones out of bad ones. Out here, it’s easy to get the good stuff on the first click. And I believe I say this each year. The sky REALLY is that blue.
Along about lunch time, we were driving down a dirt road that leads throughout some prime hunting ground. Stephen wanted to see about this hunting unit for a fall hunt. The state of Colorado is extremely efficient about how it uses hunting to control the game population. You can’t just waltz into any field and set up camp. For an out of state license and hunt, you have to wait a few years from the first purchase of a unit point. You have to pay for one point each year and depending on where you want depends on how many points. Prime land with a 50% success rate takes more points than less successful units with a lower point value. This land we were looking at requires 3 unit points, so 3 years before you can be entered for a draw. Once you have the right number of points, you can be entered to get drawn. They only allow a certain number of hunters per week, per season. It’s a very complicated and again, efficient way to keep the game population from growing out of control. 
Anyway, as we were driving in the aspen forest, the road got REALLY rocky. As in, we were crawling over the rocks. This lasted about 30 minutes and we got a flat tire. So, stranded in the middle of nowhere, no sign of life for hours, and a flat tire. It’s a good thing Stephen is good with mechanical stuff. He had that tire changed in just a few minutes. The only problem is if the road caused 1 flat tire because of the rocks, imagine how long the spare donut would last?
Thank goodness, the road got a tiny bit better after another mile. We made it into Salida, and to a Big Ten tire store. They had the tire fixed within 30 minutes and we were back on the road.
Here is where the road rage comes in.
Stephen wanted to go do more road exploring…and the roads were very close to the same condition. I was tired, cranky, and ready to just get to the hotel so I could shower. But then I would have missed these views. And the snow.
We did enjoy the late afternoon exploring. We then found a great place to eat which can be tough in small towns. Tomorrow, we get in the Jeep and don’t stop until we get to Telluride. It’s been a long year since I saw the San Juans.