Million Dollar Highway, CO

Even the rain couldn't dampen a mood as delighted as mine when we set out along the Million Dollar Highway. Squeezing along the edge of a mountain road behind a delivery truck that is scraping (literally) along the mountain wall does make for a most entertaining passage of time. Curled into my seat next to my #1 crush and stocked up with snacks and a camera, I questioned what more I could possibly want from life. The answer was a stroll, so to the smell of burning brakes and with an appetite for icecream, we pulled into Silverton- a Victorian mining town located down in the belly of a mountain valley.

The first thing I saw was a most enchanting horse and carriage clopping down the road. The second thing I saw was my giant scoop of icecream rolling off it's cone and being caught by my other hand. sticky. Then I saw a train shop and purchased a souvenir for my patch collection. (When I look at that closely it occurs to me that I'm just a wide-eyed, clumsy, patch collecting tourist. aka. such a geek.)

At this point, the concept of time and distance gets lost in a haze of mountains and trees and photos and energy drinks, so I can simply state that 'somewhere up the road', our next stop was Ouray. If Silverton was pleasant (which it was), then Ouray I can only describe as being 'more pleasant'. Because it's kind of the same as Silverton, but...y'know, better. It looked somehow prouder of itself. And why not? It was lovely. The evening was drawing closer and with some hours of driving left before our intended camping location, we visited 'Mouses Chocolate shop' and proceeded to consume sugar and caffeine as if we were on holiday or something. Life is sweet (and caffeinated), and we were really running late, so onwards to Grand Junction, for, dare I say it? ....Camping! On our honeymoon. Yes.