Colorado Expedition: Day Two
Day two of our Colorado Expedition roadtrip began by waking up at a cheap hotel in Durango, Colorado. While I don’t recommend or care to mention the brand of the hotel we stayed at (it was a budget brand for sure though), I do care to say that I wish we had spent more time in Durango. I think we only saw maybe an hour of the city in the daylight, and it looked gorgeous. At night was also pretty awesome, but driving west in the morning left me begging to see more of that small southwestern Colorado city.
The drive to Mesa Verde National Park was quick from Durango, and absolutely worth the trip. To see the ancient Native American structures built into the cliffs of the canyons was breathtaking. Anna and I traveled around the entirety of MVNP, seeing everything from the Cliff Palace to the Balcony House; ancient pueblos to local wildlife (tarantulas!). It was an amazing National Park full of fascinating history and beautiful views.
From Mesa Verde, we drove north to Carbondale, Colorado. We grabbed a cup of coffee from Bonfire Coffee, an adorable coffee shop right at the center of town, and walked around a bit. I think it became my favorite small town in Colorado, even though we were there for less than an hour. Seriously, though. It was great.
From Montezuma County, we headed north to a legendary hippie town: Telluride, Colorado. Once a busy mining town, the little community tucked into the mountains mostly relies on hospitality and tourism, and they do it well. We stopped in town to briefly walk the streets and eat a quick pizza at High Pie Pizza & Taproom. We also got to do some window shopping along Telluride’s quirky main drag.
Last stop was quite a drive, but we managed to beat the clock and arrive just as the sun was setting. If you haven’t heard of Montrose, Colorado, I don’t blame you. It’s not a particularly noteworthy city. Well, I mean, except that it’s right next to one of the most magnificent National Parks I’ve ever seen. Did you know about Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park? No? Well, allow me to blow your mind in the pictures below.
Maybe it was a combination of great timing or a the fact that we had to expend a lot of energy sprint out to this overlook, but Black Canyon was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in a National Park. Seriously.
We stayed that night in Montrose, collecting our energy for the last leg of our trip and back to our home. Stay tuned for Day Three!
