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Wonderful twisty scenic roads

Took part of a day off from helping my dad unpack to go for a drive. Headed south toward Ouray. When you reach Ouray you are fairly well up into the mountains, and the scenery is getting rather nice. From Ouray heading south the "Million Dollar Highway" climbs into and over the mountains.

This road calls for close attention from the driver. On one side is the mountain, and on the other side is ... nothing. I love this road! It climbs, curves and swoops wonderfully as it makes it way through the mountains. This is not a road for driving fast.

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Best to pay attention to the signs with recommended speeds. Pretty sure I'd not want to take this road at night, or when there might be ice on the road. On a warm spring or summer day, this is a very nice drive indeed.

At the same time the scenery is really worth a look around. Problem is that when driving, you cannot more than glance at scenery during those brief moments when the road does not demand your full attention. Lots of internal dialogue along the lines of "Oh - look at that! - CAN'T LOOK!!". Fortunately there are many places to stop, where you can climb around and take pictures.

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Felt a bit of sympathy for an older couple in a white pickup from Lousiana. The driver was clearly uncomfortable with twisty road and shear dropoffs. Followed them for a bit. The driver showed a clear preference for the center of the road (closer to the mountainside), and speeds below 25mph. Hung back enough so that I hoped the driver would not feel pressured to drive outside their comfort zone, but after a bit he pulled over and waited for me to pass.

Still have a lot of photos to sort through and upload.