Cortez, Colorado - September 29th

Today was the first day that our tour starts and end at the same place. It was nice not to have to pack up our bags and check out of the hotel! I got up early to work on the car before the day, as I knew that today would be a taxing one for Cisco. Our route was to take us through the mountains of Colorado, including a pass at over 11,000 feet. The tasks took longer than I'd expected, so there was no time for breakfast, or even a cup of coffee before I headed out to meet up with the rest of the group in Cortez, 40 minutes away. Once we had assembled, we drove north into the mountains.

Soon we were driving along sweeping roads surrounded by aspen trees that were just turning colour. Some were already yellow, and as we got higher there were also patches of orange. Apparently, here, there is only about 2 weeks between the start of the colour change and all the leaves dropping, so we timed this amazingly well. We stopped for lunch at Ouray. Just as we were about to leave, the wind got up signaling incoming rain. Our next stage was to take the "Million Dollar Highway", a famous stretch from Ouray to Silverton over a mountain pass at 11,000 feet. Fortunately, the rain as no too heavy, and the views were magnificent. There were even a few flakes of snow near the summit of the pass.

We stopped in Silverton, a small ex-mining village, and wandered around in the rain until it came time to head home. By this point, Jerry's E-type had suffered a failed generator, so there was some nervousness about getting home without his battery failing. Fortunately, we all made it back to our hotels without incident. This was perhaps the best day yet....