San Juan Skyway - the lowlands

The San Juan Skyway is another of the Scenic Highways and Byways detailed in my National Geographic Guidebook. It's one of the many reasons I'm glad I invested in the guidebook. The San Juan Skyway is a 236 mile loop through the mountains and high deserts of south western Colorado, including the crest of the San Juan Mountains, old mining towns, and the Mesa Verde National Park.



This region used to be inhabited by the Ute tribe, but the San Juans forced them out after prospectors found gold and silver. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here.



At Ouray Hot Springs there is a municipal hot springs pool, complete with slides and kiddy toys. I was taking photographs from outside the fence when a woman came up and started chatting with me. I guess the camera marked me as a tourist because her opening gambit was to welcome me to Colarado. She grew up around here, but spent a couple of years in Darwin as an adult. She asked me what I think of Colorado, which led to the following exchange:

"I love it here," I said. "It's like home, only vertical. With all the reds and browns it's a very Australian palette."

"Ooh, are you an artist?"

"No, I just have a pretentious vocabulary."

"Huh?"

I think this woman might have spent a little too much time in Darwin.



In the historic district of ornate 1880s buildings I stopped for an ice-cream and sat on a park bench to eat it. While I was there I had a number of conversations with people who happened to sit near me. The first man wanted to bring me to Jesus, or at least his specific flavour of Jesus. He didn't get very far, but seemed sincere enough that I felt a bit sorry for him at the end. He lost the power of speech when I told him that I could never worship any deity who would punish his beloved children for something as petty as being born in the wrong country to attend the "right" church. As he got up to limp away with his mouth moving and no sound coming out, I tried to reassure him that I'm okay with the state of my soul, honestly.



Having rejected Jesus, I did a bit of my own evangelising when I convinced a lovely couple called Jim and Sally that they really ought to have an icecream. They told me all about the travels of their children and were very supportive of my having purchased a Volvo, especially considering my Bambi bashing tendencies.