A Jeep Tour Through Colorado’s Million Dollar Highway And Highway To Heaven

by Jessica Festa on

When traveling through Colorado, one city I highly recommend visiting is the little known Ouray. Here, you’ll not only get to take part in various adventure sports, sip beer at quirky breweries and eat scrap cookies at Mouse’s, you’ll also be able to take a scenic jeep tour through Colorado’s Million Dollar Highway and Highway To Heaven.

When visiting Ouray, I took my jeep tour with San Juan Scenic Jeep Tours, a company I highly recommend. Our guide was funny, knowledgeable and full of interesting stories about the area and its history. The tour began with a viewing of part of the famous Million Dollar Highway, a scenic road thought to be one of the most dangerous in the United States due to its narrowness, steep cliffs and lack of guardrails. The road supposedly gets its name from a woman known as Queen Anne, who once said, “You couldn’t give me a million dollars to ride on that road again!” About halfway through the route, the tour makes a turn onto the beautiful Highway To Heaven, a picturesque path that takes you to an elevation of 13,000 feet. For a final stop, the tour visits an old ghost town in Ouray County.

For a more visual idea of the experience, check out the gallery below.

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[Image above via Vagabondish. Gallery images via Jessie on a Journey and Davepaper]

It’s Never Too Late to See The World

by Martha Edwards on

My mother, at 56, is getting her pilot’s license. Flying’s always been a passion of hers and a tragedy in the family reminded her that life’s short. I’m pretty proud of her. The reason I’m telling you this is because I love stories like that, where someone goes against what’s normally expected of them to fulfill a dream.

Here’s another story: As his 50th birthday approached, Gunther Holtorf decided he wanted to see the world, and a two-week vacation every now and then wouldn’t do. No, he wanted to see everything, so he and his wife, Christine, loaded up their off-road vehicle and started driving …. to Africa. That was 17 years ago and by now, he’s travelled to over 100 countries across every inhabited continent. And he’s still going.

He hasn’t been traveling non-stop — he and Christine will drive cross-country for 6 months or so, and fly back home to Germany, where they begin preparing for the next journey. He still has a place to call home, although a love of the open road dominates his life. Personally, I think this sounds like an ideal existence.