Day 19: Grand Junction to Delta to Durango, CO

Upon awaking in our private valley we ate a tasty breakfast of oatmeal and prickly pears that we had learned how to harvest from our Army Survival Guide. As we trekked out we saw the mountain goats again, but one had become injured! Perhaps trying to flee the feral Helen the night before?

One hour later, we parked in Delta, Colorado. For those who haven’t read the Brown dictionary recently, here is a summary:

Delta, Colorado: Home of Helen and Maryanne Brown for the first five and two years of their lives, respectively. (All other facts pale in comparison to the miracle of their lives.)

The Downtown: Two wedding dress stores, seven Mexican restaurants, three boot shops, one sewing store the size of Dicks, two scrapbooking stores and two grocery stores.

We were coerced into a Mexican restaurant because of the sign, “Buy one margarita, get one free!” (Also, it was the only place open on Sunday.) After spending $7 on the strongest drink we’ve had all trip, we continued our discovery of the town.

1) The Republican headquarters were about six times larger than the Democratic ones. We had accidently parked Maryanne’s Obama bumper sticker mobile outside the red one, and were privileged to see a family drinking 40s and picking up McCain signs to parade down the street.

2) We also got to visit our Dad’s old car wash. Maryanne cleaned the cow shit off her car for $2.50 in a possessed fashion, trying to get the car as clean as possible using all the quarters we were able to scrounge.

3) We saw fearsome farming machinery take over the road.

Finally we drove the five miles to our homestead. This hasn’t been visited or seen by a Brown in 19 years and so this truly was an epic pilgrimage. Knocking on the door, we were a bit nervous. (Okay – Helen was embarrassed and Maryanne was energized.) No one answered, accordingly Maryanne set out to take outdoor pictures, while Helen hide in the car and shouted, “You’re going to get shot!” at least twelve times.

The house was beautiful because there was still an aurora that WE had been there for years; next we traveled .1 miles to our Grandmother’s house.

There were people home here and they were excited to see us! The new owners had made her house into a beautiful assisted living house and all the elderly people loved us as well. (There is a long video of the home’s new interior for those interested / FAMILY to watch.)

After this legendary visit, we continued driving south. We stopped in a few cute older mining towns (Ouray and Silverton) and celebrated their historic value. Maryanne celebrated with the rusted old equipment.

THEN we were on the most dangerous road in the entire United States of American, the Million Dollar Highway. This road ascends over a gorge and is characterized by the sheer number of hairpin “S” curves used to gain elevation and the lack of guard rails. (NONE!!) Furthermore, drivers heading south (us!!) are perched on the outside edge of this road. Large RVs and trucks use this road travel in both directions, which only adds to the excitement or fatalities.

We survived and arrived in Durango to meet our host, Coral! She had prepared a delicious and healthy meal and invited us to join in. It was an excellent and safe way to end a thoroughly dangerous day: taking the Obama mobile into Delta and the Million Dollar Deathway.