Heaven forbid we spend more than two weeks in a row at home. This weekend the road was calling: off to Gunnison, Colorado. Toward the end of our 5-hour drive, we experienced the most dramatic sunset I’ve seen in my life — photos certainly don’t capture it, but here are a few that try.

We spent only one night in Gunnison. The next morning, Dan took off to mountain bike part of Hartman Rocks while I wandered around Western State Colorado University (home of the low-residency MA program in Poetry with an Emphasis on Versecraft!). The campus is stunning, with a fantastic view and a very western 1930s vibe.

Dan and I ended the day in Crested Butte, 40 minutes from Gunnison. The astonishing beauty of Crested Butte made up for our somewhat lackluster drive through Banff National Park a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never appreciated a clear, smoke-free sky so much.

See the ski slopes behind Dan in this picture below? I just learned that during the summers, many of the ski resorts keep the ski lifts running and open the slopes to mountain bikers. Perhaps you can imagine where Dan will be tomorrow morning.

He probably won’t even get a chance to shower before we jump back in the car and drive the 5 hours back home. 11 hours of driving, 2 different hotels, 2 different bike rides, a dozen podcasts and an unforgettable sunset = our kind of weekend.