I went up to Wyoming to roughneck for a summer when I was in College and end up staying 4 years. I worked every where in the Rockies from Farmington New Mexico to the Black Hills in South Dakota. If you have seen the Western Montana Rockies, Boulder will be a disappointment. It is at the foot of the Eastern slop so you do get the wow factor of going from the high plains to mountains, but most of the entertainment options there target the Hippy/Hipster/Green/Uber-Liberal/Marijuana Tourism crowd. Boulder is without a doubt the most Hippy place on earth. I am a Marine also, so I feel the need to warn you about that brother. In my opinion, Jackson Hole or Santa Fe would be better options. Jackson Hole is a hell of a drive but it offers good dining, art, nightlife, whitewater rafting and trout fishing on the Snake River. It is also situated at the base of Grand Teton National Park and i not very far from Yellowstone. Santa Fe is also very beautiful but is not really what I would call mountainy. If your hart is set on Colorado, Durango is pretty cool. The drive from Durango to Silverton is unforgettable. Plus you don't have to drive through Kansas to get there. If I were you i'd try to make it to Elk City Oklahoma or Amarillo on your first day. Check out Palo Duro Canyon, second largest canyon in the US, right out side of Amarillo if you have time. From Amarillo you can be pretty much anywhere in Colorado or New Mexico in 8 to 10 hours. I worked 14 and 14 around Amarillo for a year and could be there in 13 hours if I hit Dallas traffic right (2000-0300 hours). My brother and I drove straight through to Jackson Hole in 27 hours, but I thought about ending it all between between Wi****a and Limon CO. One last thing. Needless to say but I have done a little driving over the years. The single most mind blowing experience of all the miles I've covered was coming over Raton Pass on I-25 at day break and dropping down onto the Llano Estacado. The light and space of that place is like no other on earth. It is like being swallowed by light and grass. There are extinct volcano fields there that are the only land makers for 50 or 60 miles. I saw 4 different Antelope herds that exceeded 500 animals. Kansas is empty and boring, the Llano is completely void but somehow truly beautiful. I got wordy, sorry bout that, just wanted to warn a fellow Devil Dog about Hippyville and offer my recommendation.
Semper Fi
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