Very cool post. I'm going to be doing some serious road trips over the next couple of years to see more of this wondrous country. I'm putting this place on the list.
There's a lot to see in this section of Colorado. If you go north to Salida, you can go west to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison or east to Royal Gorge. If you keep going north from Salida, you'll see a number of 14,000+ peaks. Gorgeous country.
Well, if you're traveling through NM at all... you simply *must* get down to White Sands (and you gotta go barefoot through the sand). If you're going through southern UT, try to get to Coral Pink Sand Dunes.