We finally bought a Nissan Xterra in March 2002. Main reasons: 1) to pull a pop-up camper to Alaska, 2) to explore Colorado back roads unaccessible to our Nissan Sentra. Here are photos of some of the places we've gone so far.
(Click on the thumbnails for larger images.)

03/29/02, Kenosha Pass, west of Grant, CO. The afternoon we bought the Xterra we headed up US-285 into the mountains.

03/29/02, Guanella Pass, south of Georgetown, CO. First day with the X and already using 4wd to to get through a snowy, muddy road.

06/05/02, Arctic Circle, 200 miles north of Fairbanks, AK. Way North. But still 300 miles to Prudhoe Bay. Maybe on our next trip. Click here for more photos from the trip.

08/04/02, Shrine Pass, north of Copper Mountain, CO. Ed and Gloria Helmuth, authors of "The Passes of Colorado, An Encyclopedia of Watershed Divides", encouraged us to finally drive over this very scenic pass.

08/04/02, Tennessee Pass, north of Leadville, CO. Just north of the pass, we drove all around the Camp Hale area where the 10th Mountain Division trained during WWII.

08/04/02, Fremont Pass, east of Leadville, CO. Right across the road from the famous Climax Molybdenum mine.

08/16/02, Summit House on Mt Evans, 14,260', south of Idaho Springs, CO. We were up there with our nephew Ryan who wanted some training time at 14,000 prior to running in the Pikes Peak Marathon.

09/24/02, Along I-70 east of Julesburg, CO. Following our tradition of taking a picture of our cars the first time by this sign.

09/27/02, Boreas Pass, east of Breckenridge, CO. On a very scenic route that follows the rail bed of the Denver, South Park, and Pacific railroad.

04/04/03, Along I-25 north of Raton, NM. On our way to the Trinity Site on the White Sands Missle Range.

04/06/03, Santa Fe, NM. Route 66 passed through Santa Fe prior to 1937. On this trip we also traveled along old US-66 from Moriarty to Albuquerque where we saw some cool old restored neon motel signs.

05/03/03, Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park, near Alamosa, CO. The blurry sign reads "Point of No Return, 4 wheel drive only, soft sand ahead, tire pressure 15 lbs advised, .., minimum wrecker fee $100". We weren't prepared, so we didn't go past the point of no return.

05/04/03, east of Walsenburg, CO. Returning from New Mexico a month earlier, we followed a snow plow over this pass. Not at all sunny that day.

06/27/03, Rabbit Ears Pass east of Steamboat Springs, CO. Heading for a relaxing weekend in the Boat.

06/29/03, east of Steamboat Springs, CO. Stopping to check out the wildflowers on the way up to Buffalo Pass.

06/29/03, Buffalo Pass. We had planned to continue on over the pass toward Walden but the way was blocked by a large snow drift.

06/29/03, Heading back towards Steamboat with the Flat Tops in the background.

06/29/03, Muddy Pass east of Steamboat Springs. Not a high pass, but there's always a lot of wildflowers here.

07/05/03, Berthoud Pass south of Winter Park, CO. Heading across the Pass into Middle Park.

07/05/03, east of Winter Park, CO. Heading up toward Rollins Pass following the rail bed of David Moffet's Denver Northwestern and Pacific Railway Company.

07/05/03. It's already past Independence Day, but there is still plenty of snow in the high country.

07/05/03, at Rollins Pass. From here we hiked about a mile down the east side to the twin trestles.

09/21/03, on I-70 west of Grand Junction. The start of a 7 day trip to Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase Escalante, Bryce, Zion, and Cedar Breaks.

09/21/03, UT-128 along the Colorado River east of Moab, UT. This road is very scenic and is a lot of fun with a sport bike or sports car.

09/23/03. We drove the Shafer Trail, the scenic back route from Moab to Canyonlands Nat'l Park and stopped here at Horseshoe Bend. The last several miles of the trail climb some steep switchbacks.

04/19/04. In North Platte, NE, on the way back from the NU Spring Football game and Hoosier cupboard shopping.

06/19/04. At Hoosier Pass south of Breckenridge.

06/19/04. At London Mine, not far from 13,186' Mosquito Pass. Stopped by snow.

06/19/04. 13,100' up the road to Mt. Bross. The views across South Park were spectacular.

08/26/04. Milner Pass in Rocky Mountain National Park.

08/26/04. Willow Creek Pass, north of Granby. Up one of the most scenic and fun-to-drive roads in the state.

08/26/04. Near Stillwater Pass on a scenic gravel road between Willow Creek Pass and Grand Lake. We just missed the worst of the hail.

09/07/04. Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. The next morning at 7:30 we had the place almost to ourselves.

09/10/04. Off the beaten path on River Road running through Teton National Park.

09/11/04. One of the scenic old barns at Teton NP.

06/11/05. After Poncha, Marshall, Monarch, Old Monarch, Black Sage, and Waunita Passes, we were stopped by snow a mile or so from Cumberland.

06/12/05. On the Seven Mile Trail east of Buena Vista with Collegiate Peaks in the background.

06/26/05. After Peon, Carnero, Cochetopa, and South Passes, the view from Los Pinos Pass looking toward Lake City and the San Juans.

06/27/05. We were blocked by snow on Ohio Pass and had to circle back to Crested Butte. From there we went to Kebler Pass and then tried to find Marcellina Pass. This view can't be far from there.

06/24/06. We drove up toward Hagerman Pass from our campsite near Turquoise Lake, west of Leadville. Another June drive blocked by snow short of the summit.

06/24/06. At 12,000', just a couple of switchbacks from the summit of Mosquito Pass. Some folks went up and down that steep section to get past the snow, but we called it quits here.

07/11/09. On Gold Camp Road between Colorado Springs and Victor. We first drove this road in 09/75 in a '73 Volkswagen Super Beetle.

09/10/09. Rocky Mountain National Park, Old Fall River Road. Same corner as photographed by grandfather in 1927.