>>>>>>Surely this forum needs a diversion, and maybe even an opportunity to pick up a good tip. Michel was kind enough to create this section for us and we hardly use it. What are you reading these days?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>This is posed as a straight question, not an invitation to impress everyone with how refined your tastes are. Personally I read a wide range of authors, from potboilers to writers who are as good as it gets. To prove the point, the book of the moment here is "The October List" by Jeffrey Deaver. Stylistically it is a steaming pot of poo. But I keep reading to see how it turns out.
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm currently working my way through Dickens - stuff I haven't read as a kid.
>>>>>David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House, Tale of Two Cities down. On 'Our MutualFriend' at the moment.
>>>>
>>>>Cool. Great Expectations is one of my favorites. And "A Tale of Two Cities".
>>>
>>>'Tale of two cities' was serialized as a drama on radio here recently. Didn't really work without the narrative descriptions.
>>>TBH, I'll read 'Christmas Carol' (because it's that time of year :-}) but then I think I'll take a break. Maybe just switch to Thomas Hardy - couple of his that I've never read.
>>>
>>>>There was a piece in the NY Times yesterday about rural Wales, the parts apart from Cardiff and the few other cities. Rustic, beautiful.
>>>
>>>Looked for that and couldn't find it. Funny piece here though about someone doing Crib Goch.
>>>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/travel/18letter.html
>>>I've done it a couple of times and, TBH, you do have to keep your wits about you...
>>>I still like the mid-Wales uplands (Plynlimon) because, although not rugged, it's the wildest and most desolate area.
>>
>>Here you go: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/travel/36-hours-in-cardiff-wales.html?_r=0
>>
>>Crib Goch has to be a real name because no one could possibly invent it.
>
>Just means 'Red Ridge' in Welsh. About 15 people die up there every year; someone's airlifted off just about every week :-{

I would love to see it, but my days of that kind of excitement are over. Left them behind the last time I did Black Bear Pass. For a regular vehicle though, this highway along Red Mountain Pass (the only major highway through from Durango to Ouray or even from Arizona to Colorado on the western slope) is a beautiful drive:

https://www.google.com/search?q=red+mountain+pass+photos&complete=0&hl=en&site=webhp&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=jvqhUsvlFJDTkQfIvYEY&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1274&bih=579

There are lots of videos out there of people (inexperienced) driving Black Bear Pass but this one is hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr7Nkl0pkJk

Wouldn't want this job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mvFhl5_HYw

dr7Nkl0pkJk

4mvFhl5_HYw