Greetings from Colorado's San Luis Valley!

Originally Posted by perth

Hey, Mari, what exactly is considered the "San Luis Valley"? I was wondering this while reading our recent frost warnings.

Oh! And break a leg. Not a real leg, mind. I would feel really bad if you did that.

The San Luis Valley roughly includes the area west of Poncha Pass on highway 160, south of the town of Salida, north of Antonito on the New Mexico border, and east of the little town of Del Norte. It's a wide, high elvelation rift valley which has been created by tectonic plates moving apart under the earth's crust right up the center of the valley floor. Because of the high elevation it tends to get quite cold. The San Luis Valley was once part of Mexico and was part of the lands ceded to the US after the Mexican-American war. It is a very poor place, but has a very rich cultural heritage, and parts of it are so pretty that it makes your heart ache. (More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure).