KUSA — Justin Perrin has only lived in Colorado for a few years, but he's explored the state more than people who've been here for decades.
“You can’t control where you’re born, but you can always control where you go,” Perrin said. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and moved to Denver after a stint in Arizona.
Perrin first took a picture of a “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign when he moved here. He was driving into Colorado via Interstate 25 from New Mexico, and was able to see an amazing sunset against a mountain backdrop.
That was four-and-a-half years ago. In the time since, he’s gotten photos of 41 of the signs (42 if you count the one at History Colorado).
PHOTOS: Man visits all of the 'Welcome to Colorful Colorado' signs
It started when he was just traveling for fun and realized he’d already seen a dozen, so why not try to catch-‘em-all, Pokemon-style? He found a list online. Some of the signs are off major highways, but others are on state, U.S. and even county roads.
“The most difficult is the one along the 318 in the northwest corner of the state,” Perrin said.
It was his last sign, and he took the photo in November 2017. He said while he was on his way, a deer “came out of nowhere,” and he hit it, damaging his car.
Perrin got his photo anyway, and then made the eight-hour drive back to Denver.
He took photos of about half of the signs between September and November 2017. Often, it involved waking up super early on Saturday, driving all day, then getting back hours later. Perrin said he used Google Maps to plot out the best course, and would stop to hike or explore towns along the way.
His favorite sign is the one off CO- 90 at the Utah/Colorado border west of Paradox. This one is actually colorful.
During one trip, Perrin said he drove 825 miles in a day. He said he listens to early 2000s punk rock, but will switch to jazz, classic rock, hip hop and podcasts as the drives get longer.
A post shared by Justin Perrin (@comountainmanco) on
“I leave specifically in the middle of the night because everybody knows that Colorado traffic is just unbelievable,” Perrin said.
This schedule means that he’s only had a friend join him on one of his excursions once. That trip was 15 hours-long near the New Mexico border, though it involved multiple side-treks.
“It’s kinda hard to get people [to join] with like, ‘hey, I’m going to sleep at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. on a Friday and I’m getting up at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and then heading out,’” Perrin said. “It’s not really appealing to people. They want to go downtown to LoDo and to the bars, they don’t go to sleep early on a Friday night.”
Perrin said if he were to do this again, he’d either buy a reliable junker car or rent one, since he’s put thousands of miles on his Subaru Forester.
Driving to the signs isn’t all Perrin’s done in Colorado. He said he’s also climbed around half of the 14ers – and used visiting the signs as a way to explore the state when the peaks are snowed in.
Perrin said he has also visited 64 Colorado counties – but since he doesn’t have photos of all the signs, he admits he might have to go back and do it right.
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“The joke these days is ‘photo or it didn’t happen,’” he said.
Perrin works in customer support for an engineering company that prioritizes work-life balance: meaning that his boss is totally cool with his various adventures.
“If you ever find me on the road in my very typical Subaru Forester, I have an ‘American’ sign on the back, so instead of ‘Native,’ I have the Colorado green mountains that say ‘American’ … because everyone here is American,” Perrin said. “At the point where I’ve lived here longer than any other state, I’m going to switch that from ‘American’ to ‘Coloradoan.’”
He also has two flags honoring his adopted state in front of his house: the Colorado flag, and then a U.S. flag with 38 stars, since all the states after that don’t matter to him.
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Perrin said he’s not doing this to gain a huge social media following or to get a book deal. He said he just likes to explore and see everything the state has to offer, from all of the named peaks to hot springs to waterfalls.
“Every day could be a vacation in Colorado,” he said.
To see more of Justin's adventures, you can follow him on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2Bc2yH3
