When Leilani Osmundson jolted awake as her teammates’ car rolled into Archuleta County in the pitch-black early morning hours, she was greeted with news that stopped her heart: They were three hours behind schedule.
“I’m sorry, Leilani, but it turns out we’re three hours behind schedule,” teammate Floyd Pierce told her.
“What?”
“Just kidding — we’re actually 30 minutes ahead of schedule.”
“Floyd. I thought you were serious,” Osmundson shot back. “Either way, I was ready to fight for our lives and find a way to get back on track.”
The prank-turned-relief moment at the Archuleta County passport stop was one of dozens of unscripted scenes from a road trip three Colorado friends — Osmundson, Pierce and Holly McCollough — pulled off this summer: visiting all 64 Colorado counties in less than 64 hours.
The team rolled into the Pagosa Springs Visitor Center around 24 hours into the journey, which spanned July 24-26, following a pitch-black drive from a middle-of-the-night stop in Silverton that wound through Coal Bank and Molas passes, past hillsides dotted with porch lights and an ever-strengthening smell of sulfur announcing the town before its lights came into view.
Archuleta County was their 27th Colorado county on their quest, and the stop marked a turning point: after the scare over their schedule, the team pressed on, energized, watching sunrise break over Mineral County, descending into the canyons of Hinsdale County and reaching the halfway point of their journey in Saguache County not long after.
“None of us could have predicted the immense beauty of the diverse regions of our state,” the team said, reflecting on that stretch of the trip.
Inspired by the America 250-Colorado 150 Commission’s Colorado County Passport challenge, the trio set out to see whether it was possible to visit every county in the state in under three days.
After months of route planning, they covered nearly 2,900 miles, slept in the car instead of hotels and documented every stop with photos and video at each official passport location — including an unplanned detour after a mudslide closed the Million Dollar Highway, which threatened to derail their schedule before they ever reached Archuleta County.
They finished the full 64-county route in 62 hours and 24 minutes.
“Beyond the logistics, the most memorable part of the journey was the people we met,” the team said. “Every county had its own character, but everywhere we went we encountered generosity, encouragement, support and immense pride in Colorado. At a time when so much news focuses on division, we think this journey offers a different perspective: a celebration of the people and places that make up our beautiful state.”
The team documented the challenge in real time on Instagram @64in64, where their content generated more than 250,000 views and reached 37,000 accounts. Along the way, they collaborated with tourism organizations across Colorado, including in communities along their route, to highlight local historical sites and events celebrating Colorado’s 150th anniversary of statehood.
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