Replying to Taking a drive from Denver/Boulder

So I'm in skinny kid rehab at the children's hospital in aurora right meow. My mom flew in a few days ago to visit me. I was lucky enough to get saturday off the unit ("to test my skills in the real world").

My mom lives in NY where i just left to move to CO with my dad. I want to show my mom why I love Colorado so much. Right now she is in Aurora and commenting on "The mexicans here are much nicer than in NY". That is NOT why i'm moving to colorado (it is a nice touch though).

I am taking my mom out on a one-on-one day. We are starting by taking a tour of celestial seasonings in Boulder and I'm taking her out to lunch. We will be done in Boulder around Noon. My next agenda is show my mom the mountains! I'm moving to the southern san juans and am not familiar with the flat tops and front range. So if anyone has a cool drive my mom and i can take for the afternoon. I want her to see a cool Colorado mountain town (Creede, Buena Vista, Pagosa Springs) and i want her to see mountains that soar above treeline.

TLDR: What is a good scenic drive starting around boulder?

Thanks for any suggestions :D