Sand, sand, everywhere is sand.

 

4/9 Wednesday.  We had a beautiful drive up to the Great Sand Dunes NP in Colorado.  The drive through the Rio Grande Canyon toward Taos is stunning.  It is scattered with small towns and attractions like breweries, wineries and restaurants.  As we got to Taos, we were shorted by Google as it took us around the town.  The surrounding area is nice, but we can’t tell you much about the town.  

We arrived at the NP campground about 40 minutes before check-in time but they allowed us in.  We got set up a little off level but it will do.  We have a great view of the dunes from our site so that works out.  After setting up we headed down to the visitor center for some education and walked out on the sand for a bit.  The wind was gusting to 40 and blowing the sand around quite a bit.  We’re going to return tomorrow when there is less wind.  Our campsite is at just under 8400’ elevation.  It is really dry and the air is thin.  With all the walking I did in Sierra Vista, I would expect to be less winded walking around up here.  

4/10 Thursday.  We woke up and had to change out our water pump. It was drawing 11 amps and smelled hot even after turning it off.  Luckily I had one with us.  It took about an hour as ours is in a peculiar spot.  After some tech work I took Duncan for a lap and we hit the road to explore.  

We went down to where it’s easy to access the dunes.  We probably went out a little over half a mile.  It’s difficult walking, like being on a loose beach.  I went far enough to watch a few people “eat it” on sand boards.  One was riding it like a sled and had a little wipeout.  One guy was riding it like a snow board and the other tried to run down a steep spot.  They had epic yard sales and I’m bummed I didn’t get it on video.  One kid twisted his ankle pretty good and his parents were going to get a big wheel wagon to get him back to the car.  I felt bad about that one.  

After our sandy hike we emptied our shoes and headed out to a lodge outside the park.  Their sites are $49 so we feel good about the $20 here in the NP.  We’ve utilized our water jugs to keep the trailer tank topped off and we emptied our black and gray before coming up here.  

We got back to the trailer and added two more jugs of water, somewhere between 10-12 gallons.  I think we may dump gray before we leave tomorrow.  I then took Duncan on a short hike up to the Dunes Overlook.  It was 400’ elevation gain in a mile, topping out near 8700’.  The perspective up there was cool as you could see where the dunes meet the mountains to the north.  When I got back we opened a bottle of two buck Chuck and I tried the chocolate covered chili pepper we bought from Kakawa.  They told us good luck when we bought it, saying they range from medium to extremely spicy.  I took the first bite and I would say it was extreme.  Put me into panic mode and I spit it out.  It was so spicy I was using crackers to “paint” sour cream on my tongue.  Katy didn’t try it.  We are going to just relax for the rest of the evening.  

4/11 Friday.  We left the Dunes before 10am and headed north.  The perspective of the dunes against the mountains traveling north is pretty cool.  It was a nice drive up to Salida CO where we stopped at Walmart for some supplies and then split a burger at Soulcraft Brewing.  The drinks and burger were really good.  Salida is a cute town that is surrounded by mountains to include a bunch of 14ers’.  

After lunch we moved north to Leadville.  Again the drive was stunning and Leadville looks really cute.  In retrospect, we should’ve stayed for the rest of the day/night.  It reminds me of Houghton/Hancock but it’s at just over 10,000’ elevation and surrounded by towering peaks.  Next time…

We then made our way down to the I-70 at Copper Mountain.  It was a nice drive and we nearly choked when we added $30 bucks worth of diesel at the on ramp, $4.79/gallon.  The ride down to the Denver Metro area was anything but relaxing.  The last time we took this drive was almost 15 years ago and we were in a rental car, not towing our home.  I didn’t pay attention to the sites this time as there was a ton of traffic and everyone was in a hurry.  I think I’ve mentioned it before, I love having the proper truck to tow our rig.  The Eisenhower Tunnel is almost 11,200’ and a lot of semis and trucks towing were struggling.  A lot of them did pass us on the way down.  I’ve got a thing about brakes going out while towing.  

We ended up driving through Arvada and Boulder when most folks were getting off work.  That was fun…not.  We found a nice little Harvest Host Distillery in Lyons to stay for the night.  It was 82* when we arrived and it’s supposed to be in the 80s again tomorrow.  The craft cocktails were really good and we recommend the stop if you are on your way to Rocky Mountain NP.  More exploring tomorrow.