Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

I was up before dawn this morning, and anticipating my touring today.

Before I left, I took a picture of my site at Lathrop State Park. Notice the mountains surrounding the park.

This is one of the two lakes in the state park. When I arrived, yesterday, I met a man in the parking lot that had just caught three huge northern pike in the lake. The biggest one was over 32" and more than 12 pounds. I sure would have enjoyed catching any of the fish he had!

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At 9:00, I hit the road to travel to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. I drove about 70 miles to get there and went over La Veta Pass at 9413'. I'm sure glad I was in the car rather than driving the rig over that pass.

As I entered the park, I stopped for the obligatory photo at the entrance. A couple from Germany was kind enough to take this shot for me. I offered to do the same for them, but the wife was apparently having a bad hair day, and they declined. :) This shot is about ten miles from the visitor's center. Notice the nice fall colors on the cottonwood trees. The sand dunes are in front of the mountains.

These pictures don't do justice to the dunes, which rise up to 750' before the Sangre de Cristo (blood of Christ) Mountains.

These sand dunes have been here for more than 12,000 years. The winds shift them daily, but they persist to stay here. Two creeks surround the dunes and help to keep them where they are at. Several species of insects live on the dunes, and no where else in the world.
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When I visited here in the late '60's, this was a National Monument, but in 2004, the park was expanded and designated a National Park and Preserve by a vote of Congress. The park now includes the dunes, mountains, and wetlands. All these habitats are integral parts of the dunes ecosystem, and will now be preserved forever. What a good idea our National Parks are!

I took a parting shot as I left this magnificent area. Kind of makes you want to sing "This land is your land..."

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A short jog down the road

I was on the road shortly before ten this morning, and was off of the road by about 11:30! I only moved 58 miles down I-25 to Lathrop State Park, outside of Walsenburg, CO. There was some challenging construction along the way, and I didn't find a place to fill the propane tank. According to the weather forecast, I think I'll be alright for the next three nights.

Aside from the issue of the Colorado State Park pass, I've been really impressed with the parks I've stayed in. All of them have had very spacious sites with electricity, and pretty fantastic views. They have also been very large and offer many things for visitors to do. Emma and I took a ride through the park this afternoon, but pictures would be better if the tour is done in the morning. I'll be here at Lathrop for at least three nights, and use this park as a base for using the car to visit places in the area.

Tomorrow, I'll head out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The last time I was there was in the late sixties, so I need to visit it again. I also plan to visit a couple of National Wildlife Refuges a little west of here. I hope the weatherman knows what he is talking about. :)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A gorgeous day in Colorado

Well, the horrible winds and rain finally stopped so I could leave Nebraska and head to Colorado today. I was on the road by 8:45 and drove the 198 miles to Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora, Colorado. About 120 miles into the trip, I began to see the mountains on the horizon. How magnificent they looked with their snow capped peaks! I arrived shortly after noon.

Let me tell you about the fees at state parks in Colorado. As I arrived at the entrance station to the park, I was informed that there was a daily fee of $7.00/vehicle (which means $14/day since I have a motorhome and a toad). There is also an additional $3.00 fee for water usage just for this park. That's in addition to the $22.oo/night camping fee. Since I'll be staying here for four nights, that would be $59.00 plus the $88.00 for camping. I'm thinking that is rather steep for a state park. So, for $30 more, I could have a one year pass to all Colorado State Parks that would eliminate entrance fees. I decided to go with that option. I guess I'll have to try to camp in as many Colorado parks as possible by the end of October, 2010!

This state park is truly an oasis in an urban environment. It is located in the middle of a spaghetti-like confluence of three interstates just outside of Denver in the city of Aurora. As I drove through the park on the way to the campground, I was astounded by the number of people bicycling and jogging along the roadways of the park on a Wednesday afternoon. What a wonderful get-away for the residents of Denver and the surrounding communities! The campground loop that I am in has very spacious sites and full hook-ups. There is some road noise from the interstates, but how convenient for me to visit my son.

Daniel, and his dog, Buddy, came over this afternoon and we had a wonderful time visiting. Emma was in seventh heaven romping with Buddy. She has now collapsed and is sound asleep on the dashboard.

I'm looking forward to the next few days visiting with Dan and Crystal, and seeing their place. The only down side of this is the forecast for snow tomorrow. It was in the seventies today, and tomorrow's high will be in the upper thirties. Yuck!!

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

The Sunday Blast from the Past

While I was camp hosting at Lewis and Clark State Park in Washington during the early fall of 2006, the other hosts and I took a day trip to visit Mt. Rainier National Park. The Putz's are a fulltiming RV couple originally from Washington, so they took it upon themselves to show me a few fabulous places in their home state. I really appreciated that, since my transportation at that time was a moped. A one hundred mile trip was not something I was going to do on the moped. :)

There was still plenty of snow up on the mountain, even in September.

While we were taking in the sights, the Putz's struck up a conversation with another visiting couple. It turns out, they were from Kasson, Minnesota. How's that for a small world? You see, I lived in Kasson for the ten years previous to my taking to the road!

When we headed out from Lewis and Clark SP, I was wearing shorts because of the nice warm weather. I didn't take the altitude at Mt. Rainier into consideration. That was a mistake. I was getting goose bumps, and it wasn't just from the magnificent scenery!

It's hard not to take a million pictures when you are in the grandeur of the mountains.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy