Great Sand Dunes

And on to our last stop for our road trip out west.  

We were on the road, driving out of the mountains and into the flat land of southern Colorado.

Great Sand Dunes National Park is pretty crazy.  North America's tallest sand dunes in the middle of Colorado right next to 14,000 ft snow covered peaks.  It kind of looks like a painter just painted dunes onto a canvas (until you walk closer to them).

We got there in the late afternoon, found a campsite, and walked around the sand.  We really couldn't muster the desire to hike up the dunes.  We kept hearing people around us talk about how difficult it was to trek up hill in the soft sand.  We looked at each other and agreed, "No thanks, the view is great down here where we can lay back and put our feet in the water."

The next day, we put our bathing suits on and relaxed in the sun.  It was as close to the beach as you can get in Colorado!

We headed back north, stayed the night in Salida (in another glorious hotel with a bed and even an indoor pool!), and then drove back to Boulder. 

We visited with Kyle and Cayce for one night and then flew back to Virginia.  What a fun trip...we will miss Colorado!

The day we got home, we started unpacking.  After 1,000 loads of laundry, we got back to normal life in the Burg.

Colorado Road Trip continues

We drove from the Grand Canyon straight to Cortez, CO.  We spent the night at the Tomahawk Lodge Motel.  We looked up the cheapest motel with good reviews on TripAdvisor.  As we drove around looking for it, we found it: the one with the neon lights that read "VACANCY".

Contrary to what your first thought is, the rooms were decently clean and the owners were nice.

The next morning, we woke up early and spent most of the day at Mesa Verde National Park.

That week was unique with a few events honoring the Native Americans in the area.  

He was so cute and little!  Around 3 years old!  He actually did a dance, too.

And his older brother did a dance.

Then we drove around to see the cliff dwellings around the park.

In the late afternoon, we headed to the town of Durango.  We loved Durango!  It's just on the edge of the mountains and a beautiful river runs through the town.  We had dinner downtown at an awesome local pizza joint and finished it off with DQ mini blizzards (another regular treat on our trip).

After our hot meal and warm showers in Durango, we drove north into the San Juan National Forest.  We found this stretch of road to be incredibly picturesque: typical beautiful Colorado through the Rockies.  There were many rivers and lakes around.  We found a dirt road that lead to Molas Lake where we stopped for the night.  We set up the tent and hiked on the Colorado Trail for the day.  It was pretty chilly in the 50s.  We went off the trail for awhile in hopes of climbing to the summit of a nearby mountain (around 12,500 ft high).  We almost got to the top when we felt it was getting dangerous.  Trekking on a very steep hill with loose rocks and patches of snow made the summit not seem as important.

Can you see how steep it was?  Those are our footprints in the snow...I just kept picture myself tumbling down the mountain.  That is around the time we decided to head back down.

Such a beautiful view!

When we got back to the campsite, we just walked around the lake, collected firewood, ate dinner and made s'mores.  That night it was in the low 20s!  Good thing our sleeping bags are super warm.

The next day we got back on the same road and headed north to the tiny town of Silverton.  Population: around 500 people.  Just an old mining town in the mountains of Colorado.  Silverton has had it's fair share of old western movies filmed here.  When you walk down the (one) main street, you definitely feel like you are in an old western.  It's different than any town I've ever been to.

We kept driving and next went through the town of Ouray.  Talk about quaint little towns, this was it.  Surrounded by huge mountains with an adorable little downtown of restaurants and inns.

After the cute stretch of mountain towns, we headed straight to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Grand Canyon

We headed south to Grand Canyon National Park.  I went with my family when I was younger, but Bryce had never been.

We arrived in the morning on the South Rim at Desert View.  The first day, we headed straight to the first-come first-serve campsites in the park.  After setting up our tent, we basically followed the main road along the canyon and stopped at all the main overlooks.  It was pretty windy and hazy, but still amazing.

The next day, we headed to a trailhead (South Kaibab Trail) that goes down into the canyon.  It actually goes all the way down to the river, but we only hiked about 2 miles down.  Let me tell you, the hike down was pretty easy.  The hike up, not so much.  It was definitely worth hiking down though, because it's a whole different view of the canyon than from the overlooks on top.  Bryce wasn't feeling well that day, so we actually turned around a little early than expected.

Strong winds and steep cliffs made it a little frightening, but worth it.

The campsites in the park were really nice.  Only $12/night with bathrooms, too!

We reserved spots on a smooth water rafting trip on the Colorado River.  The trip actually started about 2 hours north of where we were at Glen Canyon.  The trip went for about 15 miles down the river and ended right where the Grand Canyon begins at Lees Ferry.  The section of the Colorado River that runs through the Grand Canyon is actually almost all crazy white water rapids, so it wasn't exactly an option for a 6-month pregnant woman who is already scared of white water rafting.

So we stayed the night in a hotel in a small town called Page, AZ, where the early morning rafting trip left from the next day.

We had to wear hard hats walking down to the rafts because there was a huge bridge above us.

The rafting trip was really fun because the guide shared his knowledge of the canyon, wildlife, history of the area, the river, the rock, etc.

After the morning rafting trip, we got on the road and drove back to Colorado.  On the agenda: Mesa Verde National Park, driving through some cool mountain towns, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and then back to Boulder to catch our flight home.