Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The Great Sand Dunes

Along the road in Colorado

Snow in Colorado

Morley; a church front from an old mining community along the Santa Fe Trail

This morning (Wed.) we left Raton, New Mexico and followed the interstate and also the Santa Fe Trail through the Raton Pass. This was the first time we got a glimpse of the way the trail went in daylight. According to the maps, we were right on it. Several times going up into the pass (up to 7,500 ft.) I noticed "washes" along the highway. A lot of years ago, Dorothy Stone, who is now with the Lord, showed me some ruts from the Oregon Trail in the side of the hill in a park in Kansas while we were at an Alpha Delta Kappa picnic. When we were at the visitor's center the guide there said we could still see remnants of the trail if we knew what we were looking for. I knew when I saw the "washes" what I was looking at. It would have been so much fun to continue on into southeastern Colorado along the "trail line" and go to Bent's Fort; apparently a place with much living history about the trail but our time is limited. While we are having fun and seeing things along the way the objective is to get to CA by Sunday evening; Jeff begins work there on Monday with a meeting with the DOT in Sacremento. I'm glad we saw what we did and the scenery was breathtaking from our vehicle and gladly not from a covered wagon.

We turned toward the northwest and trekked towards the Great Sand Dunes National Monument or is it park? This was fun for the children; they could barely believe all that sand and how high the dunes were, and yes, you can climb, roll, run, and more there. So they were tickled. On the way we went through snow; yes snow in May. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees. As we settled back down into the valley at the Visitor's Center it had risen back up to about 50 degrees. Clad in shorts and short sleeves (appropriate when we left NM); we had to change into our "long clothes". I had anticipated this might happen and one of our totes had all this for everyone and was handy in the back. So we had a dressing room going on right in the car. We even put the baby in a covered suit type outfit with a hood (the wind was strong). However, it was way too windy after leaving the Visitor's Center to be out on the dunes with her and as I had been there before I decided to go back and sit in the car. Jackson and Elizabeth stayed with me as well. The wind had picked up and then the snow began and it got worse and worse. It looked like a blizzard and no I don't have a picture because Jeff had the camera. Further, the others were not coming back. I didn't worry about them; I knew they were having fun, but I couldn't see the bushes in front of the car it was swirling so much. So, we made lunches and sang songs in the car. Almost as soon as it had begun, the snow went away and the sun came out. Shortly they returned, smiling, and wet! They had climbed all the way to the top of one of the dunes only to be met with the swirling snow at that moment so their view was obstructed but they had had fun. We will be finding sand everywhere for days I'm sure. The rest of the day was spent, you guessed it, driving. We are staying in Cortez, CO right near Mesa Verde National Park.