We awoke at 7a and packed some, heading down for breakfast at 8a. Ms. Young had laid out a spread of bacon and french toast with strawberry syrup and offered orange juice and coffee to drink. As with the day prior it was excellent. After breakfast the ladies went upstairs to pack and relax while Addison and I talked with Ms. Young about Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and life in general — including her service in the Coast Guard in Massachusetts in the 80s. We wrapped up at about 10:30a, packed up the car, and hit the road by 11a, checking out Colorado’s oldest church, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (founded in 1857), on the way out of town.
Foyer of the Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast
Neat dragon mural in Antonito, Colorado
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Antonito, Colorado’s oldest church (1857)
Unfortunately we had to drive north (away from our eventual hotel stop for the night) an hour to visit our destination for the day, Great Sand Dunes National Park. First, however, we passed through Alamosa and, as we approached the park, stopped to gaze at Mt. Blanca, the fourth highest peak in Colorado at about 14,300′. There was an interesting information display as well about the valley and the people that had inhabited it over the years.
Mt. Blanca, at 14,351′ Colorado’s fourth highest peak
As we neared the entrance we could see the giant dunes rising pale yellow against the 14,000′ mountains behind them. The largest dune was over 750′ high; for comparison Jockey’s Ridge in NC’s Outer Banks is only 100′ high. Even Sahara desert dunes rarely top 600′! We paid our reasonable entrance fee and rolled up to the visitor’s center where we watched a movie (a bit boring, I may or may not have nodded off), bought some magnets and postcards, then headed out to get closer to the dunes. From the visitor’s center it is a not insignificant walk and with the heat we weren’t interested in that. Luckily the road headed further north and closer to the dunes.
View of Great Sand Dunes National Park far off in the distance
The highest dunes towered 750’+ over the valley floor!
It was hot. Like, really hot. We spilled out of the SUV and walked past the sparse tree line and onto the dunes area. The ladies didn’t make it very far but Addison and I walked quite a bit, to the top of the first ridge. The sand was very soft and it was difficult to make fast progress. There was a fallen log and, other than that, a few groups of people braving the heat and sand boarding / sledding. We hadn’t rented either and that was probably a good call. The sand was blistering (we could feel the heat through our shoes) and watching a young girl do a face plant while sand boarding didn’t make us want to do that activity! We did pass a pretty hard-core chill guy — bearded, tie-dye, sandals. Once we got to the top of the ridge I remembered there was supposed to be a stream but didn’t see any. Turns out that we had crossed its bed but the stream, it being a drought, wasn’t running (normally in July it would only be a couple inches deep anyhow, with the primary flow in mid-May to mid-June). We enjoyed the scenery then walked back to the car and sweet, sweet AC.
Driftwood in the dry bed of Medano creek
People looked like tiny specks against the giant dunes
Groups of people were scattered about sand boarding
At times it felt like we were on Tatooine
Creek bed with sparse grass and the mountains beyond
View of the dunes and the mountains beyond
Final look at the dunes with a storm moving in
We left the park about 2p and ate right outside at the Great Sand Dunes Oasis campground, gift shop, and restaurant. Michelle had a chicken wrap with salad, Genetta a ham and cheese with fries, Addison a patty melt with fries, and myself a bacon cheeseburger with fries. For dessert Michelle and I had cherry pie a la mode (each, no sharing!) and Genetta a chocolate mousse pie. The food was quite decent and the dessert was great, much better pie than at that Amish place in Kansas!
Oasis just outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park
Great selection of yummy pies at the Oasis
About 3:30p we headed toward Santa Fe. A largely desolate journey, this time we went along the eastern side of the San Luis valley. In Fort Garland we saw fire engines, etc. blocking the road east over the pass that we couldn’t use a few days before. They also had a very brightly painted weed shop that I wish I had been quick enough to get a picture of. Small mesas broke the monotony of the valley floor and we passed through the occasional small town. After crossing into New Mexico we skirted Taos (sadly the Taos Pueblo was closed, I’d have loved to visit that) and took some back roads to avoid Taos proper. They sure do love adobe buildings! A dark scar snaked across the valley floor — the gorge of Rio Grande del Norte. A number of rafters were on the river as we descended into the gorge on the approach to Santa Fe.
Gorge of the Rio Grande in New Mexico
Adobe abodes, iconic New Mexico
Inside the gorge of the Rio Grande
Interesting terrain on the way to Santa Fe
As we got closer there were a couple of bridges that were brightly painted with Native American symbols. Genetta wanted me to snap a picture but I wasn’t quick enough. I then had an overwhelming sense of deja vu and realized we’d seen them before! Yep, in 2013 we overlapped our 2018 route for about five or so miles — the first time any of our trips have done that. I even had pictures of the bridge in my blog from then, whew! Arrived in Santa Fe about 7p and checked in to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Santa Fe Cerrillos. It was a nice room but sadly the dryer was broken so we couldn’t do laundry. I off-loaded pictures before we headed out to Outback at 8:30p. Dinner wasn’t bad and it was interesting as it was one of their test kitchens and they had menu options that weren’t normally available. I had some Wasabi brussel sprouts that were excellent. Other than that we had pretty standard Outback fare. On the way back to the hotel we got gas. The rest of the family hit the hay while I blogged from 10p to 1a.
Route for Tuesday, July 3rd, 2018