Today was a WOW ! DAY. God gave us so many nice little gifts.
We headed north into Colorado then west on Rt 160 along the southern border of that state.
Our first stop was Lathrop State Park.
Looking at this picture you know why we headed north. We were tired of looking at cactus and not seeing water.
There were very few animals in this state park; we did see a red-wing blackbird.
Because the state park was not productive, we drove on up Rt 160 til we found an old dirt road.
The more off the beaten path, the more you get into God's country.
This is just one of many deer that we saw.
This Western bluebird was very photogenic.
This little buck just wanted his picture taken.
We find snow, and Sue crawls up a snow bank.
Then a war is declared.
After peace is restored, we spotted this turkey.
Wow! lunch time already. In honor of Del we just had to have lunch here.
Our next stop is the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
From 12000 ft high, they don't look like much, but those sand dunes are over 750 ft high.
That's like as high as a 75 story building, and covering several square miles.
It's by far the biggest sand pile we ever got to play in.
But before we do that we must ford a stream to get there.
Dancing on the dunes !
With the sand reaching temperatures of over 140 degrees,
it creates quite a contrast with the snow on the mountains in the back.
Where did this sand come from?
From 12,000 to more than a million years, it was carried by
wind and water from two other mountain ranges, one that was more than 65 miles away.
Of course I had to see how high up I could get the girls to climb.
No this is not the top, but about half way.
The girls have pooped out on me on the last dune below.
They sure don't look tired yet.
Most people walk back down, and then there are the ones who use other means.
Back at the parking lot we see our first magpie.
Now these girls want to take a mile walk on a nature trail.
You would never know we just walked two miles in the sand uphill.
After a half mile up and back this is all we have to show for it.
Looks like a baby gator.
We leave the park and head out thinking our day was over.
Then they see this sign for Zapata Falls. Here we go again !
I tell them that you better be able to drive to it.
We drive up to about 11,000 ft and then see the trail sign.
Just a half mile UP HILL ! I say NO WAY ! They say come on, you old man.
Have you ever tried to breathe at 11,000 ft ? I said go for it, just take a picture.
After 15 min or so, I give in and go up to see these great falls.
Maybe if i'm lucky a bear had them for dinner. I do spot some deer on the way.
So I finally make it up there, to find the girls short of the falls.
What they failed to read on the sign was you have to walk up the stream
the last couple hundred of feet, to actually see the falls. They climbed all this way
and were wimping out on me. Just because the sign said Danger do not proceed past this point.
I didn't come all this way and not see the falls.
So while I had those two screaming at me to stop,
I forged on, scaling the rocks, risking my life for these pictures.
Finally, I worked my way to the crevice and rounded the corner out of the girls' view.
This is when they realized that I had the keys to the car, and if I didn't come back
they might have to come after me.
On the first turn I was facing a frozen waterfall about 20 feet high.
Then, on the second turn, I looked up and knew it was all worthwhile.
I was standing looking up at a 40 foot water fall rushing down in front of me. It was awesome !
As you can see, I made it back in one piece.
The girls were so happy they took my picture, just before the beating.
Now, they're plotting how to get even.
What a day ! We drive to the next town to find a motel.
We find a Best Western that is next to a drive-in or was part of the drive-in.
We notice all rooms point to the big screen. Yup, speakers in each room.
The whole trip we had been telling Sue about the movie, " Wild Hogs " and that we might
want to stop and see it if we get a chance.
We are so blessed ! You guessed it. The movie showing was Wild Hogs,
and they even had a popcorn stand. So we snuggled up with our popcorn, and watch the movie out our window.
What a great way to end our day.
See you tomorrow !
Ralph, Prilly & Sue