Goodland, KS

As we were wide awake early, we decided to just get going and were probably on the road by 7:30.  The trip was uneventful but we could tell from the sky that we most likely would be having rain later in the day.  We got to Goodland KOA around 11 a.m. just about the time when most travelers have to depart.  The park's owner came out to get us registered and escorted to our site.  We don't like staying at KOA's for a number of reasons but when it is basically the only game in town, we will bite the bullet.  I must say that this KOA has been a very pleasant surprise and by far is the nicest one we have ever stayed at. The grounds are park-like, clean, and well laid out. You can tell there is pride of ownership here. It is also far enough from the freeway so there isn't any highway noise and I haven't heard a train yet at all lol.  

After lunch, John cleaned the end cap of bugs and decided that he was going to wash the trailer's roof as he could work in the shade of a tree and the afternoon temperature was pleasant.  While he was up there scrubbing, I made good use of my time by doing some laundry.  

Around 3 p.m. I became aware that we were in for some severe weather with the possibility of large hail, damaging winds, and a possibility of a tornado.  Yikes!  John asked the owner about where to go for cover if needed.  He told John that if the siren goes off, to head for his house as they have a cement basement.  Just in case, I put together a bag with all our "important" stuff to grab should we have to head to shelter.  Thankfully, the storm seems to be splitting up and going around us.  Whew.  We have seen some lightning and heard some long rolling thunderclaps but thankfully, nothing serious.  I will be up for a while keeping an eye on the radar while my dear husband sleeps lol.  

Falcon, CO

Planned on getting an early start but got sidetracked for a while talking about RVs with some fellow RVers.  One of the gentlemen was particularly interested in our Pivot-Ez (sewer hose compartment) and wanted a closer look and of course, we were happy to let him.

We had only one mountain pass today - La Veta.  The uphill was steep but the downhill seemed to go on forever finally ending at the town of Walsenburg.  In one section of the highway, we had to slow way down due to a loose cow.  John had slowed but I kept asking him to slow down even more because I just knew that cow was going to run out in front of us.  Sure enough, she cut across the road right in front of us and then ran parallel with the truck for a ways.  After we safely got past her, she cut back across the road behind us.

Thanks to instructions from a friend, we were able to by-pass most of the congestion of Colorado Springs as we were planning on spending the night in a town east of Colorado Springs.  We selected a particular campground based on its location and reviews on RVParkReviews.com.  Let's just say that we don't exactly agree with the high ratings that several of the posters have given.  The park did have some nice features but there were a few items that would not have us return.  We did get to see an antelope in the field behind the park and were serenaded by the howls of coyotes (love that sound) during the night.

We decided not to do any sightseeing as we will be returning to the general area once our service work is complete in Smith Center.  It was nice to just settle in for the afternoon.  John has commented every day how he has liked leaving around 8  to 8:30 a.m. and then pulling in for the day around by noon.  As we have kept our slow meander to Smith Center to less than 200 miles a day, we have been able to not feel so beaten up on travel days.  

After lunch, John set about cleaning the bugs off the end cap.  Once that was done, the truck was next as it was covered with sticky stuff from the cottonwood trees in Bayfield.  Once I saw what he was doing, I went out to lend him a hand.  The trailer also is covered with sticky stuff and John says the roof is particularly gross.  Guess when we get into Smith Center, I know what will be done over the weekend.

No TV or internet as a tree was in the way of our satellite.  The park's wifi was not functioning so the blog update was delayed.  Some days, one just has to rough it.

Alamosa, CO

Looking at the date of my last entry, I have been a real slacker.  We have seen and done a lot in the Durango/Bayfield area but just haven't posted.  I will have to make good use of my time while at the service center to get the blog up-to-date.

The Bayfield Pine River RV Park is loaded with cottonwood trees that have exploded in releasing cotton balls everywhere.  For the first time in his life, John has been hit with allergies due to these blooming cottonwood trees and has been pretty miserable the past couple of weeks.  The ironic thing about this to us is that in Sacramento, the blooming cottonwood trees tore me to pieces but here in Colorado, I haven't been bothered at all.  Different species of cottonwoods I suppose.  Anyway, we were planning on leaving on Friday but with John feeling so miserable, we decided to begin a leisurely trek to Kansas a couple of days early in hopes that by leaving the area, he could get to feeling better.  Besides, we were ready to get back on the road.

The last two times of towing, we had mechanical problems so we (I) had some worries about whether or not they would continue. Thankfully, the truck hummed along just fine and we made it up and over Wolf Creek Pass (7% grade for 9 miles) just fine.  Our destination for the day was Alamosa, CO.

We pulled in to Alamosa before lunch.  As our travel day was a short one - 138 miles, we had our afternoon free, so we decided to take the drive to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve that is about 38 miles from Alamosa.  First stop was at the Visitor's Center where we watched a movie about the park and got a panoramic view of the dunes.  The park has a bit of everything: alpine tundra, subalpine, montane forest, dunefield, grassland, riparian and wetlands. 

The dunes are considered the tallest in North America and cover more than 330 square miles.  Around the edges of the dunefield are the lifeblood of the dunes system - Medano Creek and Sand Creek. Both of these creeks begin in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  The rangers said that mountains did not receive their normal snowfall this winter so that Medano Creek was reaching its peak level today which wasn't very deep.  We were surprised to learn this as the other mountain ranges west of here certainly received a significant amount of snow and the rivers really show it.

We drove through the campground but it didn't look like it was big-rig friendly.  Warnings about bears and mountain lions were posted. Still, if one uses common sense, it would be a neat place to spend a night or two for a small rig or tent.

We then headed for Medano Creek and were very much surprised at all the activity in the area.  Kids of all ages were playing in the water and wet sand.  Others were taking saucers and hiking up the dunes to slide down while others hiked to the very top of the dunes (1 1/4 to 2 hours one way).  It was quite the happening place.  The creek really doesn't look like much here but one can look down the creek area and see how wide and deep the creek can get when the snow melt is substantial.

It was surprising to step off the trail and feel how warm the sand was on my feet.  The park does put out warnings that during the summer the sand temperature can reach 140 degrees.

We love the way the sand dunes look in this picture.

We were really glad that we took the time to visit this diverse national park of ours.