Hi everyone,
Again, I apologize for this humungous post!
We packed up this morning from the KOA in Fountain, Colorado. Overall, camping in a parking lot wasn't so bad. Hysterically each morning the loudspeaker played a recording of a bugle playing Revelrie at 6:30a.m.! If that didn't get us up, Karen said the train blowing through behind the campground a few minutes later was like the snooze button:) Yesterday was a 'mental health day'...everyone was getting a bit weary of the constant action so after a delicious breakfast prepared by the Kachs in the cool camp kitchen(an octagonal open building with gold'...pretty underwhelming to the older crowd but the youngers seemed to enjoy the 2 hour diversion. Then, Jordan, Shelby,Jim, and Karen headed out to the stables for a pony ride (Felicia) and hour long horse trail ride near the Garden of the gods. The rest of us had lunch and hung out at the pool for a while...then they played miniature golf at the KOA. It was a hot day and there is no shade, so the pool was a welcomed break :)
The day before was crammed full of activity. First we went for a tour at Cave of the Winds. It was an intense ride up a winding mountain road to get to the entrance. Mark especially was dreading the ride back down but we were all shocked that it wasn't so bad at all because we were hugging the wall of the mountain and not feeling like we were going to fall off the edge! The tour itself was enjoyable and lasted about an hour. After that we headed to the Cliff Dwellings...actual remains of Cliff Dwelling Native Americans. It was interesting to see how resourceful they were and the structures they built with little or no tools. We then had some time to kill before our 4p.m. trip up to Pike's Peak on the Cog Railroad so we headed over to Garden of the gods to walk around. Some members of the group were hot and weary by now and looking at more 'random rock formations' was not too exciting. I do have to say though, that they were pretty amazing...just popping up out of no where...we even got to watch a few rock climbers do their thing(they have to have harnesses and a permit to climb there).
The trip up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railroad was well worth it...it takes 3 hours 30 min round trip to climb and descend the 14,115 feet. They only let you stay at the summit for 30 minutes due to the risk of altitude sickness. We drank loads of water and ate some "Pike's Peak High Altitude Donuts" and everyone did just fine although a few of us had minor headaches. On the way up we had to wait for another train to pass- as we sat, one of the passengers spotted a momma black bear and cub. Some of our group actually saw the cub start to climb a tree while others of us just tried to spot it! (some were on the viewing side of the train and others were across the aisle.) We also saw big horn sheep from quite a distance and several marmots right next to the tracks. The young woman who took the tickets and narrated during the trip was a wealth of information and funny too.
After that, we headed back to the campsite' and prepared a very late dinner (it was close to 9pm before it was ready)...so, you can see why a mental health day was in order.
Today after packing up, we headed 2.5 hours away to the Great Sand Dunes National Park...it was awesome! These natural dunes are HUGE. The sky was so blue and the perfect backdrop as we attempted our hike to the top. It was a challenging climb...think of walking uphill on soft, constantly shifting sand...oh and the sand is very HOT and fills your shoes after only a few steps.It is not wise to wear mesh running shoes when climbing sand dunes in the heat of summer! Thankfully, there was a constant breeze so it cooled us off.... but it also whipped that sand around like crazy and my camera is now making a worrisome clicking noise when I turn it on:( Philip, Mercy and Odesco took off and were way ahead of us....they actually reached the top and were coming down when they passed the rest of us. Some of the others gave it a valiant attempt and turned back to flatter ground. I was the last one to make it up....at the end it was so difficult because my feet were burning from the sand and I could only climb 5 0r 10 steps before needing to plop down to dump the sand and move on again. I could only see the 'summit' but no one from our group because they were up ahead on the next dune ridge. The altitude definitely affected us as we were all huffing and puffing especially near the top. My hubby valiantly climbed back to me to help me make the last few feet...I'm so glad I did! The view was amazing from that height (it is 750 feet high and over 8100 elevation above sea level). Once at the top, the people at the bottom look like little dots...the clouds made patterns on the dunes as did the winds which constantly shift the sand. The way up took about 75 minutes and the descent down only 15 minutes. It was such fun to run down those huge steep hills at full stride...it felt like running on the moon as the sand just sort of cushioned each step...it's hard to explain! Anyhow, now after over 2 hours in the car we just passed the KOA we were staying at ...we had hoped to extend our stay for one more night which would mean that we'd be 'home' now but we are continuing to drive onward to Kansas because the Kachs campsite' was not available tonight. Even though the sand dunes was totally out of the way,and there is no direct route to our next destination without backtracking, it was definitely a worthwhile trip. Curtis especially was wanting to go there since we started planning this trip so he was thankful we made it there!
Because we could not extend our Colorado stay for one night, and because we skipped Cody,Wy. (we thought we'd venture there from Yellowstone but chose to push on to the Tetons due to the cold weather), we are actually 2 days ahead of schedule. We were supposed to be visiting with Jason and Kim Williams on Monday through Wednesday as we toured St. Louis but I had to contact her to let her know our plans had changed and we'd be staying in a nearby KOA since we did not want to inconvenience them. As it turns out, she was getting ready to contact me to consider 'PlanB ' as their little Hannah came down with the stomach bug this week. Kim shares my aversion to the tummy bug and was so gracious when we had to change our plans...she said,"See Kathi, God has your back!"...we still hope to be able to see them if their family is feeling well...I was so looking forward to seeing them so we'll see what the Lord has planned for us. One thing we are learning on this trip is to go with the flow. Tonight we are staying in a hotel in Colby,Kansas since we need too push off early for another l-o-n-g day of driving to Eureka, Missouri. We checked in just a little while ago and had Pizza Hut delivered at 10 p.m. The boys (Jenkins too), Mark and I are in one room and the Kachs have the girls. It will be so nice to have a private bathroom and shower and a real bed!!
Thanks for checking in...hope to be able to post pictures soon.
Love,
Kathi for the gang.
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