June 30, Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

Hi everyone, We left Denver this morning and drove into a very congested, not too appealing city. A lot of traffic and lights. We drove through Boulder but it wasn't quite as bad. We drove into the entrance of the Park which is called Estes and had to drive 48 miles through Rocky Mountain to our Campground. We detached the car because of all the turns and switchbacks. Every foot of the way was a breathtaking view. The snow covered mountains were so beautiful! I was taking pictures and driving at the same time so I had a lot of duds. The alphin beetle has devastated almost all of the alpine trees and that is sad. I guess they didn't have enough hard frosts to kill the beetles off. Sometimes nature is cruel. We settled into our camp and visited some friends that are volunteering here. Then we drove into a quaint little western village for dinner. We are exploring more tomorrow and I will fill you in about some history of the region. Love you all.

June 29, Denver, Colorado

Hi folks, We left Colorado Springs this morning and drove into Denver. We are not used to big cities but we had no choice. We had to go through Denver to get to where we want to go. We decided on lovely Cherry Creek State Park. It has an awesome bike trail which we rode and a wonderful lake. After lunch we drove downtown and saw the Denver Mint. That was interesting. Then an afternoon at the 16th st. mall which is an outside mall where they close off the street and shuttle everyone from block to block. Lots of outdoor cafe's. It was a fun day! Tomorrow, Rocky Mtn. National Park.

Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park

June 28, Pikes Peak

Hi everyone, Pikes Peak is awesome! It has an altitude of 14,110 ft. I know I could not live there. I had altitude sickness at 8,000 ft. But it was definitely worth the trip up. It took us 3 hours round trip. The summit temp. was 36 degrees. Around every bend in the road there was different scenery. When you get to the top, there are views of 4 different states. In fact, the beauty of the summit inspired Katherine Lee Bates to write the words of America the Beautiful. In the 1800's it served as a beacon for wagons in search of gold. As far as mountains go, Pikes Peak is the most beautiful we have seen. Tomorrow Denver. Love you all

Pikes Peak

June 27 Leaving the Dunes

I wanted to tell you a little about the Dunes.
These dunes are the tallest dunes in North America. They are nestled against the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There are many creeks and lots of wind. These 2 factors are what created the dunes. Eroded from mountains, shattered by freezing and thawing, tumbled by streams and wind, the sand grains cycle through the Great Sand Dunes system as if it were a living thing. Most of the sand deposit outside the dunefield is stabilized by plants. The curves and contours of old dunes now coveered by grass and shrubs are difficult to discern at first glance. Rolling around the edges of the dunefield are the creeks some call the lifeblood of the dunes system--Medano Creek and Sand Creek. Swift, shallow, and seasonal they are critical links in the natural system of sand recycling and are sources of precious moisture in this desert valley. Medano and Sand creeks flow seasonally around the dunefield. They carve out and carry sand from the eastern, western and northern edges of the dunefield and redeposit it to the south, where wind eventually recycles it back into the dunefield. Isn't this interesting? When you look at the Dunes, the first question you ask is how they got here. Well, now we know. Love and have a good day.