Arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park!

Today was a driving day for us.  We hooked-up at the CG and were on our way to Great Sand Dunes National Park by 8:15.  We had to deal with some elevation today, up to 9,442 feet!  Ken and Waldo did a great job of managing the mountains!  I had a great talk with Doloris while we were both driving. They were returning from a long weekend at Avalon, NJ, a beautiful beach area.  I also talked to my mother.

It was a beautiful drive - mountains.....

...and colorful mountainsides.

We were on great roads the entire drive arriving at Great Sand Dunes Oasis CG around 11:45 and it is such a huge CG - 20 sites.  What a remote and desolate area.  The CG is only about 1/4 mile from the sign for the National Park and the Visitor Center about 1 1/2 miles.  This CG is at quite a special location.  It has no amenities but the views are incredible.  We can see the Dunes when sitting outside of Waldo and they are very close!  These are the sites we see from our campsite -

Mountains!

Sand Dunes

After setting up, we starting talking to the campers near us and they are from York, PA. - small world!  They had arrived just a few minutes before us and we enjoyed talking to them and sharing in our travels.  Ken and I ate lunch outside and then we drove to the Visitors Center at the National Park where we watched a movie explaining the terrain of this area. 

We can see this sign from our campground

This was taken behind the Visitors Center,

Notice all the people on the dunes.  You can walk on them
anywhere you choose!

We are happy to be here!

The Great Sand Dunes National Park offers seven life zones - Alpine Tundra (mountains), Subalpine (Evergreens), Mountain Forest (Juniper and Aspen), Dunefield (Sand Dunes), Sand Sheet and Grassland, and Stream and Wetlands. How can all of these "terrains" be found is such a small area???  These life zones are determined by elevation, latitude, climate, and exposure to sunlight. So much to explore here!  (Polly, I bet you are amazed by my knowledge? Actually I read about in their brochure!)

We have 3 nights here, so we decided to return to Waldo where we sat outside enjoying the view and reading. 

No a bad place to relax and read.

All of this from the CG!

After grilling dinner, I did dishes while Ken washed the windows outside!   Then it was time to download photos and do the blog.  Ken enjoyed talking to Barry, a fellow camper that we see when we are in Florida.

I have a feeling this may be the most remote CG we have ever stayed in.  The sky is beautiful as I am typing and it is SOOOO quiet!

It is so quiet and serene!

What a way to end the day!