Month: September 2018

Just on the other side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, are the tallest sand dunes in North America. Who would’ve thought you would find them in southern CO? The sand is a result of an ancient lake bed. As the water receded, the sand was left to the mercy of the predominantly southwesterly winds, and got trapped against the mountains.

The area is actually made up of a park as well as a preserve. On our first day, we decided to venture into the preserve, and take the jeep road up into the mountains – after a quick stop at the visitors center & our first attempt at climbing the dunes 😳

It was amazing how the terrain changed as you get up into the mountains – lots of gorgeous aspens. And as you can see, we go more adventurous going thru the creeks as we came back down 🙂

The next day we rented sand boards & headed out to give them a try – first on the smaller dunes, then a bit more steep. Both liked the sled at first, but quickly decided the board was more fun.

As you can see, some of us did better than others 😜 but we all had a GREAT time!

We finished up our visit with our Jr Ranger badges, and a glorious sunrise.

One of my favorite stops this year was a visit with my Aunt Sara & Uncle Mike at the family ranch in Westcliffe, CO. The ranch was established in 1872 when my family homestead this remote valley near the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Since it is a working ranch, we helped out where we could with chores – the kids had a great time bottle feeding calves & feeding hay to the horses. We even got to help out with some pre-weaning coral work on Sat morning.

I also got to share some family history, and one of my childhood homes with my kids.

We made our way across the San Juan Skyway through aspen speckled mountains towards the Black Canyon.

We arrived in time for a nice game of golf at our campground after dinner –

Unfortunately the rain moved in the next day, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the park as planned.

This impassable canyon has a rich history as a source of frustration for westward expansion, and an intense recreational challenge for those brave enough to enter its jagged steep cliffs or ragging waters. Its 2,200 foot walls of gray gneiss and schist rise from the waters of the Gunnison River; walls so deep and narrow sunlight only penetrates their depths at midday, leaving the canyon constantly enveloped in its own shadow. It’s an ominous setting, accentuated by the angry river carving through the canyon’s floor at a rate of one inch every 100 years. When the river is running, it tears through the canyon with reckless abandon, dropping 34 feet every mile. The Gunnison River loses more elevation in 48 miles than the Mississippi River does in more than 2,000!

After first views of the canyon & a stop at the visitors center, we headed down the South Rim road towards the Warner Point Trail. We waited for the rain to lighten up then re-purposed our ponchos from our Niagara Falls visit 🙂

We then stopped at the Painted Wall – the highest cliff in CO.

Then drove into the canyon to see the intake point for the very challenging irrigation tunnel & diversion dam.

And finish up w/ Jr Ranger badges –

This park is unique amongst the other parks in that it is a celebration of human history. It is one of the few in the NPS that is primarily set aside for the preservation of active archeological sites. Of the 4,700 archeological sites found at Mesa Verde (Green Table) about 600 are cliff dwellings. These structures range from one-room houses to massive 150-room villages, like Cliff Palace.

About 1,400 years ago Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the region that has become Mesa Verde NP, farming and hunting on the mesa tops. Over time they moved from small communities of pit-houses on top the mesa to cliff dwellings in alcoves beneath its rim. Much can be inferred from the tools, basketry, pottery, and ruins left behind by this ancient culture, but little is certain about why they built such large structures in the canyon walls or why they abandoned them in the late 1200s.

The largest is Cliff Palace – thought to be a community center where people in surround homes gathered here for celebration & ceremony.

Spruce Tree House was closed due to reconstruction & renovation efforts –

Balcony House – this one was our favorite, although not for the faint of heart, since you have to climb a 30 ft ladder.

We finished our day enjoying a few short hikes –

As we entered the fall show season, we had several small weekend fly-ins to attend. The first of these was the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc.) fly-in in Santa Fe, NM.

It was a good show – steady steam of customers, good B2B interactions with colleagues, and a chance to catch-up with friends.

We spent the week of Labor Day back in AR. We had some work stuff to take care of but most importantly, we celebrated Ja-money’s big 6th bday!

To kick off the festivities, we arrived in town just in time for the first Razorback game of the season –

Unfortunately it was SUPER hot at the game & Madi wasn’t feeling very well so we didn’t make it long at the game. But the tailgate was good times as usual –

The next day after church, we went out to our land to evaluate options for building when we return – more to come on that 🙂 While we were there, we saw several of the current “residents”

On Labor Day, we had a joint pool party with some friends – Sophia’s bday is two days after Jamon’s.

On his bday, we had breakfast celebration and then a family dinner that night.

After finishing up the week, catching up with friends, and wrapping up some work, we headed to our next show in Santa Fe. Along the way, we stopped for one more bday hoorah by spending the weekend at an indoor water park in Clinton, OK.