People (bottom right) begin the long climb at Great Sand Dunes National Park
The sound of our huffing and puffing obscured the fact that Great Sand Dunes is the quietest national park in the US. We didn’t notice. How could we? Getting oxygen seemed a more pressing matter.
The mental images we develop of places we’ve never been are the first casualties of travel. Nothing is ever really how we imagine. The warm southern states I pined for during 39 winters in the Northeast are one such illusion. We’ve discovered that reliable winter warmth can only be found by traveling to the farthest southern reaches of the country; or by leaving it entirely.
Of the two, the second option is more desirable. There are just too few places in the U.S. to explore during all those long winter months. Southern Florida was great, but we’re really not keen on returning to the same places year after year. Next winter we’re considering jetting off to South East Asia.
But yesterday’s BBC article about aurora borealis chasing has me rethinking those long-term plans. Seeing the Northern Lights is high on my to-do list and the next two years promise peak activity. Unfortunately winter is prime time viewing owing to extraordinarily long nights. It’s also prime time cold.
So can these two hot-house flowers withstand arctic conditions to witness one of nature’s greatest displays? Probably not. But we’re thinking about it.
Image courtesy of Beverly & Pack
In retrospect it seems a little stupid. Jostling to be in the front of the pack with the fastest riders wasn’t necessary. I could have, maybe I should have, slowed down and simply enjoyed the view. But it isn’t everyday you get to fly down the 14,100 foot summit of Pikes Peak on a mountain bike. I was going to make the most of it.
The Royal Gorge Bridge is pretty, but not worth the price of admission
Colorado Springs is such an amazing place that it’s one of the few we’ve come across that we’d consider using as a home base once we trade in the RV. There’s a vibrant small city, close proximity to Denver, stunning parks, and access to some of the best outdoor activities and scenic beauty anywhere in the world.
It is also one of those areas that decided it can charge tourists exorbitant prices for things that are free most everywhere else.
We didn’t know exactly what we were looking for. Jon had given us directions and we had the aid of our trusty GPS, but nothing we could see told us for certain we had actually arrived at Bedlam Farm in upstate New York.
I turned cautiously up the drive, not wanting to trespass uninvited on private property. The only visible sign read “By Appointment Only.” We weren’t sure if it was a clue or a warning. Then we heard the sound that told us we were absolutely in the right place.
