Colorado

Better Late Than Never

by Ingrid

We finally hit the road.  We’re about three weeks behind our originally planned departure date, but hey better late than never.  The weather could present some problems necessitating the need to be very flexible in our plans.RVing

RVing
unable to put slide out all the way – boulders

Our first day on the road, we opt for an easy two-hour drive.  First stop; Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado.  The weather is cold and a bit windy.  The camping season is over in the State of Colorado as temps drop and winter approaches.  Private campgrounds are closed and most State Park campgrounds are closed as well with a few exceptions.  There’s one loop in the campground still open at the Dunes.  However, with the exception of one restroom, all water in the park has been shut off.  Night time temperatures drop well below freezing.

I did my home work prior to our departure, thus we have plenty of water on board.  We run the forced air heat keeping our storage compartment, water line, and tank heated.  The park website says the campground can accommodate up to a length of 35′.  Hum, truck and fifth wheel measure over 45′.  Al and I concur, “Oh what the heck.  I’m game if you’re game.  Let’s see if we can fit’er in”.Great Sand Dunes National Park

It’s a tight fit.  With the aid of a shoehorn, a little grease, and backing back and forth a million times, we finally squeezed into a site.  Thank goodness there was only one other camper in the campground, allowing us to pick  a spacious spot (spacious if you’re a tent).  There was only two or three options total that would work….yikes!

We have a beautiful view of the dunes from our rig, but due to our late start in the day, the sun is already setting.  We’ll explore a little in the morning before hitting the road again.Sand Dunes

The Great Sand Dunes National Park is located off US Highway 160 in southern Colorado about 240 miles south of Denver or 245 miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The dunes are the tallest in North America and are nestled against the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountain range.  A favorite pastime of visitors is to climb these massive dunes and sled down.

San Isabel National Forest is host to an abundance of hiking, four wheeling, or horseback riding trails.  I wish we had more time to explore, but we have a snowstorm to outrun.  This is definitely a place we look forward to revisiting and taking our time exploring.  However, we will park the rig at the nearby San Luis State Park, which will accommodate our length with a bit more ease.Sand Dunes

RVing

26 thoughts on “Better Late Than Never”

    1. We are at Lake Pleasant for a week and then will head over to Cave Creek Reg Park for a week. Loved, loved, loved our spot at Lake Powell. Would’ve stayed a month if it had been just a tad warmer. Where to after Bullhead?

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        1. We’ll be at Cave Creek Saturday until Jan 3….just decided this morning. After that not sure. End of Jan. we may head to Catalina SP Tucson and Feb over to Texas. Tenative at best 🙂

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  3. We only camped one night at San Luis with a brief morning hike in the Dunes as we traveled to Mesa Verde. The Dunes are on my “future post” list — such a unique spot. And, I remember laying in the tent listening to packs of coyotes yipping back and forth to each other as the sun rose. ~ Kat

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    1. Wish we had gotten off to an earlier start….I really wanted to climb the dunes and we had to pass by Mesa Verde to outrun a snowstorm 😦 Oh well, we’ll have places to explore this spring and summer.

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  4. We have been to Ajo, AZ..a wonderful little town..There are lots of boondock spots, and also a very nice full hook-up RV park called Hickiwan RV Park, 12 miles South of town..The monthly rates were under $300 a month in 2010..laundry, nice owners, and great access to the Sonoran Desert..We envy you the AZ wonders..

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    1. My folks liked Ajo. Since our son lives in Phx I think we’ll hang around for awhile. Son in Phx, daughter in Denver….not the worst scenario 🙂

      Sitting at Lake Pleasant. Sunny and 78 degrees!

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  5. Whoa… I bet there was a bit of rock and rolling going on. There’s a certain amount of excitement with those kinds of displays by Mother Nature, but they can also be scary and dangerous. Glad you survived OK and hopefully you’ll be enjoying better weather. Stay safe! and warm!

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  6. Wishing you a safe ride with the storm barreling down on us. Snow threatening on the passes on I-5. Not something I’d want to be dealing with. Hoping it delays awhile before moving Eastward.

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    1. I’m behind on posts due to internet problems. We are currently in AZ and greatful we dodged at least one snowstorm. Had to wait out a storm at Lake Powell and then south we went. Next year we’ll leave earlier. Stay warm and off the roads 🙂

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      1. That’s certainly reassuring as I listen to the wind picking up outside. It’s shaping up to be our first “serious” storm of the season around here. Weather guy mentioned wind gusts around 70 mph on the coast. I think the storms moved in a bit early this year. I had planned a trip up north in October, but the haze from the summer fires and then the feeling that we were barreling toward and early winter made me pause and then rethink. Planning to stay put until the weather clears here.

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        1. We with stood two days of 60 mph gusts at that beautiful spot in my header photo at Lake Powell. Loved the location but hope to not repeat that kind of storm. Smart on your part to stay put!

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  8. One of these days we will need to explore Colorado in our RV. We have vacationed there and lived there but never with an RV. Safe travels 🙂

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    1. We need to explore more as well. However, it’s sometimes a bit of a challenge the bigger the rig. Requires some serious homework before embarking on some Colorado adventures. There are times I wish we had kept the truck camper for just those adventures.

      Have a pound of “Coffee Pot” coffee in the RV….great breakfast 🙂

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  9. And on the road we are… off to warmer lands I’m assuming… looking at the photos that is one “big rig” you have there… I’ve never seen anything like that here… but keep warm and I’m with you all the way on this journey so lets see some interesting place… this first one sounds great and maybe we get to see it on the way back??

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    1. Ah, our Rig is a mere medium size. Yes, warmer temps are in the future. Not sure where we’ll head after Christmas, but know we won’t go back the way we came….that might be boring…and I wouldn’t want your ride to be boring…lol.

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