488 total miles driving today! (9.75 hours driving)
16º F when I left Leadville at 8:15 - that means that my "bottles of water" in the car were "bottles of ice". But enough dilly-dallying around - let's SEE THIS COUNTRY!:
142 miles south I got to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve:
The assumption is that, to create this 30-square-mile dunefield (the tallest in North America), the sand washed down from the San Juan Mountains east into the San Luis Valley. Then the west/southwest winds blew the sand east into the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, creating the dunes.
There was promotional material at the Visitor Center that discussed Zapata Falls, just 8 miles south:
I was a little wary at the phrase "Drive 3 miles up the bumpy gravel road", but I was willing to see what it was like. It was BAD:
I'm sorry, but I have already spent time-and-money on car repairs related to "bottoming-out on dirt roads", and I don't want to do that again (at least not this trip).
It was 67º F at 1:22 when I stopped in Walsenburg, Colorado. Gas, Chips, Coffee and bathroom - is this a GREAT town or what??
Later I drove through Las Animas, Colorado - a tough town; even the Dollar Store is closed down.
Into Kansas at 3:55 (not a cloud in the sky!), whereupon I immediately lost an hour (time zone change):
I spent exactly 1 week in the Mountain Time Zone: Friday afternoon-to-Friday afternoon.
6:45 Checked into the Super 8 in Dodge City, Kansas, just west of the Boot Hill Museum.
This has been a wonderful adventure - Thank You God!
Music today - started with Tom Harrison speaking at yesterday's Thursday Morning Men's Breakfast (ah, the wonders of technology!). Then I rolled into "2nd Albums":
The Doors - Strange Days, 1967
Paul Simon - There Goes Rhymin' Simon, 1973
The Steve Miller Band - Sailor, 1968
Crosby, Stills and Nash - CSN, 1977
Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, 1969
Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites, 1996
Lyrics: "Walkaways":
Someday I'm going to stay, but not today.
Spirit - Time Circle, 1968–1972
Spirit was a good band in the late 60's (1st album 1968, 2nd album 1969). This collection has 9-of-the-11 tracks on album 1 (Spirit), and 7-of-the-11 tracks on album 2 (The Family That Plays Together). I always liked the first two albums, and this compilation cd (2 cds, but the tracks I like are on cd 1) has more than enough for me to be happy.
original cover for 2nd album:
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II, 1969
The Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South, 1970
The Pretenders - Pretenders II, 1981
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about Hiking the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine (On Sept. 1, I joined Deede and Tad hiking Mt. Katahdin [Hunt Trail] - his final day on the AT!)
hyperlink: dixonheadingnorth
http://dixonheadingnorth.blogspot.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment