Where in the world are we?

Where do you think we went this weekend?

I'll give you a hint:  It's in Colorado.

About a 4-hr drive from Denver...

Answer:

 

We drove down to Great Sand Dunes National Park yesterday afternoon (AFTER a vet appointment with the little old lady - but that's another post).  I have never seen anything like it. When people talked about the "Great" Sand Dunes, I was thinking maybe a mound here or there, but dang.  I was looking around for people in turbans.

Don't quote me, but if I have my information correct, these dunes were formed by snow streams that flow down from the mountains (forming the head waters of the Rio Grande, actually).  As the water ran down the mountain, it would pick up speed, and as it flowed out at the base, wind would blow the sand out of it.  Over time, the sand has built up and now continues to be shaped by the wind.  A couple of months out of the year, some water remains, but now most of it is under the dunes.  Apparently there's a huge watershed down there.  The geology of this area is amazing.

 We saw elk, deer, lots of birds, and we heard coyotes.  Which people out here pronounce "KYE-oats" (we pronounce it KYE-YOH-tees) but that's neither here nor there.

Also?  Today is the second Sunday in a row that we have gotten up at an ungodly hour to watch the sun rise.  Apparently I've lost my mind.  We got home this afternoon and before G could get the car unpacked I was in my pj's on the couch.  Heaven forbid I let the weekend end without a 2-hr nap.  Thankfully I managed to squeeze it in there.  (Remember Lady Dowager's quote from Downton Abbey?  "What is a...week end?"  OMG I love it.)

As we are preparing for this week, G checked the weather and noticed that we are supposed to have "BLIZZARD-LIKE CONDITIONS" on Tuesday.  So severe, in fact, that he has had to make hotel reservations in the town he works in.  This is insane!

But you know what?  I <3 it here.  I wouldn't trade it for the world.