Many Shoes Full of Sand Later

Last summer I flew to Alamosa, Colorado with Nate on one of his overnight trips for work. Why would I want to spend a night in Alamosa, Colorado, you ask. Well, because I could visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park of course! I had seen a few pictures online of others who had visited the park, and I was pretty excited to see this stream (pictured above) that runs through the dunes. On arrival, I was disappointed to find that the stream had dried up for the summer. You could locate water by digging a hole about 3 feet deep though. Hurray. Next time we'll have to visit in spring when the stream is in full force. We still enjoyed our time at the dunes, stream or no stream! Alamosa is also home to the San Luis Valley Brewing Company (more on that later). Even though Nate had to work, we enjoyed our free time in Alamosa!

The Great Sand Dunes National Park is located a short distance by car from Alamosa, so we rented a car while in town to get us to the dunes. The wide open views create great anticipation for what is to come. I kept asking, "Where the heck are the dunes? You can't see them." Needless to say, I was impatient and ready to climb! The sand dunes finally came into view, and I was surprised to see this little brown patch of sand tucked up against these gigantic mountains, which seemed to dwarf the size of the dunes, but do not be deceived! They are much larger and expansive than you can fathom. We later realized what we could not tell from the car ride to the park.

Upon arrival at the dunes, we read a few of the signs to inform visitors of the natural habitat and what to expect while climbing the dunes. I don't remember how long they estimated it would take a climber to reach the highest sand dune, but I do know that Nate and I shattered that average time with our incredible speed and willpower to reach the top. (Actually it was my crazy idea and drive to go all the way to the top, and by the time we were halfway there Nate realized that I really was crazy and not joking. But I convinced him to climb to the top with me, and I think he forgave me once we were there.) Our round trip time was about 3/4 climbing and 1/4 sprinting down the dunes as fast as possible. It was.... awesome! Nate's co-pilot, Ben, came along on the trip to the dunes, but was ill-prepared in flip flops. Warning: Do not attempt to climb the dunes in flip flops! Your feet will be burned to a crisp, because the temperature of the sand reaches temperatures close to that of the surface of the sun. (joking... I have no idea of the actual temps. Just that it is hot!) I think the park rangers recommend hiking boots, but Nate and I wore sneakers and those worked alright, minus the shoe fulls of sand we had to empty every 20 minutes or so. The signs in the parking lot did not warn against that. Oh well, it was just a sign.

Something that really took me by surprise, while climbing, was the wind. No, not that there was wind, but the quiet that the gusting wind created. We could not hear any sounds other than each other and the wind. It blew me away (no pun intended) how powerful the wind was and to realize that the wind was shaping the dunes around us as we climbed. The next time we visit, the wind will have re-shaped the dunes into something new. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

I was determined, once laying eyes on the sand dunes from the parking lot, to reach the highest dune in sight. The achievement alone was a prize, and who knew what else we would find at the top. At this point, can I remind everyone how difficult it is to walk/run on sand? If you have ever run on a beach you know what I mean. Now imagine walking uphill in sand. Ah yes. It felt like maybe we were walking backwards on an upward moving escalator. I just told Nate we had to keep climbing if we ever wanted to reach the top. We could do it! All the while, the wind pelted our legs with what felt like tiny pieces of glass. Just when we thought we had the highest dune in sight, we would reach it to find a higher one. They surely didn't seem that far away from the parking lot. Oh well. We climbed and climbed... and climbed... and climbed... all the while emptying our shoes what seemed at least 100 times. It got to the point where it felt like the wind was pushing us downhill and it was working against our climbing, but let me tell you it made our downhill sprint that much faster! (so worth it if you ask me) Nate and I ended up holding hands and basically pushing/pulling each other up the highest dunes. At this point, Ben was just a speck in the distance. I knew we needed some motivation. So I reminded Nate that we were going to the San Luis Valley Brewing Co. afterwards, and that we would deserve the "ice cold beer" that much more after this. On our final ascent, we were chanting "Ice cold beer! Ice cold beer!" In no time, we finally realized we had reached the top of the highest dune, and boy was that amazing! The sand pelted us from the West, the wind noise was deafening, and we were shocked to see infinite sand dunes in the distance. Even though we found that we only "conquered" a small piece of the dunes, we were still pretty happy with reaching our goal. Not to mention, the view was incredible! I knew the climb would be worth it all along.

Don't get me wrong, the climb was... fun... and everything, but the descent was exhilarating! Like I mentioned previously, it took us about 1/4 of the time to reach the bottom than it did to climb to the top. An obvious reward of the tough climb, happened to be the run/dance down the dunes. I'll blame my awkwardness on tired legs. My upper body moved much faster than my legs, and I almost toppled over while attempting to run down the dunes. Nate's long legs carried him with ease. On numerous times I laughed so hard I almost wet myself. (And we were a long way from any restroom) I was actually laughing at Nate, who was laughing at me and my awkwardness. We have the pictures to prove it, but I'm not going to show any pictures of me running down the dunes. Nate told me I ran like a girl, and I retaliated by telling him I am a girl. Good one, Nate. After all of the fun and games, we were back where we started. But with a much greater appreciation and respect for the towering dunes behind us.

While driving away from the park, Ben said he was laughing at us running down the dunes. At least we could provide him with some entertainment for the day. We came across a herd of deer while leaving, and I'd have to say it was an amazingly beautiful way to end our time at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. I'll bet the deer aren't crazy enough to attempt climbing the dunes, and their bare feet probably just sink in the sand anyway. They seemed pretty content to just graze the grounds. I couldn't help but notice how the grassy area blended right into the dunes. It made me wonder where on earth all of that sand came from? I guess I have some research to do now.

Nate, Ben, and I enjoyed our handsome reward at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company in Alamosa. The guys just had a pint or two, since they had to fly the next day. I, of course, had to try a little of everything and went with the sampler!

All in all, I would say we had a rather successful trip. The Great Sand Dunes were more than I expected, even though the stream was dried up for the summer. Guess we'll have to visit in spring. Although I'm not sure how easy it is to cross the stream and then replace your shoes onto wet/sandy feet. Could be a new challenge, and I think we could do it.

The peace and quiet, while climbing the dunes, was unbelievable. It was a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of Denver. We accomplished our goal of reaching the highest dune to find that the dunes were much larger than we ever thought. When it comes to the creation of sand dunes, never underestimate the power of wind. On the flight out of Alamosa, we flew by the sand dunes. I laughed at how small they looked from the air.

Personal Library

If you know anything about me, you may know that I love being surrounded by books and reading them too. We have a mini library forming in our apartment hallway, and as you can see there is not even one inch of shelf space available for more books.

After looking at this picture, I realized that when we move we'll have to pack up and lug all of these books to a new location. Yikes! Maybe I should lay off of the book purchasing for a while. It is a goal of mine to have a "library" space in a future house. This may not come for a while, because we aren't even really thinking about buying a house yet. But when we do have a house and some extra space, I really really really (did I mention really) want a room or designated area for books and reading! Actually, there will probably be many shelves and places for storing books around our hypothetical house, but I'd still love a library-type room. I've seen some really great ideas for libraries and reading nooks, and I'm storing up great ideas as I type. For now, we'll have to make do with our tiny apartment library.

I visited the St. Gallen Abbey Library (pictured below) in Switzerland about 4 years ago. And let me tell you, it was like I had died and gone to book heaven!

The St. Gallen library may not be ideal for a personal library, but the reading nook shown below might be. I found the picture of this cute little reading nook while browsing google images, and I would love to have a spot like this in a future house! What a smart and multi functional space. It wouldn't take too much room in a house, and it has a spot for keeping books and reading... score!

As for books, I'm currently reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. He's one of my favorite authors, and I'm working on convincing Nate to read it when I'm done. The book is laugh out loud funny. I'm not kidding. I was stifling laughs on the airplane ride back to Denver this past weekend. A little embarrassing, but worse things could have happened. I also really like Nicholas Sparks' books too. (There's really no chance to convince Nate to read those!) They're always a comfort read, and I am usually pleased after reading his books. As for my favorite type of book to read, I'm not really sure. I like a little bit of everything, and that's sort of like my taste in music too. Anyone have recommendations of great books they have read? I am open for suggestions.

No Snow Please

So Nate and I are headed back to Michigan for a wedding! A high school friend of mine is getting married. Can't wait! I am hoping the weather there will be better than of the picture below. (It was taken in Petoskey, MI in January of 2009) It will just be wrong if it snows that much in Michigan in May. Plus there's a wedding.... so, no snow please!

I did hear the weather may be a bit of a wintry mix on Saturday, and I am really not thrilled about that. Not only because there's a wedding, but because I swear this is the crappiest spring I've had since moving to Colorado. My friends and family back in Michigan have been "bragging" about how great this spring has been; it's been sunny and warm all spring. And I may not get to experience one of the best springs in Michigan history?! No fair. It's almost like we've swapped weather, because it's usually not so crappy (cloudy, snowy, windy) in Colorado during spring. I'm going to cross my fingers that it will be 60's and higher in Michigan and that it doesn't snow! Will post some Michigan trip updates later. Have a great week.

¡Casa Bonita!

Don't judge. We went to Casa Bonita a couple of days ago. Nate surprised me and planned an afternoon date, which included lunch at Casa Bonita and some time hanging out in downtown Denver afterwards.


If you watch South Park regularly, you've probably seen the Casa Bonita episode. If you haven't seen the episode, Cartman comes up with a ploy to kidnap Butters so he can go to Casa Bonita in Butters place for a birthday party, and the cops end up chasing him through the restaurant. Cartman escapes and goes rushing through the restaurant while attempting to sample every attraction and food in the minute he has left. The real life experience isn't too far off from the cartoon depiction. The place is packed with attractions to experience. Both of us had been there as kids, and it had probably been almost 20 years since either of us visited Casa Bonita. Most things were as we remembered, and some things were just plain better since it was slow during the day, and we had the run of the whole place! While we sat at our table, we were singing "Casa Bonita, Casa Bonita... lalalalalalala!" like they did on South Park. :)



I finally guessed where we were going for the afternoon once we were far enough west on Colfax to not be going anywhere else. We arrived at the "pretty house", which is located in a strip mall west of Denver, and were greeted by the pink and white stucco facade. Instant childhood memories! We were both pretty psyched to enter, but also anxious to eat the food. If you've been there you know what I mean. Casa Bonita is not known for delicious Mexican food, but rather for the experience and all of the entertainment. You have to purchase a meal to enter the inside of Casa Bonita and get a chance to see the cliff divers. So basically you pay for a meal made with cheap ingredients instead of paying an entrance fee to see all of the attractions. After debating and trying to remember what the reviews said to order, I settled on the taco salad and Nate ordered the nacho salad. (Pretty much everything was $12) Warning: do not order the taco salad. We decided the only safe bet was to order the nacho salad, and sopapillas are included in every order.... those are pretty delicious!

You can see a picture of my taco salad above. See that little white dish, with onions on the top, to the right of the main plate? That's the "chicken" that I ordered on my taco salad. Thank goodness they put it in a separate dish on the side. It's almost as if they knew I wasn't going to touch it, and if they mixed it with my taco salad they probably would have had to make me another one minus the chicken, haha!

On a better note, the nacho salad (see the pic below) that Nate ordered wasn't too bad. The queso (cheese) drenching the whole meal made it edible. For the most part you could identify all of the ingredients on this plate. Except for maybe the "taco meat" that the menu mentions. I didn't know that meat came from tacos. I thought that's what cows were for? So there must be chicken, beef,.... and taco meat?! Who knew. Needless to say, I ended up sharing Nate's meal. We didn't finish either meal... I think we were way too excited about the cliff diver who was diving from the rocks 3 feet from our table. Yeah, that's why we couldn't eat it all. ;) That and we were saving some room for the sopapillas, because those are the best part! Sopapillas, sopapillas!! We ate them so fast that I didn't even get a picture of them.

We were lucky enough to have been able to visit on a weekday afternoon, so we had a table right next to the waterfall. Prime seats for the cliff diving shows! We both remembered the place being packed when we visited as kids, but we really were one of the few people there. I clapped extra loudly for the cliff diver, because I felt sorry for him and his lack of an audience.

"Black Bart's Cave! Black Bart's Cave!" It's actually "hideout" but on South Park it was "Black Bart's Cave", so of course I was shouting that as we entered the "cave". I'm glad I make myself laugh.

The inside of Casa Bonita is pretty dark and not great for picture taking... maybe for a reason? But here's a picture of the cliff diver scaling the rock cliffs next to our table. We couldn't help but wonder if they ever fall off of the rocks while trying to climb for their next dive! We also wondered how people responded when this guy tells them he works at Casa Bonita as a cliff diver... we think the responses might be entertaining.

While eating lunch, we saw that the schedule for the day included a "Gorilla Show" so I made sure we stayed for that one. The schedule also said "substitute pirate on weekends", so that had me very curious. I'm thinking we may need to make a weekend trip there sometime soon. Pirates aaaarrrrrr cool! That aside, the gorilla show was cheesy and fun! We even had a close encounter with the crazy gorilla. :)

Needless to say, we had a pretty entertaining afternoon at Casa Bonita. If you visit, have an open mind and a partially full stomach. It also helps to bring with you an ability to make yourself laugh. I'm looking forward to our next visit, but I think I'd like to go when there are more visitors. A girl can only cheer so loudly for the cliff divers... I'll be in need of more help next time. Casa Bonita lalalalalalala!

A Day in Denver

Yesterday Nate and I spent some time downtown, and we hadn't been down there in a while so it was a nice treat. Not to mention, it was a perfect day to sit outside in the sun. One of my favorite places downtown is Commons Park, so we ended up sitting there and spent some time people and dog watching. From the park you see the skyline to the east, Elitch Gardens (Denver's amusement park) on the south, and the Platte river creates a border to the west. There is so much "eye candy" at Commons Park, but it's definitely not overwhelming. It's a perfect retreat from the busy urban surroundings. If you love to people watch, Commons Park is a fantastic spot for that! We also had some of our engagement pictures taken there... it's great for photography too. :)




Commons Park has a hill, located to the side of of an open area, which gives a great vantage point for all of the above mentioned things. I almost forgot to mention the entertainment that dogs interacting provides. There is an endless supply of dogs and their owners enjoying the open space. We watched at least five chihuahua sized dogs on leashes get tangled together, while their owners attempted to untangle the hyperactive mess. We were pretty sure that all of the dogs were happy and excited that they found dogs the same size as them. Every once in a while though you see a very unfair advantage when a giant sized dog and tiny dog meet. It's even funnier when the little dog attempts to be the alpha dog over the larger dog. Makes me think of "short man syndrome" every time. Quite entertaining, those darn dogs!

One thing there is no shortage of in Denver is bicycles. You see countless numbers of people riding through Commons Park on their bikes, and that adds another fun activity to watch while lounging on the hillside. We watched one guy ride the entire length of the park with no hands on his handlebars, and of course that made us think of the Flobots song "Handlebars". If you see anyone riding their bike with no hands, I highly suggest singing "Handlebars" (at least in your head), because it makes the whole experience funnier.

Denver has a bunch of "bicycle libraries" popping up all over town, and we found one just on the fringe of the park. I thought all of the red cruisers in a row made for a perfect, colorful snapshot. You can rent the bikes and return them to any of the stands located across Denver. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

If you have some free time and there's nice weather for sitting outside, check out Commons Park in Denver. You just might enjoy it. :)

Michigan Nostalgia

A couple of summers ago I took Nate to one of my favorite northern Michigan places to "be a fudgie*", Mackinac Island! I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Actually, I think he found some things more amazing than I did (like the bridge and all of the water). Mackinac Island was always one of my favorite places to visit when I was a kid, and I still love it just as much today as I did as when I was a kid.

* A fudgie is a Michigan term used to describe tourists/out-of-towners who enjoy eating fudge and other goodies that can be found in northern Michigan.

picture of the Mackinac Bridge from the ferry

The island is located in Lake Huron between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. You can reach Mackinac Island by ferry, boat, airplane, or snowmobile in the winter. We went in August, so we enjoyed the 15 minute ride on the ferry from Mackinaw City. Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City end in "c" and "w" respectively because of their origins. The French fur traders had named the island with a french spelling, and the English in Mackinaw City took on the more phonetic spelling of "Mackinac". (There's a little history for you).

That aside, the ferry ride is usually scenic and fun... unless the water is rough and you're wishing you were somewhere else. You get great views of the Mackinac Bridge from the ferry, and that's always interesting! The bridge is even more fun to drive across (unless you're me and have some fear of being high above the water). I like observing the bridge from shore or water, and I'll drive ride across if I have to get to the other side. :) If you want more info on the "Mighty Mac" you should check out the website: http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

I don't know what it is with me and history these days, but history used to be one of my least favorite classes. I had a hard time getting interested, but now I have a much greater appreciation for history and I'm always in awe of the history and stories behind things. With that being said, there is so much history on Mackinac Island that it could make a history buff cry, or jump for joy... whichever.

the Grand Hotel is so beautiful and... well, grand

One place that still has me in awe is the Grand Hotel on the island. I have still never stayed there, and that's something that is on my travel to-do list. Talk about a step back in time. Everything about the hotel just screams history, and I love it! There are no cars allowed on the island, so the Grand Hotel, which was built in 1887, has a beautiful old stagecoach that they use to pick up guests at the ferry docks. The hotel is a national historic landmark that’s been visited by anyone from US presidents, famous entertainers, and countless families for over a century now. If you want some more info on the Grand Hotel, take a look at the website: http://www.grandhotel.com/

Riding bicycles around the island is a must-do when you visit. It's not as tough as it sounds, because the ride is only about 8 miles on mostly flat land. We rented some really awesome one-speed cruiser bicycles near the ferry dock, and we were on our way. Stopping along the way breaks up the trip and makes it feel much shorter than it is. The entire trip is scenic and relaxing. Remember, there are no cars allowed, so horse and bicycle are some of the quickest ways to get around the island. Our rented bicycles got us along just fine!

I wonder if the people who live on the island love it as much as the people who visit? I sure hope they love it, but sometimes it seems like you never love the place you live as much as visitors love it. Unless maybe you live on a tropical island or something.

I love Mackinac Island. Maybe sometime in the future we'll even stay at the Grand Hotel! I love how Nate was amazed by the amount of water all around. At times it's like you're on an ocean, because land is nowhere in sight. Visiting Mackinac Island brings back so many great memories of when I visited as a child, and I still love the place just the same today. It's amazing how your appreciation for a place can grow over the years.