Nostalgia Thursday: COLORADO

Summer is finally here and we are getting excited to hopefully make it back to Colorado. Our trip to Colorado last year was full of good memories and great family time. Our last day of camping was at the Great Sand Dunes National Park Preserve and we were glad we did because it was just amazing. The only type of vehicle that can drive up the sandy, rough trail going to the preserve area or the back end of the dunes is a 4-wheel drive and since we have our new 4-wheel Jeep we made it to a camp and stayed there for a night. Unfortunately, our camera was broken on the last day of our vacation so I was not able to take some photos of the camping site that we stayed. But let me tell you, even though it was an isolated area, it was just awesome! The drive up to the preserve and looking for a place to camp was very exciting yet bumpy at the same time which made our little boy Harley so happy. We are just glad we did it and what a great way to end our last day of vacation. The next day, we got up, packed up our things, left Colorado with tears in our eyes because we know we are going to miss it. Here are some photos to show you of our vacation in the colorful Colorado!

First stop was at a fruit stand in Rocky Ford, Colorado. You know what that means? Yes! Fresh and sweet Rocky Ford watermelon. You can't go to Rocky Ford, Colorado without having some watermelon. The owner's wife was a Filipina so we got to chit chatting and she ended up giving us a discount on all watermelon, cantaloupe and some other stuff that we bought. Sometimes it pays to be nice to people. On our way back home to Kansas, we stopped at the same fruit stand again and bought us some fruits to give to some friends.

Next stop was at the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park. Beautiful place to explore and for the Daredevil in you, you can try their flying trapeze overlooking the deep canyon.

First camp.

Dadda's cooking potatoes and onions for supper. Those were from our garden and brought it all the way to Colorado.



Onward to the beautiful town of Crested Butte we went....



....and celebrated my birthday with some really good brick oven pizza at the Brick Oven Pizzeria and Pub. Yummy!

To continue our trip, we headed out of Crested Butte and went to our next destination and we camped out again. This time, it was at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. An amazing place to visit!

We explored the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and camped for a night.

While in Colorado, we enjoyed some wonderful food and fresh fish.



I even tried my luck on trout fishing as well and got us something for supper.

Dead End to Upper Taylor River Reservoir
about 11,000 and some elevation

And we camped out again.

Visited The Great Sand Dunes National Park and......

hiked up to the very top of the Great Sand Dunes. If you haven't been there and haven't done that, then you probably won't have any idea how hard it was to get to the top of the dunes. It was like a "Death March" for me, at least. My husband on the other hand carried our son on his shoulders all the way to the top. What a strong man!

And we made it! Yipee!
I almost gave up though right when I was already close to the very top. I could no longer breathe and my legs could no longer carry me well so I had to crawl. Literally, I crawled my way up. VICTORY!

It was a wonderful family vacation that we will always remember and talk about. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Ops! Excuse my bum.