Every Thursday, I will be posting a photo from my travels and a spotlight on the location. Today’s Spotlight Thursday is from Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in San Luis Valley, Colorado. I have visited this park twice during my internship in Colorado during the summer of 2012. This is one of the items from my Colorado Bucket List. Great Sand Dunes and I have a love-hate relationship.
“Review this list and determine suitability,” is the first line of an email from my father. He also includes a list of four cars as well while I compare car insurance policies for our own Beetle that stood solemly in the dusty little garage. I stare at the email for a couple minutes. I walk down the dorm hall to one ofmy friends. “If you got an email from your dad with four cars what would you think?” I asked. “I was getting getting a new car,” was the response. A call to my father confirmed that I was getting a new car for my cross country US road trip.
Colorado is a state known for many things. The diverse landscape changes from the plains of the Midwest into the Rocky Mountains. Most of the population lives in the land along the Front Range of the Rockies. During college, I spent 3 months living and exploring this great state and currently I am living in Fort Collins and using the time to explore. Here is my Colorado Bucket List.
My hair is being blown straight out by the wind. I unhook the ratchet straps that hold my canoe on my SUV. I starts to swing in the wind. I wasn’t expecting it to be so windy when I planned on canoeing Nine Mile Pond Canoe Trail in Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida. Despite the name, the trail is only 5 miles. It is marked with 116 PVC markers.
I was at the Bryce Canyon National Park Visitor Center waiting for the park movie to start. I am turning the pages of the hiking guide trying to decide what trail to hike. A small article titled “Hike the Hoodoos Challenge.” To complete the challenge, one needs do one of two things to hike at least 3 miles of on benchmark trails and/or collect a picture or rubbing of 3 benchmarks. Once completed return to the visitor center and collect “a special reward.” It didn’t say what the award was or limit it to only kids. Therefore, challenge accepted since I planned on hiking more than 3 miles.