Topeka to Colorado Springs

Well, it's been a long time since we have had WIFI,  pretty much since we hit Colorado - and I'm happy with that.  So, although we are now in New Mexico, I'm catching up on Colorado a few states later.  On the way there, we camped out in a western Kansas town, Goodland, where I attempted to make my first batch of cornbread in the dutch oven - big FAIL!  I thought the more coals the better - not so much! The nice Polish couple that ran the campground actually made homemade pierogis which they would deliver to your site on a bicycle so in hindsight that may have been a better bet.

Colorado Springs was a huge playground.  We extended our stay there by a few days but could easily have stayed longer.  We loved Red Rock and the Garden of the Gods, beautiful formations and awesome hiking and climbing (clambering).  We were camped very close to the Garden so were able to get in there a few times.

 The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were something that had not been on our radar but have actually become somewhat of a theme on our trip.  As we've explored the Colorado Plateau over the past few weeks, we have all learned about the Ancestral Puebloans and been to several cliff dwellings across the southwest now.

When we were at Manitou, Emily got to pet a rescue wolf which then led us to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center .  The center is home to rescued wolves and also is active in wolf conservation.  We took the feeding tour which was later in the day.  As the volunteer took everyone around the center, she discussed each type of wolf and also gave a no holds barred discussion on the cruelty that occurs in the industry surrounding wolves (fur trade, photomills, etc...).  The kids (and we) learned a lot; watching the wolves eat was pretty awe inspiring as they just snapped right through big bones.  At one point the wolves all started to spontaneously howl, it sent shivers down my spine - so primal.

Our last day at Colorado Springs was at the Space Foundation Discovery Center.  It has a great children's program, and everyone there seemed very homeschool friendly, they took the time to answer all the kids questions, and gave them a free backpack with all their learning materials and 3D glasses when we left (the kids call it their space pack).  It is one of the best space  museums I've visited; the science on a sphere is an excellent way to depict abstract concepts, I think there are only 7 in the world.

We hit the road again for the Great Sand Dunes National Park - a place I'd never heard of before this trip and now one of our favorites.  They are the largest sand dunes in North America and to see them juxtaposed against the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range and Mendano Creek is absolutely bizarre.  We 'dry camped' there. In RV lingo we've discovered that means no hook ups - it also means far more natural settings and better fire rings!  We tend to alternate between dry camping for a few days then going for a KOA or such when we need showers and to do laundry.  The skies here were the darkest I've seen so we had fantastic star gazing; I will never forget seeing the Milky Way just striped across the sky as far as we could see.

We rented sandboards and sleds at the Oasis nearby (awesome pie and huevos rancheros there too).  Going down was easy but climbing up the hot dunes took some commitment.  Juni soon tired of it, Jeff wiped out 3 times and had ears full of sand and I got sandblasted on my solo trip.  Emily loved it though so she kept right on sandboarding.

We ended our Colorado trip at Mesa Verde National Park, right on the Utah border.  It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest archaeological site of the Ancestral Puebloans.  One of the cliff dwellings, the Balcony House, was a favorite.  It was a Ranger Tour and required some real cliff scaling to get up to it.  Needless to say the kids loved that!