It was now time for the second phase of our trip, so we bid farewell to Erin, Greg, Janet and Larry stopped at this convenience store in Colorado Springs for gas and headed onto Route 24 where we first stopped at Florissant and learned about the prior inhabitants and the local area and looked out at the area described and the nice sign showing our locale before we reached Buena Vista and this wonderful taxidermy store before we headed to the historic town of Salida where there was this animal (not taxidermy) in front of this shop along with an American flag and a veritable Noah's ark of animal sculptures as we made our way to the First Street Cafe and took a look down First Street before studying the menu and the bottles of sauces at our table (a former church pew) as Suzanne and I enjoyed our eggs and chili (vegetarian, of course) but shied away from beer as we had further to go. Next we walked through the town recording this political sign this warm message at the barber shop and later this building under construction before heading to the river to look at the planter and watch the kayakers practice before heading back to the car relatively quickly because a storm was brewing that we would have to drive through

to get to Movie Manor in Monte Vista where we were greeted with movie star names and a screen unfortunately showing a movie we had just seen as we checked out the motel and our room not to mention the good view of the screens and had a rest before heading out to Calvillos which became a theme of this part of our journey as we entered and Suzanne made her choices from the buffet as I began with chips and dips and we each had a margarita which made Suzanne happy but put me in motion that had to slow down so that I could enjoy my meal as Suzanne went back for her seconds and I had a sopapilla and a diet coke before we returned to our room and recorded the celebrity after whom it had been named.

The next morning we made our way to the restaurant where the movie theme continued and went in so that Suzanne and I could have our drinks and oatmeal which inspired Suzanne to also want eggs and after recording the glass because we knew we would need liquids all day we took a last picture of where we'd been and headed to where we were going and read the story of the mountains in the distance and the details of Zebulon Pike's excursions while studying this beetle on the ground. Soon we were within Great Sand Dunes National Park and able to look at the map before checking out the dunes from the parking lot and entering the wilderness which involved crossing this creek

so that we could begin our journey

pausing for a picture of us and then continuing on, often pausing to catch our breath, once stopping because the hill was just too steep, having a lot of water and not noticing that we should have used more sunblock (which was to become a theme of our trip)

until after one final pause Suzanne reached the top while I sat breathless a few feet below surveying the views down and up

until Suzanne began her slide down and once solid ground supported us both we did the long march across the flat sand

looking back on where we'd been and then pausing for sand removal (which was only partly successful) before crossing the creek

reading the documentation and heading to the lodge where we'd be spending the night but where our room was not yet ready so that we walked through the flowers and admired the views until we got to the restaurant below where this was the menu and these were the flowers on our table as we got our drinks and enjoyed them after a long walk. Lunch was delightful and when we got the pie list we chose the rocky road brownie and Suzanne had a chat with the pie lady before we departed and admired the views from the porch of our room which was now ready

which made Suzanne feel good as I was reminded to record the interior of the room before returning to the views as a storm seemed to be brewing which didn't bother the hummingbird nearby but the mountains were dark even as we had our afternoon cocktails watched hummingbirds had snacks recorded our most unusual drink as the hummingbird kept the scenery before we returned to the visitor center for a nature walk and saw the circus beetle again and some more flowering cacti while recording what we were seeing. Next we went to dinner at the (one and only) local place where this salad satisfied Suzanne and this burrito satisfied me. Back at our room, we watched the storm form again with hummingbirds and then recorded the sunset and its aftermath in all directions.

The next morning, we woke up and drove down this road until we got to the place where we were encouraged to go no further and at the Point of No Return, we parked and started a trail until we realized that the mosquitos were too bad to continue and so we headed back to the dunes but as we got ready to hike there, the rains came and so we decided to head off and learned some more history of the region as we reached the towns of Mosca and Hooper though we choose to avoid the alligator ranch in Hooper and instead went through Mosca and back to Calvillo's where breakfast was by menu only so that after our chips and Suzanne's coffee Suzanne was feeling good and I was happy to see our main courses together with salsa and tortillas and then to finish with sopapillas so that we could begin our journey to Pagosa Springs with a stop for gas and advice as a convenience store where we also got this sign for the collection. Driving on through Wolf Creek Pass where we stopped to record remarkable scenery

and a map that guided us along with warm words about Charles Smith as we continued to record the scenery

including this memorial and these flowers not to mention a slew of photos of me before we headed on to our next stop which was Treasure Falls where we observed the falls and then made our way over the trail to ever closer views of the falls and down passing this hollow tree and flower before observing the falls from below. Our next stop was at the Springs in Pagosa Springs where Shelley checked us in and explained the local situation before we checked out our room and went for our first life changing soak in the tubs. Then we decided to walk into town stopping to be welcomed by the least welcoming visitor's center I have ever found but we found our way to the Alley House in the rain and ordered drinks and eventually made our way through the menu to find a pizza that was very good after which Suzanne ordered a glass of wine and I ordered some local beer and after some salad for Suzanne and some life threatening edamame for me we closed the meal with a piece of cake acknowledged how the restaurant came to be names and made our way past the educational system and some history of the town before looking back at the town from the well constructed bridge and making our way back to our room as the rains slowed and stopped for a while.

The next day began with rain, sometimes even heavy rain which caused the natives to assure us that they had never seen weather like this. As the day cleared, I decided to record where we were but the mellow caused me to not take my usual completement of photos. So, here are a few pools and the river below as Suzanne absorbs her mellow and I record the pools above with the most comforting waterfalls of warm water and the temperature readings. Back in our room, we broke the bread we had bought as Suzanne relaxed from her massage had some fruit and we had wine as the thunderstorm, a more common weather pattern here, hit. We decided to try Eddie's Uptown Grille for dinner despite our lack of hunger and this was the drink with jalapeno juice in it which amused Suzanne as her martini and another view of my jalapeno margarita amused me so that we ordered spanikopita and then some shrimp for Suzanne shared sweet potato fries and a salad for me. The best they could do for Suzanne's birthday was to bring a candle in baklava. we celebrated her birthday and then went out to see that the rains had left a beautiful sky with the moon aglow.