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
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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)
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until after one final pause
Suzanne reached the top
while I sat breathless a few feet below surveying the views down
and up
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until Suzanne began her slide down
and once solid ground supported us both
we did the long march across the flat sand
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looking back on where we'd been
and then pausing for sand removal (which was only partly successful)
before crossing the creek
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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
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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.
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