Day 6-8: Lake Meredith, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde

Okay I know I know we haven’t updated in two days. But not because we’re lazy- because we’ve been camping for the past two nights, and have had no internet access, or showers for that matter. SO – after we left Austin, we had a pretty crazy driving day – about 10 hours through Texas barely touching any interstates, which meant a lot of amazing scenic drives – man Texas is big. The views changed from big green rolling pastures to red-dirt grasslands to the endless fields of the bottom of the Great Plains. So good, although a little scary at times - we almost got lost in the middle of Texas on a two lane highway with no cars or civilization for miles and miles around, with a nearly empty tank and a thunderstorm on the horizon. But all was well – until Tom hit a bird. Yes, he hit one, and it probably died. RIP little bird, we will meet again.

We finally got to Meredith Lake at sunset and it was more beautiful than we ever thought it would be ! Gigantic lake surrounded by red cliffs, upon which we set up camp in the wind. And man we were completely alone which was surreal. Made a heart-healthy meal out of beans, mac and cheese, and firesmoke before crashing.

On Wednesday we got up super early and started the trip to Colorado.... again awesome views, hills start to pop up out of the Plains which become mountains in New Mexico which all of a sudden bam turn into the Rockies in Colorado. So cool, even cooler than Coors Light would have you believe. We found the Great Sand Dunes and got a campsite at the very last minute before the sites filled up - and went to hike the Dunes without wasting any time. Honestly I would try to describe the unadulterated beauty of the Great Sand Dunes but you should really just look at the pictures; I hope they do the place half the justice it deserves. Barely anyone's ever heard of it, yet it's the most impressive natural phenomenon I've seen in the US (although we are headed to the Grand Canyon in just a few hours). We waded through a creek of melted Rocky snow to get the base of the Dunes, left our shoes at the bottom with an optimistic 'don't take' scrawled in the sand, and spent the whole afternoon climbing them. Colorado Williams and I felt so out of shape climbing them - and I just realized today that it's cause the air must've been so thin at so high an elevation ! Either that or the TEXAS DOUBLE WHOPPERS we ate on Tuesday were still taking their toll. We actually had some vegetables for dinner that night though, that's right all you parents out there, real vegetables.

Today we drove for about 10 hours almost nonstop. Jeez. But now we're in Page, Arizona, pretty close to the Grand Canyon, which we'll hit up early tomorrow. On the way, after stopping on the highway to wait for some construction workers' mountain blasting and later a sweet diner meal, we stopped at Mesa Verde National Park for a couple of hours. Got to see these awesome old Pueblo Native American cliff dwellings, again check out the pictures. But they were so cool. Later we arrived at the Four Corners (the spot where Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico share a point) at about 7:58 only to discover that the monument closes at 8:00! Tom was pretty upset; I think we were planning to be in four places at once (and thus outdo those amateurs from A Walk to Remember). Oh well.

Okay I am once again the only one awake and that should stop being the case. But make sure you check out our picture page! Here's the link:

http://photobucket.com/judisamericandream

More to come. Much love from Mountain Time Zone,

Paradise