Great Sand Dunes, and Paying Tribute to My Mom and Dad

After being recharged by the hot springs at Pagosa Springs, we continued our journey back east.

We went to Great Sand Dunes National Park to see the tallest dunes in North America. In addition to the sheer size of the dunes, the other thing that makes them stand out are that they set against the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Medano Creek runs through the base of the dunes. It is often dry this time of year but was still flowing this year.

We were pressed for time so we did not walk right up to the dunes. It is a bit hard to tell the size from these photos, but if you look carefully you may see some people climbing the dunes - they look like ants on an anthill.

We had climbed dunes at White Sands National Monument a few years ago, so we felt that since we had already experienced the sheer exhaustion of walking up a huge sandhill, we did not need to do that again here. :)

Upon leaving the dunes, we had a long drive ahead in very remote areas so we had to get lunch where we could. We found Lu's Main Street Cafe in the small town of Blanca.

We had very low expectations but the food turned out to be quite tasty and much better than expected. My reuben sandwich was delicious as was my wife's club sandwich. Kai even voluntarily spoke up to say that his hamburger was really good, something he doesn't do very often.

After lunch, we went on a mission to go to a remote spot in the Sangre de Cristo mountains that my parents loved, and where we had camped as a family during my youth. I had very fond memories of the time there many years ago, and wanted to share this place with my own family, as well as the scatter the ashes of my mom and dad.

We drove about two hours off the main highway, mainly on gravel back roads. I think my wife was very nervous about our minivan holding up over the rough roads, but she didn't vocalize her concerns.

Near the top of the mountains, I found the spot. We parked on the side of the road and climbed up the knoll where I had camped years ago. It was quite a hike up, but Kai didn't mind at all this time. He was actually quite excited about seeing the ashes and being able to film the ceremony. It shows that it isn't so much the physical challenge with him as when he has a positive attitude, he can do the physical activity.

When we found the right spot, we snapped this photo.

After that I scattered the remains of my mom and dad.

Kai later told me, "I wanted to tell you Dad, that I'm sorry for your loss."

And that capped a pretty good day.