The ride home

This last picture was taken on Monarch Pass. I've been trained to be totally paranoid of mountain passes by all the time we go over Hoosier Pass which has hairpin turns and often is covered with snow and ice. We had to go over 3 passes on our vacation; La Veta, Wolf Creek, and Monarch Pass, and each one I anticipated with dread because of Hoosier Pass. All of them were pretty tame compared to Hoosier though. When we travelled over Monarch Pass I was just hoping we'd get over before dark -- you can see the sun is setting on the mountains.

Spring Break - Arches National Park

On the last day of spring break we went to Arches National Park. It was nice enough we took a couple of hikes and then we headed home.

Spring Break Vacation - Bryce Canyon

On last Thursday we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing so there was no hiking for us. We did get to stop by several viewing areas, but had to dress up in winter coats, gloves and hats to do it! How do you like the little jay bird -- I think he would look nice stitched!

Spring Break Vacation - Zion National Park

We stayed overnight in Page, Arizona and the lovely picture of the lake is on the way out of town. Wednesday was a gorgeous day with temps up to 67 degrees. We hiked in Zion National Park and it was great!

Spring Break Vacation - Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde was our stop on Wednesday. Mesa Verde is a series of cave dwellings in southwest Colorado. It was a beautiful area and was very interesting to see how they lived. I enjoyed reading how they used the yucca plant to make fibers that they then weaved into intricate baskets. Also, they were beaders!

Spring Break Vacation - Monte Vista, Wolf Creek Pass, Pagosa Springs

Tuesday we got up before the break of dawn to see the sun rising on thousands of cranes. We spent the night in Monte Vista where thousands of cranes come in once a year and the town of Monte Vista celebrates it by having a crane festival. Many people come to photograph the cranes and we were lucky enough to stumble onto it. It was a beautiful site. We drove over Wolf Creek Pass and then continued onto Pagosa Springs where we toured around a bit. We ended up in Durango and stayed in town. I managed to find two bead stores where I relieved myself of the burden of carrying some of my cash, but not nearly as much as I wanted to!

Spring Break Vacation - Great Sand Dunes National Park, La Veta

Left is the valley in La Veta and on the right are the Sand Dunes.

We took a short vacation for spring break last week and are back! It was a great vacation! We drove through south Colorado into Utah and then circled back towards the north on the way back. The first stop was, quite by accident (a sad pun), was in La Veta, CO. There was a fatal accident on La Veta Pass which was closed for 2-3 hours as a result, and so we drove into La Veta to spend the time. Strangely enough, La Veta is where Judyth Baker Montano has her studio so we drove by. I didn't stop - didn't want to disturb her. We drove on to Cuchara, just short of the pass, which was a pretty mountain valley. Our second stop of the day was Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park which is a HUGE sand dune. My daughter climbed to the top -- my dH and I got about 3/4 of the way up before she met us on the way down and we gladly turned around. For the rest of the trip whenever we hiked up hill or through sand we'd moan "...the sand dunes".

Left: These are the Sand Dunes with a gorgeous mountainous background.

Above is my dH climbing up -- my daughter is the little dot up ahead.