Ehmann Family: Rocky Mountain high

We had a multifamily vacation to Portugal planned for July that we postponed to next year. The other 2 families were willing to travel within the US and we landed on Colorado as our destination. It satisfied the criteria of being reachable by direct flights, low on COVID cases, and out-of-state visitors were not required to quarantine upon arrival. We stayed in the Arkansas River valley near Buena Vista, about 3 hours southwest of Denver.

A produce market where apparently customers love unmicrowaveable popcorn

Our Airbnb had its own postcard. Here's a pronunciation challenge that you are going to fail. The 3 towns in the area are Buena Vista, Nathrop, and Salida. Can you pronounce any of them like a local?

Bevil approved of this art installation.

Answers to challenge: Byuu-na Viss-ta, Nay-thrup, Suh-'lie'-duh

The house is within that rectangle on the 8,200 ft contour line. Being a mile and a half higher than our home on the coastal plain of MA meant that we received 25% less oxygen. This caused a couple of fitful nights' sleep when we arrived and required constant hydration.

Our East Coast body clocks allowed us to rise at 6 AM for family jogs. Not sure what was more breathtaking, the scenery or the oxygen-poor atmosphere.

We didn't partake in any recreational oxygen

Colorado is rife with fossils but few places allow in tourists for plunder. Not so the Florissant Fossil Quarry, where you can pay by the hour to crack shale and take home 30 million year-old specimens

It may look like a butter knife, but it's actually a sophisticated paleontology tool. We used putty knives and razor blades, too. Most of the adults struck out but the kids found some keepers.

Just up the road was Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The visitor center was closed but the trail featured petrified tree trunks.

Rather than bake on the dusty trail, Tessie chose to pose

We soon learned why July is called monsoon season in this part of the Rockies. Every afternoon storms would roll through and clear up and roll through again. We figured out that the key was to leave for your PM destination in time to arrive during the end of the storm and then the crowds would be gone and you'd have the place almost to yourself. This worked for Cottonwood Pass, the Great Sand Dunes, and St. Elmo the ghost town.

When I heard that our destination was the Continental Divide, I should have figured out that it would be high up, but none of us were prepared for what awaited at 12,000+ feet in the Rockies. We arrived in a blinding rainstorm with a temp of 47 degrees.

But blue skies followed and our shorts and jackets were perfect gear for...

snow play in July

OK, so the snow field was a little chilly. Tessie made good use of those swim shorts for glissading

and we made it to the top without losing any of the halflings

From the mountaintop, next stop: hot springs. In addition to a series of in-ground pools, this resort let you soak in the spring-fed river. After some exploring we found a single spot approximately one butt-width in size where the heat was able to counter the frigid meltwater. And we survived 2 more torrential rainstorms.

Day three's activity was the Great Sand Dunes and rather than fry in the AM sun, we chose an evening approach. Once again the storms followed.

I knew that this park was very popular, but I was skeptical of the allure. I mean, they're just sand dunes - sorry great sand dunes. How can they compete with the mile-deep Grand Canyon or the geysers of Yellowstone or the majesty of Yosemite?

The answer is right there on this sign at the entrance to the dune fields. Unlike those other top tier parks where you are constantly jostling with other visitors at the peak attractions, here you walk out of the parking lot and become a speck in an infinite sea of sand. The park is a Wilderness Area as defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act:

"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." - Howard Zahniser

The dunes rise over 700 ft and cover an area of 30 square miles. Trudging up them is exhausting.

Before arriving we rented sand sleds

and we had this bowl all to ourselves for sand sledding and sand wipeouts

So many beautiful cloudscapes

Day four was rafting day. This section of the Arkansas River through Brown's Canyon is one of the most popular rafting sites in the country and was recently named a National Monument.

The kids played together and watched the newly released OBC "Hamilton"

Tumbleweeds!

Horseback riding was day five's activity

Tessie on Angle (pronounced "Angel")

Caroline on Prince T

St. Elmo is a ghost town from the 1880s gold rush. Up in the mountains, it drew tourists and four-wheeler families with uneven mask-wearing adherence. Entering the general store seemed unwise.