What I Did On My Summer Vacation, by Koda

A long time ago, we stopped going to the dog park every day to see my friends. No real explanation from my humans. Typical. They started wearing things on their faces, too. So I thought my summer would be a big bust. Nothing but hanging around the house. But I was wrong! We took a very loooong car ride and I saw lots of new things. I hated the hotel room because I heard strange…

The Highway of Legends

Colorado’s State Highway 12, also known as the Highway of Legends, is a road we had traveled once before, several years ago. This scenic byway runs through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from La Veta to Trinidad, around the Spanish Peaks and through the San Isabel National Forest. We decided to take this road again, and wow, was it spectacular! The turquoise line was our route (vs. the dark line of the interstate to…

The Tallest Sand Dunes on the Continent

One might think that the tallest sand dunes on the continent would be in some exotic beach location that few people visit such as the Bering Strait of Alaska, or along the hurricane-ravaged southeastern coasts of the United States. I was surprised to learn that they are located hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean in, of all places, southern Colorado. President Herbert Hoover declared the Great Sand Dunes a National Monument in 1932…

The High Road to Taos

We took an impromptu camping trip last weekend to southern Colorado. We drove up through Taos and further north rather than take the interstate. Of the two main ways to get to Taos from Santa Fe, we typically take the Low Road, which is more direct. The scenery is gorgeous, especially along the Rio Grande Gorge. But we had not taken the High Road since we visited New…