Our Time in Colorado

In 2017, Daniel and I spent 5 weeks road-tripping much of North America’s West and Northwest in a campervan. It was an incredible trip that we still talk about but – let’s be real, it’s 2023 now and memories can dim over the years. Regardless, I decided that it’s better late than never, so here’s a quick overview of the three main attractions we visited in Colorado: Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners.

And when you’re done, check out what we did in Michigan, Utah, Oregon, British Columbia and Washington on that very same road trip!

Great Sand Dunes National Park

This remains one of my favorite national parks. (Not necessarily the case for Daniel, because he’s not a fan of sand – but he does admit that a trip to Great Sand Dunes NP should be on every American’s bucket list.) We have since visited the Arabian Desert, but at the time these were the most expansive sand dunes we had experienced. And to this day, there’s something so unique about seeing these dunes backdropped against the snow-capped Coloradan mountains.

Be prepared to sweat – climbing sand dunes is no simple feat, and these dunes are half the height of the Empire State Building! We rented boards that we could use for sand-sledding and set out to summit the dunes. About an hour of huffing and puffing later – interrupted only by moments of posing for pics – we finally gave sand sledding a try. We bit off more than we could chew by attempting to sled down one of the tallest dunes we summitted; this resulted in Daniel bellyflopping into the sand after his sled caught too much speed, and me experiencing a wardrobe malfunction that we still laugh about today. (I was wearing a strapless bra that day, if that gives you any idea of what I’m talking about.)

By the end of the day, we had sand in every single crevice of our body and Daniel was sporting a sand burn on his face, but we had accomplished a new bucket list task: sand sledding!

Mesa Verde National Park

The next park we hit up in Colorado was Mesa Verde National Park. This is an underrated National Park – high up in the mountains, you can find ruins left by the Ancestral Pueblo people from the 700 years that they lived among the cliffs. From AD 550-1100, each clan built communities into the cliffs; they would scale the walls of the cliffs using ropes and foot-holes when they left for hunting or worship. The United States of America doesn’t have many ruins from ancient indigenous populations, so being able to see a glimpse of the unique way of life of the Pueblo people was well worth a trip to the park.

The Four Corners

To wrap up our time in Colorado, we visited the Four Corners. If you’ve heard anyone talk about this attraction, then you already know that the Four Corners is commemorated with an installation on the group of the Navajo Nation and there’s truly nothing else around. You will drive past miles of desert for one single picture. When you arrive, you’ll stand on line like the rest of the visitors until it’s your turn to snap your pic; then you’ll pack up and leave. Despite this, we do recommend a visit; it’s the exact sort of kitschy tourist attraction we live for.

Daniel and I visited Denver and Fort Collins in Colorado back in 2012; but cities change at such rapid rates, I know we have to visit again before I put any sort of recommendations into the world. So, having said that: Colorado, we’ll see you again sometime soon!