South bound!

before.

BYE BYE cheese land and the state of many lakes!

August was nearing and we had to get back down south. 

AFTER! 

Our first day driving away from the Midwest I asked Joel if our return route through Colorado would bring us back to the UFO Watchtower.  "Can we stay there again?!" and he told me No, we were gonna go well past that area the day we trek through Colorado.  "Okay" i said, even though i really wanted to go back and sleep outside under the stars.  
We plowed through all of Iowa and made it to Benedict, KS, back to our friends' farmstead for a few nights (see Running Turtle Acres tab above).  They had WAY MORE goats!!  OODLES more chickens!  some ducks.  new cats.  the puppies weren't puppies anymore!  and the house was quiet- Lou and the 4 kiddos were visiting family in another state, so it was just us and Andy.   We had a blast together, living the small-town rural life again.  We went to the fair one day, hit up the ice cream social, and said 'hi' to all the prize-winning farm animals.  back at the house I spent time jumping in the pen with the goats, letting them walk up to me and i'd pet them.  other times I would sit close to the ground among the chickens.  I find many of the sounds they make to be so soothing and pleasant to hear!  Other times they just make me laugh.  certain ones would get really close, tip their head to the side, look me in the eyes and make funny noises at me.  Joel helped Andy with a project one day, making some headway on his "hoop house"- a greenhouse he wants to finish for winter.  He was so grateful for Joel to be there and help.  they had a very productive day.  after a few days there, it was time for us to hit the road again.



Our second day of travel got us all across Kansas back into Colorado.  Joel navigated while I drove.  I was oblivious to the route i was taking us... just lost in the scenery and my thoughts, following wherever joel told me to go.  We didn't hit foothills in Colorado till around dusk.  and I started to recognize some of the town names... from making this drive a couple months ago.  I said as much to Joel.  and it suddenly occurred to me... the UFO watchtower is out this way!!  Joel was not pulling my leg when I asked days ago about going back here.  Our timing was just off- we didn't make it as far as he reckoned we would today.  I saw a sign for Hooper. 
 "HOOPER!!" I exclaimed.  "Where the heck are we spending the night??"  i asked with a huge grin... waiting for him to answer... he was considering our location, pondering for a little while before saying anything, and sure enough... we ended up back at the Watchtower!  I was flippin'-out excited.  then i flipped-out even more when i remembered also how close we were to the sand dunes national park... and we were gonna have some time to play around tomorrow.  EEEEEEEE!

my dream came true!

 We pulled into the campground    around 11pm, again, apparently the only ones there.  It was MUCH warmer this evening compared to last time.  the moon was big, emerging above the horizon as we were setting up our tent.  Joel made a fire and we sat up for a while. "I have to sleep up on top of the tower tonight.  are you going to join me?"  No, he declined, as he preferred to stay snuggled up inside the tent for the evening.  So I packed my sleeping pad, bag, and some other goodies into my backpack and hiked my butt over that way.  I spent a little time looking around with my flashlight at the "garden" below the deck (pics in the link at the bottom), and sat on a bench for a while, taking in the beautiful moon-lit evening.  Before too long I heard scurrying all around me, very loudly in some areas more than others.  i'd flick my light on quick and point it toward the noises.  Mice!   they were scurrying all over, through the numerous knick-knacks and items placed throughout the oddball garden.  a number of them just stopped and stared at me, until I got up off the bench to go upstairs and make my bed.

There was a chill in the air but I was plenty warm and cozy all night.  I stared up at the stars and moon for at least an hour, reflecting on how wonderful a summer it had been so far, feeling so satisfied, and absolutely floored that I was laying up here now, just like I wanted to a couple months ago!  I drifted off into marvelous sleep, only waking a couple times, and then the pastel hues of pinks and blues started to appear.

good morning, Sunshine 🌞

As if waking up to this splendor wasn't wonderful enough, we still had two more days to arrive back in Sedona.  We packed up from the Watchtower and made our way over to the Great Sand Dunes national park.  WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!   I could hardly believe we were back here again already- and with time to play around this time- The dunes are amazing.  what a contrast of scenery amidst the Colorado mountains.  Am I in the Sahara??  It's absolutely picturesque.  some ppl were toting up then scooting down on boards much like the ones you'd use in the snow.  The sand was very hot and getting into our cracks of footwear.  I pretty quickly ditched my shoes and walked around in my socks.  it was HOT AS HELL, and we lasted a little over an hour.  I'd love to return and see it with show, or camp out sometime in the summer!  We shoved off just passed noon and planned to find a campsite before nightfall.  Our goal= Pagosa Springs, CO.  

A giant patch of sand dunes, in CO

We hit our goal for the day, and swung in to visit Chimney Rock national monument, but they were about to close down.  The guy manning the booth was very chatty, and ended up giving us a tip for free camping down along the Piedra river.  we took his advice and found a fabulous spot not far off the riverbed and slept like rocks alongside the babbling sounds of the water.  what a treasure of a spot!  Joel cooked us breakfast in the morning and i bathed lightly in the river.  There was something about being in the water that morning... sunshine on my skin, the water so refreshing, waking me up for the day, and i just felt so calm, and close to nature.  my true nature!  connected to and nurtured abundantly by the land.  i would love to experience this EVERY SINGLE DAY!  We hit the road just after 10am.

Today was our last day to get home.  Like on our drive up to the midwest, we were gonna pass thru Monument Valley (just before the boarder of Arizona), but have some time to look around and take it in this time.  
This was the second time we visited a place in the desert that reportedly had been without any precipitation for a YEAR, and while we were there, it rained!!  (??  what the heck is up with this?)  Drizzle began to fall when we parked at the visitor center to eat lunch.  We got out and walked around a bit until it started pouring.  Like so many places we have visited since getting our annual parks pass, this was a sight i'd only seen in pictures, movies, etc.  It's a gorgeous, strange landscape that I was excited to see for myself.  and actually, it seems most of Utah, and lots of Arizona is strange and gorgeous!  Weird spires, red rocks, small plateaus, random towers, all scattered apart from each other... the geology around here is something else!  There is a road you can take through more of the park, but we only ate lunch and looked at it from a deck off the visitor's center.  Joel wanted to get home before too late this evening, so we continued our drive, arriving us back around 9pm, safe and sound, another fun adventure under our belts, happy as clams.

I missed our little camper!  it was like reuniting with a great friend.  and there's just nothing like your own, cozy bed!!!  it was great to be home.  tallyho, TALLYHO!

click here for more pictures

THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!!  home sweet home ❤