Day 5 - La Junta, Colorado to Durango, Colorado

Finally! Arrived at my primary intermediate destination, tired, but happy. Today was a short day, distance wise, but still took about 7 hours or so due to the one stop I made. First, here is the beginning GPS screen, whose guidance, for once, I took:

Before I left La Junta, I had to add a quart of oil, as this little 4-banger uses a quart about every 3,000 miles, as it was designed. As an aside, I have over 127,000 miles on this 15 year-old car, and have not one issue with taking it on this trip.Honda did it right! I also took a look at the grille, and discovered that I had apparently massacred a good portion of the grass-hoppers on the prairies of Kansas and Colorado:

What were not on the grille were on the windshield!

Then, it was time to hit the road. In this part of Colorado, there are long, long stretches of straight road with little to no traffic, and also no gas stations, so it is wise to make sure you have a full tank when you leave civilization. It looked like this for about 70 miles with only the occasional cow to keep me company: (Yes, Bea, I mooed at them to get them to look at me!)

Soon, however, I spotted the edge of the Rockies in the distance. Finally!

I mentioned earlier about hidden gems. Well, I happened upon another one today. I spotted a sign on US 160 that intrigued me enough to make a 16 mile detour, and it led me to this:

This is the largest sand dune in the US, reaching over 650 feet tall. More pictures follow. Although you are allowed to climb it (I'm sure Bruce would,) I was happy just to take a short hike and take some pictures. The pictures do not do justice to the sheer size and breadth of the dune.

What's a sand dune without a beach, you ask? Well, there is a beach. I waded across the stream to get these pics:

Again, these pictures do not do justice to the sheer magnitude of the dune. Driving up to it on the road, it was in view a good 15 miles before I entered the park.

Ended the day in a 50's motel, slightly refurbished, with a nice meal of fish-n-chips at an Irish Pub in downtown Durango. 

The day's ending GPS photo is here. Guess I really have to complain to Garmin about the max speed error that keeps increasing daily!