The Great Sand Dunes, Colorado Spring's Garden of the Gods and Caves of the Wind

Hi Everyone, today is the 6th day of our vacation in Colorado. We've driven over 1,100 miles so far and this was only covering the South-west part of Colorado.

Today we woke up early and headed to Colorado Springs. The landscapes at the lower Southern part heading East of Colorado is so different from the top half of the South-west area. The South West area such as Breckenridge, Leadville, Aspen and Terrulide are so green and lush and the lower South such as Cortez, Alamosa, Pueblo and even Colorado springs are much drier with lots of rock formations such as the ones located at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.



Here is one of the rock formations at the Garden of the Gods called "the Three Graces". Pictured is my daughter inside the rock.

This is a picture of the "Balanced Rock". . .one of the many rock formations at the Garden of the Gods.

This a picture of us at the "Balanced Rock" at another angle. Isn't it cool how the rock is balanced the way it is. Can you imagine if one day it breaks off and rolls off the ledge? I wouldn't want to be in its path if it were to roll off.

We also visited the Cave of the Winds, again in the Manitou/Colorado Springs area.

This is a picture of the inside of the Cave of the Winds. We took the shorter tour called the "Discovery Tour". There's two tours, the other tour is called the "Lattern Tour" and it's much more extensive than the Discovery Tour. With the "Lattern Tour", you carry a lantern and you walk deeper into the cave where there's no lighting. The cave was so cool. You walk through different passages with a tour guide.

Surrounding the Cave of the Winds in Manitou/Colorado Springs are mountains and canyons. The area surrounding the Cave of the Winds is so beautiful. This picture was taken at the visitor's center. The Cave of the Winds is located at a top of the mountain and surrounded by mountains and cliffs such as shown in the picture.

I would add more pictures but I think this is enough for now. It's very hard to choose which pictures to post because all of them are beautiful.

Yesterday we visited the Great Sand Dunes in a town called Alamosa. Here is the water that flows along the side of the Great Sand Dunes. We walked down the stream barefoot. It was an interesting feeling to walk in it. Because it's summer, there wasn't much water. All around the sand dunes are green lush mountains and green landscapes. The Great Sand Dunes is located in the center of all this lush landscaping.

Here is my daughter sticking her foot in the sand. The Great Sand Dunes is the tallest and largest sand dune in the US. It's located quite a bit of a distance from Denver but I feel it's worth it to visit the park.

Here's my kids rolling down the sand dune. Kids love to roll down for some reason. We had so much fun. It was a hot summer day but it was somewhat windy so it didn't feel too hot.

I thought this picture shows the amazing size of the Great Sand Dunes. Pictured is my daughter walking in the distance. Many people hike it to the top and what you see up there is much more amazing than what is pictured here. As you can see how little my daughter is compared to the size of the sand dunes.

The Great Sand Dunes is approximately 33 miles in circumference. It's like a huge sand box. Amazingly, the Great Sand Dunes is surrounded by green mountains and a flowing stream runs to side of it.

Here is a picture of my daughter sitting down on one of the hills. She looks so alone surrounded by all the hills of sand.