Silverton, Colorado

View of Silverton from USH 550

On our trip to Colorado, one of the few 'planned' destinations was the cute town of Silverton. Silverton is an old historic mining town nestled in the mountains north of Durango, famous for its steam train, mining tours, and expansive off-road trails. Only one highway goes in and out of Silverton, and during the winter it is often inaccessible by road. There is one campground available on the outskirts of town, but we decided to stay in a beautiful campground outside of town called Molas Lake Campground. The sites were simple and lacking any hook-ups, but there was water available at the office and outhouses within decent walking distance. They also have picnic areas and grills at most of the campsites, and a variety of site choices depending on where and how you want to camp (woods, lakeside, tent, RV).

Molas Lake Campground

What sold us was the view at this place. Molas Lake reflects the nearby mountains with an almost pristine quality when the wind is calm, and the fish are active and ready to be caught. Generators are also banned throughout most of the park, so the campground was peacefully quiet most of the time.Charlie was a big fan of the lake. Thanks to the long leads that I had, he was able to romp in the water and chase the ducks (who were only slightly annoyed by his antics) while I stayed warm and dry on the shore. Although we didn't get much chance to seek them out, there also several biking, hiking, and walking trails that had access points stemming from the campground.

After settling in, we made our way back to the town of Silverton to explore and stop by the visitor's center. Charlie came along with us and surprisingly, was on his best behavior. He was able to share the sidewalk with gaggles of tourists and other dogs, and sat politely as families passed us by while we waited outside the visitors center. He even gained some new fans as children came up to play with him. So, we were surprised after all this good behavior when he started growling and barking for absolutely no reason. When we realized why, we had to take a video.

 

The poor pup was TERRIFIED of this strange wooden man. Even passerby's couldn't help but stop and laugh at his misfortune, but eventually we showed some mercy and moved on. 

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Our first real stop on our Colorado trip was at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Located outside of Mosca, CO. The park, which I am going to shorthand as GSDNP, is home of the tallest sand dunes in North America, as well as pretty much every ecosystem you learned about in elementary school (excluding maybe 'ocean'... although some couple million years ago it probably included it). Anyone who knows me can tell you that I love variety, so this place really fit the bill.

If you can't tell, those are
MOUNTAINS next to the dunes

Since we got there close to nightfall, all of the 88 available campsites were full, and we had to retreat outside the park at the Oasis Campground. Although we were a bit disappointed not to be in the park, we were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful panoramic sunrise view of the dunes the following morning. The campsites were also spaciously separated from one another, and alas, we had utilities, real toilets, and free showers available for use; something the national park campsites were lacking.

Hiking Chuck!

This was our first opportunity to really check out the park, so that's what we did. My boyfriend was itching to try out the 4x4 trails with his truck, which ended up a near failure. Let it be known that a 8,000 lb lifted diesel truck and a deep, sandy, slopey trail should not meet. We managed to get down and back from the first checkpoint without much issue, but it was obvious that we wouldn't be able to continue to our intended destination without the security of a winch. After humbly backing away from that challenge, we decided on an easier task: climbing a mountain. Since most of the trails were either accessed by 4x4 vehicles or from the complete opposite edge of the park, we began on the Mosca Pass Trail. For the most part it was kind, but for being out of shape and unadjusted to the altitude, we headed back after about a mile. Chuckie was a champ the whole way, and proudly carried all of his things inside of his cute backpack.

He also kept licking the sand...

I had to stop from singing
"Arabian Nights" the whole hike

The following day, we got up early (at least as early as we could) and left to tackle the sand dunes. Our mission was to hike up High Dune, which stands at about 650 ft tall. The sand was a lot harder to hike through than we had expected, so I ditched my boots and went barefoot. Losing the shoes not only helped with gaining some footing in the sand, but it allowed me to keep an eye on the sand temperature. During the hot sun of the summer, the sands can reach over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. With Charlie coming along with us, we were racing the temperature to finish the hike and return before it was dangerous for his feet. Lucky for us, we had some heavy rains the night before so by staying on the shady side of the dunes we could keep both our feet and Charlie's black body cool. Charlie thought the sand was amazing. Every time we stopped he would begin digging nonstop; you can check out a video of it here.

Charlie, waiting to pounce

We managed to make it to High Dune in a couple of hours (some kid we met up there probably did it in half that time, and he wasn't even tired), and we took some time to enjoy the view. I've never seen anything like that view, a combination of several landscapes. To the east you see mountains, west is plains, and to the southeast you see remnants of a creek that is full of life during the cooler times of the year. As we headed back down, you could tell Charlie was excited about our increased pace. Down was much easier than up; you could almost skate down the slopes on your feet. We almost regretted not renting one of the sandboards the campsite had available, Charlie could have just pulled us down the whole way.

 In all, I'm glad that we were able to stop at GSDNP. I think it was one of our favorite parts of the trip, and definitely a new and unique experience that I (and hopefully Charlie) will never forget.

Pooped puppy

New England in Review

This Fourth of July we had an excuse to go on the first real vacation we've had in a LONG time. My cousin was getting married, so we took this as a sign to return to the area where I grew up, New England! Just a warning, this post may be a long one, so utilize the Jump Break if you want to keep reading!

Oysters on the Half Shell at Legal Sea Foods

Our trip began in Boston, where we walked the freedom trail, ate lunch at the delicious Legal Sea Foods, and watched the fireworks show with the Boston Pops. 

Fireworks!

At first, the fireworks show was held up because of threatening lightning storms across the river. Even though the crowd had technically 'evacuated', we held our ground and we were glad we did! It turned out we were sitting right in front of the barges, and when the fireworks show finally started, it began POURING. Thankfully, the fireworks continued on and the rain just made it all the more memorable. It was definitely a show I will never forget, and possibly one that won't be beaten. If you'd like, you can watch a short video of it here. Please excuse my exclamations of rain during the video.

PEI mussels at Kitchen Little

We later moved on through Plymouth, MA, Rhode Island, and finally Mystic, CT, where we stopped for some great seafood at a small local restaurant called Kitchen Little. We sat on the patio and watched over the marina at sunset while eating our dinner. Unfortunately there were bugs, so we did sustain some mosquito bites. If anyone ever gets a chance to go, their daily specials seem to be even better than their menu items. The Caldareida, Sardines escapage, and PEI mussels were my favorites.
After a night at a mediocre hotel, we visited the tourist Mystic downtown, which was a lot smaller than I had remembered it at a child. Nonetheless it was fun to watch the yachts and poke around at the small stores. One of my favorites was The Black Dog, a place I'm sure Chuckie would have loved if he was there. They had people clothes, accessories, and tons of cute doggie things perfect for big dogs.