The Rest of our Ultimate Fandango 2021- Bent’s Old Fort, McClave and Lamar, Colorado, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

From 092821-100421, LeeAndra and I went on a road trip (our first together!) to Bent’s Old Fort, McClave and Lamar, Colorado for a day and night, and then on to Texas to join the Ultimate Fandango 2021, and then back for a night in the Great Sand Dunes National Park to camp in the dunes! 2192 miles over 42 hours in the car, and we just had the best time.

LeeAndra had been to Bent’s Old Fort (https://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm) in La Junta many times when she was young, and couldn’t wait to show me that. She had some family in Lamar, where we stayed at the 3rd Street Nest Bed & Breakfast (https://3rdstnestbb.com/) for a night. That was our first time in a B&B, and my gosh, what a great place. Come to find out, some of the doctors we have worked for frequently set up residence there when in southern Colorado for work, and we definitely plan on becoming regulars, too. The Garden Room highly recommended, and the adjacent bathroom is amazing, with a claw foot tub that invited LeeAndra for an hour-long soak after a day on the road.

We visited LeeAndra’s mother’s grave in McClave’s Home Cemetery, our first time back since her death. We saw a part of the state that LeeAndra had known well when she was little, a part of the state that her mother had always considered home.

We passed through Sante Fe on our way back from Texas, and then stayed for a night on the dunes at Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (https://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm). I hadn’t been to the Great Sand Dunes since I was about 19, and I couldn’t wait to show her around. Even though Medrano Creek was dry for the season, the weather was perfect with no bugs and the leaves changing colors. Our first time sleeping under the stars at 39°F in the toastiest sleeping bag was just magical.

•