Great Sand Dunes National Park - mid August 2018

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View of Great Sand Dunes NP

This is our first extended trip where both Nicida and I are officially retired.  Being retired means we are leaving on a Monday, when most people are back to their routines.

I have made several improvements in the camper since the Great Basin trip.  I added an inverter so I am able to work on images and writing for this blog while on the road while memories are fresher.  I have added several small storage pockets for miscellaneous stuff. Employing YouTube I found an idea for a shower frame modifying it for the camper and adding a curtain.

Great Basin National Park, July 2018 - part 2

You can read the first part of this trip on the August 5, 2018 posting

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Day 4 - No rain this morning.  There are human made noises this morning; lots of people packing to leave their campsites before the noon checkout time.  I am hiking the glacier trail today.  I did the first 2/3 of the trail yesterday when I hiked to the Bristlecone pines.  The glacier is just another mile and a 500’  elevation climb.  My camera is the only piece of camera gear coming with me today.  I saw what the trail looked like and I know there will be no room for a tripod on the rocky trail.  I was on the trail by 800.  I saw three other people coming down the trail as I was going up.  Nobody had gone all the way to the glacier; I will be the first today.  Progressing through the scree I have to pay attention to the close-up underfoot trail as well as the distant trail.  One can easily step on a fist sized rock the wrong way, but one can also lose track of the trail especially when the only real difference between being on trail and off is the size of the rocks.  

Great Basin National Park, July 2018 - part 1

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Bristlecone pines - Great Basin National Park

As of July 10, I was out of work... do not worry, I am out of work by choice - retired.  It has been a long time coming, 34 years.  I kept thinking about it and events over the past few years have led me to this decision.  I plan on keeping up this blog but it will change yet again.  Last year it morphed from a day hike, photography, fishing blog to a multi-day camping, hiking, photography, fishing blog with the addition of my truck camper.  The camper allowed me to go farther staying a few days at the location of choice.  Now my horizons will expand even further by going for longer periods of time.  My/our goal is to visit all of the National Parks within the United States.  There may be a few other places thrown in from time to time.