I may have figured out where I want to go and when I need to leave Denver.

You click 16 pics, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.

Believe it or not the name of this County that I was in when I was in the San Luis Valley is pronounced Sa-Watch. It's a Ute Indian word meaning sand dunes, and the Sand Dunes National Park is the major attraction around here... For me it's the Sandhill Cranes, but for normal folks it's the Sand Dunes National Park.

I may have accidentally stumbled upon the first place I want to go for my winter travels and what date I need to leave Denver.

Cruising around the Internet the other day, I found something I would really like to do. Now I know most normal folks would not feel that way at all; in fact, I would imagine most people would stay as far away from this as possible, but for me, this would be like a trip to Disney World.... Only better.... And I won't get that "It's a Small World" song stuck in my head for weeks.

I'm talking about going to the Fall, Big Sandy Machine Gun Shoot, near Wikieup  Arizona. Now, if you love guns the way I do, you will understand, but if you are normal, you probably can't imagine why in the world I would want to do this.

It's advertised as the biggest machine gun shoot in the world, and other than various wars, I tend to believe it. And it's not just about machine guns; where else can you go and find various artillery pieces being fired or an Army tank with a fully operational canon? And free boondocking at the gun range for the whole three-day event. So this sounds great to me, and I will fit right in because these are my kind of people.

I don't know If you can call them plans yet, these "plans" haven't been firmed up and are still in the "giving it some thought while relaxing" stage. But the shoot is on October 22, 23, and 24th. So considering how little distance I cover during a traveling day, I would have to leave Denver early next week to make it there in time. So I would need to get cracking on my travel preparations if that will be the first stop in my winter travels.

                                                             Theboondork

The Sand Dunes National Park in the mid-ground, blends in with the Sangre de Cristo's in the background. The sand dunes at the national Park, some rising over 700 feet in the air, are dwarfed to the point of looking like flat ground compared to the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Some campers at the San Luis State wildlife area.

Some young gooselits that can't make up their mind if they want to go north or south for the winter.