Day 10 - Potatoe Train & Great Sand Dunes

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What is a Potatoe Train? Well it turns out that it is a mixed freight and passenger train that moves between Alamosa and Monte Vista. There was 1 passenger car from the 1920s and 8 empty hopper cars that we delivered to a Coors facility to be filled with barley. Once filled at the Coors facility, the barley is shipped to the Union Pacific line in Pueblo and then moved north to the brewery in Golden. When we arrived in Monte Vista, the brakeman and engineer delivered the hoppers to the Coors site while we walked around town. The trip back was just the diesel engine with the passenger car with us on board. After a hard day moving freight we drove over to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. These 30 square miles of sand dunes rise nearly 800 feet in front of and from the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range - this is a geologic wonder. We had fun climbing them but really only got to the second ridge before Drew and Sean started tumbling down the sides to the bottom - a sled would have been great. And of course like all good days it ended with a swim in the hotel pool.

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