The Dunes National Park is a place I had wanted to see since moving to Colorado. In photos, the giant sand dunes looked pretty out of place sitting directly beneath snow covered peaks. As interesting and beautiful as they are, we hadn’t really thought about what's actually around the Dunes. I’m not sure what I expected, but other than the dunes themselves there really isn’t much out there. The small scattered towns felt dusty, and tired from waiting. Our campsite was at the top of the roughest dirt road ever built, littered with parts of cars that had rattled loose making their way to the top. From our vantage point we could sit fireside with an unobstructed view of the afternoon rainstorms rolling across the valley. The stars were some of the clearest I have seen. Speaking of stars, the alien watch tower is worth a quick visit if you’re passing through. You never know what you might find going on there.