NYE at the Beautiful Great Sand Dunes National Park

Majestic! I couldn't ask for a better New Years Eve than this. I had the best time in the sand dunes.


Coming from someone from the Philippines, I am truly grateful for our white sand beaches, crystal clear water and a marine life. When we arrived to the sand dunes, I can't help but miss my home country. I was walking towards the sand dunes and the view made me imagined myself walking on the shore on one of the nicest beaches in the Philippines, the sun was shining, I can smell the ocean breeze and taste the salty water.

Now back to reality. It was a little windy when we arrived and the weather was really cold so I decided to wear my Grace Karin Thermals and my Raincoat. The sand was really nice and powdery. There are a lot of activities that you can do even in the winter there. Hiking, sand sledding, splashing in Medano Creek, wildlife watching to name a few.  The sand dunes were huge and I was mesmerized by the beauty of it. It was one of the tallest if not the tallest dunes in America. 
From the parking area, we walked towards the Medano Creek, it is popular seasonal stream in the summer but it was half frozen when we crossed it. I was fully prepared because I was wearing my super comfy waterproof hiking shoes which eventually was full of sand after our long but fun hike up to the top. After a few more steps we entered the bottom of the sand dunes and worked our way up to the top which took forever because uhm, Filipino person here. LOL  I still am adjusting to the elevation here in Colorado, so every step I took made me really tired but I knew I had to enjoy the view. I was thankful we stopped to take some videos and pictures before we went back to climbing up the top. We thought about sandboarding but unfortunately the gas station by the entrance of the park was closed. That was one of the three places to rent sandboards and sand sleds. (here are their information)

1. Kristi Mountain Sports, located 40 miles southwest of the Visitor Center, 719-589-9759.
2. Sand Dunes Swimming Pool and Recreation, located 32 miles west of the Visitor Center near Hooper, rents sandboards and sand sleds year round. Follow the link or call 719-378-2807.
3. From April through October, sandboards and sand sleds are available for rent at the Oasis Store just outside the park entrance. Hours vary; call 719-378-2222.

We made it to the top and the view was amazing. Somehow I couldn't believe that, that kind of landscape exists, it looked so fake and so perfect. And then my husband and friends and the dogs were like kids jumping and running down the dunes. It was such a beautiful sight to see. All the sand in my shoes, my thermal pants and in everywhere in body was worth it. I would love to comeback in the summer. 




Thank you guys so much for reading by blog. I hope you are having a great day!
Let's continue to be nice and be kind. and oh, let me know if you are visiting the dunes and if you able to sled and sandboard for me. :) 

xoxo
-jeramie

Almost Escaped Alcatraz: Amazing Alcatraz Tour

                                                                      I was there!

The first time I heard about Alcatraz was on TV. I was being lazy sitting on my ex-boyfriend's couch, I was watching the TV and I changed the channel to History Channel. The show called, Escape from Alcatraz was playing and I immediately got hooked. The escape from Alcatraz in 1962 forced the US government into a man hunt. If you come to think of it, it was the only successful escape attempt in the history of Alcatraz.  I mean, it is only fair to do so because those who escaped were not normal people.  

The Island of Alcatraz

We started our journey by getting our Alcatraz island tour tickets online and we head down to Pier 33 Alcatraz Landing, located along San Francisco's northern waterfront promenade, on The Embarcadero near the intersection of The Embarcadero and Bay Streets. I was a little surprise that there was a long line of people waiting for the ferry. It reminds me of that long line for Grizzly River Run in Disneyland. After about an hour or so, our ferry was full and we were on our way to the island. 

After getting off the ferry, this was the first thing I noticed and I immediately was able to snap a photo. We went on with our tour and followed the group of people ahead of us. The tour was really organized and the tourists were very respectful. I guess, you don't want to be detained here if you misbehave. LOL

From the outside it looked really nice and pleasant because of all the flowers and trees and an awesome view. We head on inside and started our guided tour. 

We toured the Cellhouse at our own pace with  audio presentation "Doing Time: The Alcatraz Cellhouse Tour”. The audio has a lot language choice to accommodate all tourists. In this audio tour, I heard the stories of life inside from real prisoners, and felt the intensity of a prison breakout from correctional officers who lived and worked on the Island.

Bathhouse 

While I was doing the guided audio tour, I couldn't help but think about the three prisoners who made an escape attempt in June 1962. I watched the whole episode of that in History Channel and I somehow got a glimpse of the life they had at that time and how this place transformed them into becoming the most wanted prisoners of all time. I think this place put those prisoners into a true test rather than being sentenced, made them more resourceful rather than turning into a new leaf and made them think of the unthinkable.

We then went outside and took some pictures and I can help but mesmerized by the beauty of this island. You can almost forget that this island housed the most notorious prisoners and they claimed to be the most impenetrable prison in America. But at that time, all we saw were remnants of what happened a long time ago.

A view of the Golden gate bridge

It was quite the experience. From where I was standing, I had a really nice view of the old buildings below, the beautiful flowers and the golden gate bridge. Once a maximum-security, minimum-privilege facility for the most hardened and unrepentant criminals in the U.S. prison system but now a tourist paradise.

I still believe that the three prisoners were able to successfully escape, survived and hopefully this island changed them for the better.







Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I will speak to you guys on my next post.
Have a great day!

xoxo
-jeramie





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Guide to: The Majestic Mantigue Island, Camiguin Philippines

   I could live here.

I am always and forever an island girl. I love the beach, the sun, the salty water, the sand and the drink in my hand (aka beer). On our last day in Camiguin, we decided to go to Mantigue Island. It's one of the best islands to go to as per TripAdvisor and Blogs from other travelers. Thank you guys for making an effort to put up your blogs about your adventures.

So from our resort, Camiguin Action Geckos and Dive Resort, we drove to the Port in San Rogue to get a boat that will take us to Mantigue Island. I think the fee for the whole boat was 550 pesos, so if you're with a group, it'll be cheap. Speaking of cheap, the next set of fees were not cheap, please see below and you decide to agree with me or not.



 So after about 20 minutes, we finally got to the island. Woot woot!

The island is amazingly beautiful. It feels untouched and I like that the seaweeds are left on the shore. There are no fancy landscape and artificial plantation. They just let the weeds and plants grow. We walked towards the right side of the island to pay for the entrance fee of 10 pesos per person. When we got there, we asked for an iced cold water but they did not have any so we bought some soda instead. Their tables and shed cost about 100 pesos so we decided to stay under the shade of the tree, facing the beach and it was purrrrrfect!

    The sign says: Please bring home your wastes.  - And we did.

We walked around the island for a good 30 minutes because you know, picture taking! lots of it. Anyway, at that time, I was happy to visit this island because there were not a lot of tourists. We found ourselves walking around, checking the beach and said hello to some of the people who lives in the island. I always remember how beautiful the island was, how it made me feel really calm and relax, how it made me feel thankful for all of God's beautiful creation and how we need to be responsible tourists to every place we visit. After a few moments of heart to heart talk with myself walking along the shore, it was time to take a dip and enjoy the crystal clear salty water.

I know what you're thinking. There's no way for these images to be real. There is now way for the water to be this clear, for the sand to be this white and most of all, for this person in the picture to be so beautiful! LOL (I'm just kidding) But honestly, I couldn't believe myself either. If you do not believe it, please get yourself a plane ticket to Camiguin and ride the boat to Mantigue Island and see for yourself!

   At the end of our trip, I learned that I am so blessed to have been born and to have lived in this beautiful country.  Each island in the Philippines has its own characteristic and they are all worth visiting.


Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you are having a great day! I will talk to you on my next post! xoxo