The Joy of Sand that Only Kids can Understand
After leaving Oklahoma it was time to drive “up” again as we headed into Colorado. Paying more attention to routes and mountain passes, making sure that Big Dan could make it up and that I would make it down (with most of my sanity intact). A scheduling detail was that we would stay as far south in Colorado to avoid driving the RV in winter weather.
We decided to stay in Alamosa and used Boondockers Welcome to find a place to park for 2 nights. This little town is situated between two mountain peaks, and was not far from the Great Sand Dunes. The family that opened up their property to us was kind and welcoming, and had about 7 kittens on the property. So basically my children would have preferred stay there chasing small cats around, but we stuck to our plan and headed to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
Confession: I’ve never been to sand dunes that haven’t been on a beach. In fact, before this trip I didn’t realize that there were places in our country that looked like the dunes I’d only seen in movies. As we approached them in our car we could see them from miles away. They were massive and tucked in front of the mountains. Because we are a family with 2 kids getting anywhere at sunrise is pretty much impossible, but I made sure to let my photo-dork fly free while here, inspired by the shapes, textures, and light. Oh, and these nutso kids.
We did not rent the sleds. Since it was our first dunes experience the kids were tickled pink to do what kids normally do in sand - play. Run it between fingers and toes, roll down, and collapse because they are too tired to fight the loose sand to climb back up again. All their sensory needs were filled to capacity for the day.
Once they had their fill of sand play we headed off for some lunch and hikes. The first hike was an easy one and displayed all the beauty of Aspens in the fall. The second hike, Zapata Falls, was a bit more challenging. First, the 3 miles (off) road drive to get to the trailhead took about 30 minutes to drive, so that was adventurous. The hike was spectacular, it led straight up and into a hidden waterfall. We needed to get shin-deep in the river to access the waterfall and that just made it more exciting.
So our stay was quick, full of adventure, and new experiences.
