Great Sand Dunes National Park

Well, we've lived in Colorado for 6 months already. The first few months were painfully slow, trying to make the best of it in the rental house. Once we closed on the new house, however, time has flown by. There's been a lot of travel for Bryan, and the trips to Wright-Patterson have added to the chaos. By God's Grace (and a whole lot of prayer) we have managed to accomplish 4 weeks of school so far. 

Really, that's all we have accomplished, as that has been the priority. (Well, that and canning. Can't help the time sensitive nature of that beast.)

That means that there are a LOT of boxes still to deal with, and the walls are all still bare. And we haven't gotten to explore anything but a few things in the 'Springs. 

So this weekend we were both in town.

And besides mountains of laundry and a broken dryer- in addition to the boxes and walls, of course- there wasn't anything terribly pressing. 

At least, I don't think so.

(Here's hoping I don't realize differently tomorrow morning!)

That's the long way of saying we finally made it out of Colorado Springs! 

We went to the Giant Sand Dunes National Park and stayed in Alamosa, known as the "Gateway to the Dunes." You can probably imagine, with a slogan like that, what there is to do in the area. 

We drug the kids to the Farmer's Market when we got into town. They weren't too upset as they got fudge, hand pies, and honeycomb on a stick. (Not pictured.)

Then we ruined their day dragging them to the wildlife preserve. We promised all kinds of possibilities, including bald eagles. 

We saw....

THE RIO GRANDE! 

Who knew that was in Colorado? 

Not us. And yes we homeschool. Never fear, they know earlier than us publicly schooled kids knew! 

It was a refreshing view.

It's been so long since we have seen water, we were quite impressed.

Clearly, by we, I mean Bryan and I. The kids were hot and really didn't enjoy walking in the sun. 

I love them anyway.

Trying to be a bit more intentional to make sure we get pictures with mom in them, now that the kids are big enough to play photographer. 

Can we PLEASE leave now? It's hot and there are no animals. This isn't fun.

The kids' favorite part. 

Noah was keeping himself entertained on the walk back...taking picture of dead trees.

WILDLIFE! 

Not what we were expecting. We did also see a couple of birds, though they certainly weren't bald eagles.

Someone's legs were tired. You know, because after sitting in the car for 3 hours, he walked a mile. It's hard being 7. 

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They aren't as ominous as the Rockies, but they sure were beautiful.

I wouldn't mind eating one of these guys. Lots of fresh air and gorgeous views probably makes for some good steaks!

Our rental had a pool table, which entertained the kids for quite a while.

This may have been the highlight for the kids.

The Sangre de Cristo mountains with...you guessed it...the sand dunes in the forefront! (And a very lonely tree.)

First attempt at a family photo. We kind of blocked the view.

Much better...if you don't look too closely. Someone blinked. Oops.

We tried to make it for the sunset, but we were a little too late. 

It may have been late, cold, windy, and sandy. But this one is usually a good sport.

The kids got a couple of trial runs in before we lost all light.  Then we stayed a while, having an astronomy lesson. They mostly enjoyed the incredible night sky- it was just the wind blowing sand in our eyes and the cold that turned the night short.

Selah learning to sandboard. She did pretty well but just hated the sand in her eyes and ears.

Selah watching Micah take a run on the sled.

The Fearless Crew

You only get one shot around here, the vicious wind ruins multiple tries.

The one try for a family shot. All things considered, I'll take it.

Bryan and Selah, looking to see if there is a less windy spot. (There wasn't.)

And Jonah and Noah are in front of them as they headed up to the top of the tallest dune they could find.

Micah trying out the board.

Selah, before we found a hair tie in the camera bag.

At her breaking point. Sunglasses aren't enough to keep the sand out of your eyes.

The big boys were off climbing to the top. (No pics but they made it. Said it was fun coming down, but wind was brutal.)

This was us packing it up. The wind just made it too miserable for the littles. I'm not going to lie, I certainly wasn't having FUN, but I was happy to get a few pictures in between moments of sheltering crying children from the wind. 

Perhaps the most fun they had, climbing like explorers on the way out.

I promise you, it's harder than it looks. That's a lot of dry sand and a fairly steep hill.

They made it up there, without any complaints! 

The mountains come right up to the Dunes.

It was quite amazing....so much sand, yet no water in sight.

Someone started to enjoy himself on the way out!

I had to all but drag this kid away from the sand...and then he wanted to carry one of the boards.

He is such a good, sweet helper!

But don't forget that wind. It made for a few breaks.

Nope, not giving up.

If you look closely, you can see Bryan, Selah, and Micah just to the left of center. And about dead center is the van peaking through the trees. The sad thing is, I zoomed in for this picture. We still had a solid half mile through the dry sand to go. Pretty though! 

Okay, Mom, your turn. It's hard enough to carry myself.

We drove 2.8 miles up a Jeep-rated trail to search out Zapata Falls. It took about 30 minutes to get up there, but our sweet van hung tough and made it! There was a nice view of the dunes in front of the mountains. 

They say it's a half mile walk to the waterfall. This is the path. Uphill the whole way there. The lady at the visitor's center in town claimed it was a 10 minute walk, but wear good shoes and prepare to get wet crossing the stream entering the cave. This lady may never have been there. It takes 10 minutes to get through the stream. And we certainly didn't walk the rest of the trail in 10 minutes. I'm also skeptical that it's a half mile...but it was mostly an enjoyable time!

The kids starting their trek across the stream. This time of year it's fairly low, but it was still freezing.

Elijah's on the right there, wisely watching as he waited for an adult. 

I don't feel that the pictures do this justice. You have to look closely to see the water. But there's a lot of it there!

Working on a plan... 

Made it!

Would be a cool place for a hideout.

The kids trying to leave without getting wet. Clearly Selah was past that point, but she was sweet and was trying to keep Elijah dry.

What could possible go wrong...

Out of the cave! 

A little quality brother time on a hike. Or just a quick pose for a pic. It goes so much better when it's THEIR idea instead of mine.

Once, while hiking in Shenandoah NP I think, the kids found a rock tower. Now, they love to make their own.

The "you've got one shot" family pic that this trip is known for (at least in my mind.) They're standing in the stream and that rock wall behind us houses the waterfall.

He gave up on not getting wet and wanted to play when it was time to go.

He's also a tough guy and didn't want the wet socks and shoes for the trek back.

He didn't seem to mind, and practiced his new taekwondo form on the way down. But his mother couldn't take the speed and carried him back.

Noah ran ahead leaving the cave and took a spill in the stream. Bashed his knee pretty good but once that pain subsided some the hand pain became more noticeable. Good thing it's his left hand so he can still do school!

I actually had the remote and tripod for this one, so I made them take 5. This was the best. Clearly  it was time to go. And we blocked most of the view again.

This pretty much sums up how much fun Selah had. 

Summary of the trip? Lodging was expensive and we were in the straight up ghetto. The board and sled rentals were expensive. Everything was far from the parking. The wind was intense. The sand will probably be forever etched in our faces. And the 3 younger kids aren't interested in a return trip. EVER.

I think maybe in a couple years we could try again. But there's plenty of other things in the area to go check out that may be a bit more fun for the family in the mean time. I won't say we would never go back. We would certainly go back with visitors that were interested. And we would certainly be better prepared.

Reminders for next time...
-Sunglasses are not sufficient eye protection. Ski goggles may work best.
-Wear a long-sleeved shirt.
-Cover your head if you don't want a cup of sand plastered to your skull- but ball caps just blow off, so you need something more secure.
-A bandana/scarf/baclava is essential to protect the face.
-Don't bring young children.