All good things must come to an end and such it was with our trip. The kids were so upset when it was time to go. So many tears! It almost made me want to never go on a roadtrip again level sad faces. But luckily we had a really fun stop just a few hours after we headed out - The Great Sand Dunes National Park!
Great Sand Dunes National Park (MacKenzie - 5 stars, Craig - 5 stars)
(Yes, Norah's wearing pajamas. We left the cabin around 6am so we could get to Dunes before it got too hot. She put on clothes before we went into visitors center I promise)
The visitors center was small but a good stop to get started because we picked up Junior Ranger booklets for kids and learned a bit about how the dunes were formed and what we might find there (bugs not found anywhere else! Black magnetic sand!) then it was time for the dunes.
I'll be honest, when we first got here I was worried it's be a bust of a stop. Kid's attitudes were bad and made worse by a thick application of sunscreen, then we had to walk through the creek to get to the dunes and the bugs were so bad. BUT we persevered and it didn't take long for everyone to start smiling. It was so neat! I wish we had gotten a sand sled but I was worried the younger ones wouldn't be able to do it and it would be frustrating. Next time (and we do hope to go back) we'll do the sled but even without it, they had a blast.
Sand Angels!
Jude was a crawling fool in this sand. We kept letting him wander thinking he'd eventually come back to me but nope, he was having too much fun in the freedom of a large, pretty much baby proof space. And the sand wasn't hot yet (it was probably around 9am)
After a while the sun was warming us up and we were ready for the creek. The kids weren't sure they wanted to change into swimsuits but I convinced them it would be worth it. Plus we needed more bug spray so we needed to go back to the car again anyway.
Pretty soon I was hearing "You were right, Mom! This is so much fun!" I rarely say "I told you so" to my kids but I flat out said "I told you so!" and they all laughed with me.
It wasn't very deep but really wide and some spots were perfect for Jude to splash it while some were moving faster and great for Lucy and Jonah. Norah loved it all. And the bugs weren't that bad out in the water.
They loved finding the black sand and trying to alter the course of the water.
And of course, just splashing around. Then we sat on the sand for a while, filled out the junior park ranger booklets and dried off. This was one of the more involved Junior Ranger programs we've done and they really earned their (really neat wooden) badges.
We spent so much time at the dunes and creek that we didn't have time to hike. And I would have loved to stay here in the evening and see the stars (we had originally planned to stop on our way and do that but weather/schedule made us alter our plans). Craig and I both want to come back to this park and do more.
Next stop of the day was the town of Kit Carson. This might have been fun if there were interpreters but while the trail was technically open, the buildings were all locked and kids were hot and whining so we didn't stay long....so we have our roadtrip moments just like you'd expect!
Later on that night we found this old school playground and took advantage of it to get some wiggles out of the kids.
They all survived the slide but I had to bite my tongue a bit so I wasn't saying "be careful! be careful!" the entire time.
The next day was our last travel day and we were all more than ready to be home but we still had fun at the Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, KS (MacKenzie 3 stars, Craig 3 stars)
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