Welcome to Leg 10 of #ptparadsummer2019 (catch up on Leg 9, Leg 8, Leg 7, Leg 6, Leg 5, Leg 4, Leg 3, Leg 2, and Leg 1).  In the last post we finished a jam packed day in Colorado Springs.  In this post we point the truck south and spend some time in Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Day 14 – 11 July 2019 – Travel day and Great Sand Dunes National Park

In the morning we were still in Cheyenne Mountain State Park outside of Colorado Springs.  We prepped everything the night before and only had to dump the tanks one more time and hitch up the truck.

Driving In

The drive south from Colorado Springs on I-25 was not very exciting.  However, when we turned west on to US-160, the scenery was amazing and the road became a fun challenge to drive.  The further we got from the interstate, the more sparse and expensive amenities became.  Thankfully, we had plenty of fuel and groceries for our time out in the dunes.  We pulled into the Great Sand Dunes National Park Visitor Center just before lunch time.  After a quick lunch, we headed into the Visitor Center to get our Junior Ranger books and figure out what we wanted to do.

Hitting the Dunes

One of the activities that people do at Great Sand Dunes is sled.  The campground we were staying at, The Great Sand Dunes Oasis, rents sleds and boards designed specifically for the sand at Great Sand Dunes.  By the time we got out on the dunes, everyone was out there.  We waded through Medano Creek and out to the Great Sand Dunes to sled.

In the afternoon sun, the sand was unbelievably hot.  The kids enjoyed sledding a few times, but the heat and weight of dragging the sled up the dunes lost their interest quickly.  The cool sand and water of the creek seemed more intriguing.

Medano Creek

At the creek it was almost a beach scene.  Families were ready to spend a whole day on the water and soaking up the sun.  The kids tore out into the creek and started to make berms to dam the water and shift the water’s flow.  They played for several hours.  If we had come better prepared for the water, I think we could’ve stayed all day.  Next time we’d bring swimsuits, sand toys, a shovel, and a frisbee.

The parking lot has some well placed showers to clean off sand before getting back into the car.  It was a nice convenience.  We loaded up and headed back to Patty to grab dinner.

Evening

After a nice dinner we loaded back up to head into Great Sand Dunes National Park for a ranger night program at the amphitheater.  As we continued to drive towards the park we noticed an unreal amount of mosquitoes in the headlights and on the windows of the truck.  It was a bit of foreshadowing.  The sunset was amazing as we rolled into the park.

We parked at the amphitheater and were immediately swarmed by mosquitoes.  They were everywhere.  We were swatting, blowing, and flinching as we found seats.  After about 30 seconds Erin and I made eye contact and before she opened her mouth I was completely on board.  Let’s go.  It wasn’t my proudest moment as a proclaimed outdoor lover, but the bugs won.  It was too unbearable.  So we walked right back out and ran to the truck.  Instead of staring at the stars, we got into bed early for a big day of driving the next day.

Decisions

Great Sand Dunes National Park is an immense area.  There are several trails I wish we’d scheduled time for.  Originally we were going to stay two days at Great Sand Dunes and drive straight home.  We decided it would be better to make our trip home in two days instead, so instead of hiking and seeing more of the park, we opted to head east in the morning.

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I think that’s going to do it for this post.  We have two more days in this trip that we’ll cover in one more post.  Thanks for reading.

 

-See you out there,

Part-Time Paradise