On our way down, we were in sight of the sand dunes (about 5 miles out) and we got a flat tire on the camper trailer. Luckily we had all the tools needed to fix it fairly quickly.
Kaylynn was definitely ready to hike the dunes!
Kaylynn, Henry and Sophia
Cory, Rob and Leta
We had to take our shoes off to get across the river at the bottom of the dunes.
Cory walking through a cool sand pattern I was trying to capture (he just doesn't have the same "vision"!
Though it wasn't too hot, it was a must to drink plenty of water.
Can't you just imagine what Cory must have said to get Kaylynn to role her eyes at him?! "Oh Dad"
It was sooo windy while we were hiking. We kept telling the kids that people pay for spa treatments that pelt their legs with grains of sand - they did not believe us. I think we are still cleaning sand out of our ears!
After sliding down the hills we were pulling sand out of our shorts pockets too!
The dads were not about to let the fun pass them by!
They liked to pretend they were Lewis and Clark.
We still have a ways to go to get to the top!!! (Just in case you couldn't guess, No, we never even made it close!)
John, Sophia, Kaylynn and Henry
The kids had a great time playing in the river at the bottom too!
Of course there was plenty of things to do at the campsite as well.
After 2 days of playing in the sand we headed further west to Gunnison where we definitely learned to appreciate a good shower, ahhh! We thought the canyon was right at Gunnison, but it turns out the National Park is over an hours drive away! Luckily, it was worth it - the canyon was really beautiful. And we had a fun day hiking around to the different lookouts.
The kids made us a bit nervous at the top of the canyon!
The Painted Wall
We saw many hawks soaring around as well.
The spring flowers were in full bloom and I tried to capture a sampling.
There was a great climbing tree where we had our picnic lunch.
The kids spent some time at both National Parks completing work books to become junior rangers. They took it very seriously with a swearing in and all.
They were all proud of their badges and each got a souvenir to commend them on their hard work. Kaylynn choose the hat!
We did spend one day just hanging out at the campsite as well. The kids played amazingly well for many hours and the adults enjoyed the relaxation!
(Notice the badges added to the hat!)
And the best time of the day...
I can't believe summer vacation (for K at least!) is already here. We definitely started out on a wonderful note. I highly recommend both places as great vacation spots!
