A giant sandbox
The kids have been out of school for a month now. We’ve been running ourselves completely ragged with endless recreation. I felt like we needed to stop and rest and hang out together for awhile, so I did what my parents used to do to keep us entertained on a limited budget—visit a national park! My children were about as excited at the prospect as my siblings and I used to be. But, like us, they soon came to understand how many kitschy, quirky, beautiful, or interesting things can be found just a short car ride away.
We headed to southern Colorado and camped near Great Sand Dunes National Park, home to the largest dunes in North America. We ran all over the dunes and made patterns in the sand. We cooled our feet in the very-freezing Medano Creek which flows at the base of the dunes, one of the few and best places in the world to experience surge flow, where creek water comes in rhythmic waves. We rested and relaxed and sang songs and told stories and had a thoroughly grand time until our frenetic recreation schedule bid us home a bit too soon.
Not to worry. The kids don’t know that while they are swimming and playing tennis and baseball and golf, I am busy planning our next getaway. I’m thinking maybe Dinosaur National Monument. They’ll be thrilled I’m sure.
