2016 Summer Road Trip: UT, CO, NM: Day 29: Sun, 7/10: Sand boarding and sledding in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Day 29: Sun, 7/10: Sand boarding and sledding in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

This morning we rented a sandboard (snowboard for sand) and a sand sled for $20 each. Ouch! But worth it one time! Sam chose not to horseback ride yesterday so that is what paid for the rentals today J. We slathered on our sunblock and bug spray and headed back to the sand dunes for some adventure! All four of us loved sledding. For some reason, Andrea and Sam would fall off a lot (probably because we’re tall for the small sled???) but Ryan and Sarah were really good sledding down the long, steep sand hills. But the real fun was the sandboard. If you ever come here, you have to do it!!! It’s great fun. We all took turns with the sled or the sandboard and would fly down the hills. Sarah was the most scared at first to sandboard but she turned out to be a natural. She was the best at standing up and racing all the way down the steep slopes. She hardly fell at all. Ryan, Andrea and Sam all had their good moments and really had fun. But the three of us fell a lot and were covered in sand! Since we had sunblock and bug spray on, the sand stuck all over Sam and Ryan’s faces, necks, arms and legs due to their many face plants! We didn’t care, even with the sand in our hair and ears, because it was so much fun. The sand is very soft when you fall so it doesn’t hurt at all. The kids also finished their Junior Ranger Program for this national park and then we drove back to the rental place to return the sled and sandboard. Andrea thought it was funny because in the large gravel parking lot, Sam and Ryan put on their bathing suits and took a shower right there using our outdoor shower on the motorhome. Andrea thought it was a bit tacky but not Sam or Ryan. RVing BABY!!!!

Then, as we drove north towards Estes Park, which is the eastern gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and north of Denver, we got another flat tire!!! What the heck is going on—3 flat tires in one trip and 5 flat tires in the last 12 months on the RV! The tow truck guy, a police officer, and a helpful Colorado woman who stopped to help us all gave us the same directions of how to get to Estes Park by avoiding Denver traffic and taking a more scenic route. So we went through Breckenridge and got dinner to go from Taco Bell. Happy Birthday Andrea—Dairy Queen in Canada last year for your birthday dinner and this year Taco Bell!!! We continued driving north past Grand Lake, which is the western gateway to RMNP. Along that drive, we saw a beautiful coyote, 2 cute foxes and an elk. Once we entered RMNP at 8 pm, we saw a female moose eating in the bushes by the side of the road. But the highlight was a large bull moose about 25 yards from us. Wow, they command your respect with their size and their antlers! He was walking towards us and stopped and stared at us. There were many other cars along the highway. He then started galloping and then running parallel to us. He was impressive and great to see. We then drove further into the national park and saw a huge herd of elk—probably over 100. We then drove up to over 12, 200 feet on the beautiful Trail Ridge Road. The tundra was neat to see as it was getting dark. We then saw about 8 huge male elk with massive antlers sitting by the side of the road. Incredible. We descended down the other side of the continental divide after dark along the windy road and finally got to Estes Park around 920 pm. Except for her birthday dinner, I think Andrea had a wonderful day sand boarding and sledding, and seeing the incredible Rocky Mountains and much wildlife as well.