Day 9 - Great Dunes National Park
Another North American Road Trip
Day 9:
Saturday, June 27th
This morning we took our time around camp. We didn’t really have anywhere to be until the Visitor Center opened at 9AM.
The setting of our campsite is quite pretty. There are rolling hills and the dunes out to the side.
When we were at the Visitor’s Center, Desmond asked about sledding down the dunes. We learned that boards and sleds were available to rent just outside the park. So we took a ten minute drive to rent some recreation equipment. 😄
Then we re-entered the park, and headed over to the dunes. I was just happy that the plan wasn’t a hike across the sand. At least not one without a purpose. We lugged the sled, sand board, and a lot of water over to the first dune. Desmond took off his shoes, donned his swim goggles, and sand boarded down the dune.
The wind was whipping the sand in our faces as we hiked back up the dunes and sledded down. We spent about an hour out on the sand. Then Desmond completed his junior ranger activities and got his badge. We returned our sleds and all agreed that while we were quite sandy, we were glad we had done the thing.
We drove out of the park and down the road for a few hours. During the drive I finished by book about Emma Gatewood who hiked the whole Appalachian Trail multiple times starting when she was 67 years old.
Then we stopped for lunch at a little place called Biggie’s in Buena Vista. They offered all sorts of sandwiches, some including breaded chicken tenders that reminded us of the subs at Publix we had enjoyed on our Epic road trip. The vibe was celebratory in the little sub shop. The music was upbeat and could be sung along to. The kitchen was full of college aged workers making the magic happen. The man taking orders was both efficient and friendly. We each found something tasty, and shared a huge serving of fries.
Next we stopped at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. We learned about the history of the area by watching the 20 minute video, and looked at fossils in the visitor center museum. I purchased the three oval stickers and a collector’s token from the gift shop, and we stamped our passport book.
Desmond was excited that they had fossils of ants in the exhibit. (He loves ants!)
After that we pulled up GPS directions for our hotel for the night just outside of Denver. The remaining drive said it would be about 1 3/4 hours. Since that is less time than it takes to drive up to Anderson Island (which we do fairly routinely) it, psychologically, does not seem very far. I know we will all sleep well tonight, however!
We got to the Home2Suites and made ourselves some PB&Js for dinner in the little kitchenette. Then I took Desmond down to the pool for a swim. There were what seemed like an extra amount of rules posted, including “absolutely no blowing noses in the pool” and “no playing.” Sheesh! They pretty much covered everything. We enjoyed being in the water, and had fun regardless of the many restrictions. I thought there was no way I would close my movement ring on my watch today, but after all our swimming and coming up with silly ways to swim, I did. Yay!
Then it was time to head for bed. We plan to go to an interactive museum of sorts here in Denver tomorrow. That will be a change of pace from the National Parks and outdoor hikes. We like to have some variety, so I am looking forward to it.
Thanks for following along!
Did you miss any of our trip so far? Here are Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8
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