Day 11 - Great Sand Dunes and New Mexico

On Monday we were leaving Colorado and heading south to New Mexico. Along the way we were going to stop at the Great Sand Dunes National Park which was about 3 hours away. We got up at 5 and were pulling out of our campground by 6. We wanted to get some drive time in with the kids asleep. Of course, Julia pitched a fit when I moved her from her overhead bed back to the main bedroom. She was loud enough to wake everyone up. This was not good because not only would we miss out on the only time Allyson and I can talk together while driving, but also because they would surely all be cranky later. Remember, they were exhausted yesterday evening.

We made it down to the national park and boy was it a tough drive with all the constant up and downs over and around mountain tops. I was full on the gas and then nearly full on the brake, over and over again for a long time. But we eventually made it.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park was a bit of a mystery to us. I actually stumbled upon it by accident while considering adding New Mexico to our trip. It’s kind of inconvenient to get to so it doesn’t get as many visitors as other parks. That’s a shame because it really blew our minds when we saw it. The park consisted of miles of sand dunes that are several hundred feet tall, with the Rocky Mountains in the backdrop. It is really kind of mind blowing to look at. It’s the convergence of three different environments: the mountains in the background, the dessert earth on the ground, and then massive dunes of sand. It was like something from another planet.

Before I get into the National Park I should note that on Sunday evening I accidentally walked into the pack n' play which was folded up and tucked under a bed. I rammed the ring toe on my right food into a metal piece on it. Within minutes it began to swell and by the end of the night it was completely swollen and purple. I will spare you all the photo. It was very painful, but I didn't think I broke it because when I moved it I didn't have excruciating pain. Still, the girls were freaked out. Well I should say that Caroline was very concerned, but Natalie assured me that if it needed to be cut off the hospital would give me a plastic toe, so that was comforting. However, I would have to endure the remainder of the trip with a very painful toe.

We first hit the visitor center to get oriented and so the girls could complete Junior Ranger activities, which they did and then were sworn in.

Next we went for a hike around the visitor center. Once we had checked all of that out we drove over to the dunes. They were amazing. We just kinda gawked at the site for a few minutes and then started making our way over to them, with the older two girls determined to climb them. Pretty quickly reality set in and we all re-learned that walking across sand is tough and this sand was HOT! Allyson warned us all that it would be hot, but I insisted we’d be fine. Well I was way wrong about that. Had we been more prepared we could have made a better effort to get up in the dunes and try the sand-boarding or sand-sledding that others were doing. But that would have to wait until next time.

Once we were hot and tired we started heading back towards the car. Pretty quickly Julia had enough and let everyone know. I got to pull double dad duty again and carry her back. This was a tad tougher than carrying Sam on Sunday. Julia is dense…..like she’s filled with lead or something. So carrying her back across the sand was no picnic, but we made it.

We all washed up and then got ready to get on the road for New Mexico. If you’ve never considered the Great Sand Dunes you should check it out. I can’t say enough about how amazing it was.

Our next stop on the way to our campground was the Rio Grande River Gorge. There’s a bridge over the gorge which you can walk across and then there’s a little rest area on one side. The bridge is 650 feet above the Rio Grande and is located in Taos, New Mexico. It was really neat to see. We snapped some pictures, nerded out talking about bridges, and then bought a few things from some vendors at the rest area. I think everyone liked it. I know I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the gorge we headed for our campground which was located in Angel Fire, NM. We drove through the rest of Taos which was really cool. Much of the town's architecture was the old southwestern style. Allyson and I both liked it, so it will be on the list of places we want to come back to with just the two of us. The remainder of the drive after Taos was not much fun. It was 20 miles of more winding mountain roads through the Carson National Forest. Finally we made it to our campground, the Angel Fire RV Resort, which was awesome.

This campground was very nice, and located in a beautiful area with great views. Our campsite was pristine which while isn't really necessary, it is a nice treat. The campground must be a sort of short-term retirement destination because we were probably the youngest people there, and all of the other campers had very, very nice coaches and trailers. Some of the huge diesel motorhomes look amazing, but must cost a fortune. We played outside, made dinner and then went for a walk and enjoyed the views.

One thing I need to note about Monday was that for the entire day our kids behavior was awesome. In general they are great kids but having them all getting along and in a good mood at the same time can feel a bit uncommon. When they all pull it together at the same time life just seems so good.

We had a great time during our short stay in New Mexico and will definitely be back.

Miscellaneous notes and thoughts:

• Sam has been terrible about taking pictures lately. Sometimes she runs away, sometimes she screams, and sometimes she shouts Cheese! in a nasty tone for the picture. I found a way around this and that is if I whisper "poopy pants". She immediately starts laughing and you can get a picture. While this is effective for pictures I take, such as the one below, it won't work well for family pictures taken by strangers. "Excuse me sir, can you take our picture, and right before you click the button please say "poopy pants".

• Both Julia and Caroline have had symptoms of asthma issues over the past week. While discussing it Allyson and I wondered if it was the altitude change. When they have issues we check their O2 levels with a pulse oximeter and theirs were both low. As we talked about it we both could not believe we overlooked that this would be an issue. The air has less oxygen up in the mountains and it's very dry. We are both very good planners, and yet we missed this. So if your child has asthma or other respiratory issues, beware when you head to higher elevation. Seems so obvious now when I type this.

• The low temperature in Angel Fire, NM is 45 on Monday night. The high temperature in Amarillo, TX is forecast to be 104. If you discount times I've flown from Cleveland to a warm location for vacation in the winter, this will be the greatest single-day temperature swing I've experienced. Should be interesting.

• When driving I announce things like turns, bumps, stops, etc. When I announce turns Caroline chimes in by telling everyone what direction things are going to roll/slide. For example she will say "we're turning right, things are going to move to the left". I don't think she realizes that usually only the driver, passenger, and maybe one person at the table are facing forward. So the guidance she is giving is wrong for the majority of passengers. But we don't say anything.

• In Colorado and New Mexico they use different signs for different animals that may cross the road. I'm referring to those yellow, diamond-shaped signs with the picture of say a deer on it. In the span of 2 miles I believe we saw one for a female deer, then one for a male deer, and then one for an elk. Kind of confusing to interpret what animal may abruptly end our vacation. I think a sign that says "animal crossing" would be sufficient. I would hope most of us in the mountains assume there are animals out here. Also the signs are oddly specific. One sign we saw said there were elk for the next 7.5 miles. Kinda odd.

• This is the furthest point away from home we are traveling. We've traveled over 2,000 miles now. All of our remaining stops are along a path heading back home to Cleveland.

That's all for now. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.