We first heard about them in an Okee Dokee Brothers video actually.  (Which is why you’ll notice Otto is wearing his Okee Dokee Brothers t-shirt in these pictures.  A little full circle, friends.)

The Great Sand Dunes.

 

 

This vast area of – well – piles of sand.  But not at the coast.  Not near an ocean at all.  In the southern part of Colorado actually.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

 

 

Bergen was the first proponent of the idea when I pitched it to the kids.  “What if we visit the Great Sand Dunes after Lost Valley this year?” I asked them.  Like a post-trip consolation prize.  A help-us-get-over-the-LVL-blues that descended heavy upon us as we drove south and then east last year.

Of course the boys were in immediately.  It looks like a giant sand playground.  Why would any human child say no to this?

 

 

I was intrigued by the diversity of the snow capped mountains paired with the gigantic hills of sand paired with a flowing river paired with green grass.  (I know that’s grammatically too many to be pairs.  I know.)

After a tiny bit of research I realized that the dunes would be great for more than just staring at and wandering aimlessly up and down them and pretending to be in a Star Wars film.  You could sled down them.  Just walk right up to the tops and then slide right down.  Or snowboard. Well, sandboard technically I suppose.  I contacted the owners of Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa, Colorado, a town “nearby” the dunes.  (Nothing is exactly nearby the dunes, for the record.)  The owner and I exchanged a few emails, he sounded like an interesting guy – and apparently he thought my idea of taking five kids from South Carolina to Colorado sounded heroic because he told me he thought I deserved a prize.  (After that last sixteen hour haul on the way home, I am apt to agree with his assessment after all.)

 

 

We stayed at a hotel near Kristi Mountain Sports.  The shop opened at 8 am and, in looking back, I wish we had arrived exactly at 8 am because we quickly learned that the earlier you can arrive at the dunes, the better.  (Beating both the crowds and the heat.)

We were there before 9, however, so it was still a great start for me and my crew.  Kelly, the fine fellow working at Kristi Mountain Sports, had our reservation taken care of quickly with no problems at all.  He handed us one junior board, a snowboard (sandboard) and two regular sleds.  “Waxing is the key,” he told us.  He demonstrated how and where to wax the board and gave us a few additional and simple instructions for the boards.  Then he handed over the boards and waxing supplies and told us they’d be open until 8 that evening.

 

 

And we were off.

It took probably 45 minutes to drive out to the national park itself.  Of course, the drive was pretty because – Colorado.  Once at the national park there was a visitor’s center.  I knew I should go all educational and have the kids go in the center and learn the science all behind the mystery of a bunch of giant sand dunes in Colorado.  But the sun was already rising, we had been warned that the dunes get very very hot throughout the day and we just wanted to put feet to sand and see what would happen.   There was a booth and a place to pay upon entering the park.  When we reached the window, however, a sign had been hung saying that the entrance fees were waived currently and to enter without paying.  That seemed like a nice stroke of good fortune so we drove right on through.  (I did see cars stopping to pay on our way out, so I have no idea how much the entry fee actually is.  Whatever it is, it’s worth it.)

At the parking lot there were restrooms and changing areas and outdoor showers (because – sand).  And – a payphone.

You leave the parking lot and to get to the giant sand dunes – the big prize – you have to cross the river.  The river that is flowing gently and yet boldly with ocean-like surges around the giant sand dunes on a warm June morning.  The river.  You guys – it was so pretty.  So beautiful.  Such cool water and refreshing and all kinds of lovely.  When we arrived people were pretty sparse, but the numbers of guests increased as the temperature rose.  I think lots of families just came to splash in Medano Creek and I don’t blame them at all.  That creek alone is well worth the trip out there.  (There’s some kind of magic reason for the surges and they only happen in May and June typically so, turns out, it was the perfect time to visit.  I’m pretty sure that visitor’s center would have told me all the info I needed to know, had I stopped.)

We took turns carrying the sleds and we all ambitiously picked out a dune we wanted to conquer – like three dunes or so away.  The sand was already hot and even though we kept on our shoes – definitely KEEP on your shoes – we still faded shamefully fast.  You know, we never made it to that far away ambitious dune.  Turns out, the first set of dunes – and the second set – are more than plenty to sled to your heart’s content.  (We were wearing a combination of Chacos and Keens on our feet.  I would advise not using flip flops – they just aren’t sturdy enough for that sort of sand trekking.)

 

 

We carried our water bottles – which I think was a must.  Some people had camp chairs and coolers and all sorts of stuff.  It was HARD to carry just our sleds and ourselves across that sand, I’m not sure I could’ve carried a cooler too.  I think a good idea would be to keep the coolers back at the creek and do the dunes with as little baggage as possible.  But maybe I’m a weakling.  It is possible.

We took turns sledding and found that having only four sleds for six people was a-plenty.  After dragging our exhausted selves up to the top of sand dunes we were all glad to rest while someone else went careening down.

You could sled down lesser hills and make it back to the top faster, but where was the fun in that?  We wanted big slides, every time.  Except when we stood at the bottom and stared back up at the top.

It was a surreal kind of fun.  And gritty.  And pretty warm (even though on our day the temperatures were not at all out of control).  Kelly, back at Kristi Mountain Sports, told us that on some summer days, the sand can reach temperatures of 120 degrees or more.  That’s insane.  I don’t want to put my feet in that.

 

 

Bergen was all about the board version – it was his first time trying it – on snow or sand – and he loved it.  The kid has no problem sacrificing his body for flips and fun though.  I preferred the sit down sled.  And, actually, I even preferred the junior sled.  It was smaller, obviously, but that also meant it was lighter to carry back up the hill.  You could sled double as well.  And – Kelly was right – waxing was the absolute key.  We learned quickly the right amount of wax and the application process.  Trial and error was a good and speedy teacher.

You could pick up some serious speed crashing down the hill.  And, if you did nothing to slow yourself down, it felt downright out of control in the most satisfying of ways.  Until it was literally out of control.  Then the satisfaction was decreased and replaced with another sort of feeling altogether.

I wish I could have seen me on my last sled run – I knew I had only one more in me because I knew I was unwilling to hike back up to the top after that last ride.  I tucked my feet in and didn’t drag my hands or do anything that would potentially slow me down.  I was soaring.  Until I wasn’t. Then I was crashing and eating gulps of sand and feeling like a little tornado of sand and fury.  And maybe sound too.  (Sound and Fury  – get it?)  

 

 

When I popped up and the kids called out to check on me, I was laughing.  Because it was funny.  Funny feeling and – I am certain – funny looking.  I checked out my little elbow, which hurt way more than it looks like it should.  (And still does a little actually.  What are you going to do? 43.)  When London reached me she said, “Mom, you should see yourself.  You’re kind of sandy.”

 

 

Everyone who wanted took another ride or two down the sand dunes while I waited at the bottom.  With Piper and Otto – who had used two boards to build a makeshift shelter from the sun.

 

 

We trekked it back to the river where for certain we could have stayed the entire afternoon, all content and satisfied.  (We couldn’t, however, because Texas was calling our name.  (If I had known Texas was also calling the name of another tornado warning, I would have chosen to stay at the sand dunes instead.)

We washed off in the creek – careful to keep our boards far away from the water as Kelly had warned us that the sleds were severely allergic to water.

 

 

The sleds were as easy to return as they had been to check out and we were all a little disappointed that we didn’t get to use them for the full day.

The sand dunes were magical.  A place that, like so many other spots in Colorado, I can happily visit on a yearly (or more) basis and never grow tired of seeing.  They’re worth the time and the drive and all the grit you’ll find in your face and in your ears and in your everywhere for days afterwards.

 

 

 

 

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