#29 Visit a national park I've not been to before

And now that we're DONE with most of our school year (and because we're hoping most families aren't yet, such that things won't be too crowded, lol)...we're off on vacation! After Noah's last class on Friday, we drove down to Alamosa, CO. On Saturday, we ventured over to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and had a fabulous time.

Here's us climbing up, and up, and up...

We ended up climbing barefoot the entire way and were quite thankful that it's only mid-May. The sands must be scortching hot in summer time! As it was, we actually managed quite good weather...not too hot and not too cold. :)

We had a lovely couple take this picture of us before separating...as Nathan and Micah wanted to climb further and Noah, Asher and I did not want to climb further, lol.

So, Nathan and Micah continued on and we headed back down. (It's not quite possible to explain the breadth of the place. It's rather amazing actually. If we'd had more time, we'd probably have spent it there happily. As it was, we needed to get on the road and also were trying to (and succeeded at) beat the incoming storm.)

At the bottom, there's a stream that must be waded through to get back to the parking lot. While we waited for Nathan and Micah, the older two had great fun playing in the brisk waters...

I imagine the water portion of the park is much more enjoyable in the heat of the summer. Personally, I was a bit cold. Asher has a proclivity for getting himself drenched, though...hence I took his jacket away from him as experience has taught me that that sucker is hard to get dry and un-sandy, lol. In the end, only Asher required a change of clothes before we loaded back up...as expected.

So. That was our visit to Great Sand Dunes. :)

Then we drove on to Pagosa Springs...where we are now. We met up with Nathan's parents and are set to enjoy a fun-filled week. More pictures and story to come...