Great sand dunes!

When we woke up this morning, it was 46 degrees outside! The desert is so cool (and hot). Hot chocolate, waffles, yogurt and eggs for breakfast, then off to the dunes!

 After waiting in a small line to rent a sled and sand board and then a longer line to get into the park, it was about 10 before we hiked out to the dunes. It's quite a walk in sand!

Then it was time to slide and board. We all tried both and had a blast. Laura's expert at sand boarding, Adam's great at zipping down steep hills on the sled while dragging a had to direct, Jim was good at both and I conquered some irrational fears with the sand board.

The sand is incredibly soft, and the dunes unbelievably huge. 700 feet tall! We played around for a couple hours, then headed back to lunch in the camper. Home to shower and sit thru the heat of the day. I hung out in the shade and took a nap, the kids had some screen time and Jim puttered about and relaxed.

More next post...

Big day! Kansas to Colorado

Very big day for us and it was all great!

We packed up after a little walk and breakfast. On the way out of the park, we checked out a re-creation of pueblo ruins found on the site.

We set out for Colorado, but made a quick detour at the nearby monument rocks. On the way we found lots of sweet cattle, many with calves.

This is what the Monument Rocks look like from a distance. Kind of a Stonehenge or Uluru feel to it, rising up out of the flat land.

Up closer, they are also amazing!

See the face?

After scampering among the rocks, we headed out for the biggest drive of the day, 4 hours to Royal Gorge.

It's a long long bridge over a big deep gorge with the Arkansas river at the bottom. We talked about dropping a note here to send to Gramma Ann who lives withing walking distance of the same river in Oklahoma.

 

No fishing!

Wildlife!

Then we drove down to the elevation of the Arkansas river and drove along it thru mountains for a couple hours. Very pretty! Also, good news that we have figured out a way to handle Laura's carsick problem. A little Dramamine very regularly seems to do the trick. 

Mountains are pretty

Then we made our way over very flat and very straight roads to the great sand dunes national park. No pics cuz it was already dark. It's interesting though, a bunch of sand at the foot of mountains. This rv park is very different. It's just outside the park and is literally a gravel parking lot with hookups in a row. On either side of us are both pairs of young women sleeping in their SUVs. They are very nice, told us about the soft soft sand and made us very excited to go see the park tomorrow!

Sunset was lovely

Happy birthday Jim!

Jim's birthday was a continuance of our learning adventure. After I wrote the last post, we got on the road and things looked up. The driving didn't seem as bad as the day before, even in strong winds. Likely because David had added power steering fluid.  The wind died down after a while, and then it was just plain easy. What a difference! We drove about 5.5 hours to Lake Scott state park (still in Kansas). We met a lovely camp host, Pam, who was a godsend. She found us a great spot and gave us many pointers since it was our first time hooking up the rig. We had dinner, and walked to the swimming beach (cold!). We mostly made sand castles. Then back to Appa for showers and a cake I had experimented with. The tiny oven and the fact that it's a convection oven meant I got a little creative, but it turned out great.

 The excitement started as the kids were doing dishes while I was showering. Water started bubbling up the shower drain! We turned off all the water, then realized the grey water tank (everything but toilet waste) was full. We had opted for the slightly cheaper site without a dumping spot, but lovely Pam had said we could use a neighboring spot as long as no one was parked there. So we unhooked everything in the dark, pulled in the pop out and drove a couple spots down and dumped our tanks in the dark. Besides being inconvenient timing, the whole thing went smoothly. And we learned to keep a better eye on tank levels.  

Laura picked out a taco piñata for his birthday and filled it with candy!

He's now in the 44 gang

Awww

It's a beautiful part of Kansas I've never seen

Laura got mud freckles all over herself

Happy birthday to my wonderful best friend and husband!

Day 3

Still learning and still at Jim's folks house, but planning to leave soon. 

We stayed an extra day to let the crazy wind storm die down. Also to dump the yucky tasting water and refill with wholesome Kansas water. And the men started checking oils and found a loose clamp that let out all the power steering fluid. Uh oh! Tightened the clamp and filled the fluid. (Thank you David!) Jim is finishing a work meeting. Lunch at the house, then hopefully heading to Lake Scott state park for our first real night of rv-ing. We did make a rough plan of the direction we want to head. It's ambitious and includes at least 8 states. 

First night in the RV

Sleeping in the inlaws driveway tonight to work out more kinks while the stakes are low. Jim's trying the loft bed and I'm on the pull out couch with a comfy airbed on it. Kids are in the back with bunk beds behind their curtains. Wonder if they're sleeping or on their phone?  It's actually pretty dark in here and comfy. It will be wonderful if sleep isn't an issue on this trip. We're all such spoiled sleepers, and cranky without it.

I tried out the shower and was happily surprised to fit ok. The shower head is much too low, but it lifts off and has a button on it for turning water on and off after you get the temp just right with the faucet. A good shower after a stressful day ofb travel is awesome!

Our first day in the RV adventure was a learning opportunity. We made it to Fredonia without any real problems, just little ones. 

We got an email about a fraudulent charge on our account which turned out to actually be a scam itself. 

The generator gave us a check oil error, but after having David check it out we think it's just a sensor error. We'll have to try to reset it torrow. 

I learned that not all diesel nozzles are the same size.  

We were reminded that Laura gets carsick. No actual urping, just headaches and nausea. Dramamine helps, but not perfect. 

Ava was a good traveler, better than in the van or car. 

The RV is loud! Jim had some trouble finding the right earphone situation for work calls, but got there eventually. 

Using the RV bathroom while driving was great! 

Having a fridge and and sandwich makings was awesome. 

I talked to a real live truck driver while filling up!

And Adam has pretty feet 😂

Plan for tomorrow is still up in the air. Depends a lot on the generator...

Adam's golf course

Adam had an assignment for class to create or draw something like a sports field or city that included a set of required geometry figures like pentagons, right triangles, etc. He made a model of a mini golf course hole. I think he went above and beyond! Imagine the tall black thing as a waterfall (it really holds water!)

Easter 2020

This Easter meant quarentine, blizzard pajamas and brunch for lunch! Definitely different than normal, but surprisingly lovely

Montana Day 1

We flew into Montana about 2 in the afternoon. We rented car, drove to the hotel and decided to go on our first adventure! A quick drive into the nearby mountains and we found an alpine slide! There was also a ropes course for Laura and a free gondola back up the mountain.

Back at the ranch, we walked to Walmart to get some bear spray (!) and to MacKenzie River Pizza Co for dinner (including pizza with pistachios on it ?!?). Also, swimming in the pool and Teen Titans Go, our favorite hotel activities. Great first day!