First day of school

New camera

Big Man in a Little Car

My previous post contained little information regarding our vacation. Basically we spent a couple of days camping at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley. It was very beautiful there (and very hot). The dunes are contained in the valley by the large peaks of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. The kids enjoyed hiking the dunes and discovering some of the stange insects that exist only at the dunes. We brought our bathing suits to play in the creek but by this time of year the creek was nothing but mud.

And yes our camera died at the dunes but luckily Carrie purchased some disposable camera's for the kids and had an extra for us.

After the sand dunes we took a day to have a scenic drive through Alamosa and over La Veta pass and right by the gigantic Spanish Peaks. Then we headed to Colorado Springs where we cleaned up from the sand and mud. We enjoyed the 'Old Town' area of the city that evening.

The next day we started the morning in the Garden of the Gods but not for long since the kids were eager to head to our next destination... the North Pole. Yes, nestled in the hills below Pike's Peak a small Christmas themed amusement park sits. I admit I was dreading this place a little bit... I imagined a David Lynch type nightmare with small elfs directing us into a dark forest of Christmas fear. In reality, it wasn't bad and the kids loved it. I'll take it over Elitch Gardens any day.

On the final day of vacation we drove to the top of Pikes Peak where the only cloud for 100 miles completely obscured the view. On the drive down they actually had stopped the traffic going up because the fog was too thick to see. I can't help but wander if the Christmas elves had something to do with this sinister cloud.

Sand... A Lot of Sand

So much sand that our camera stopped working after these.

Setting Out