Xavier Scales A Great Dune
Greetings to all.
Today we woke to crisp air and the occasional hummingbird buzzing through the air. We did not camp, as Xavier has been asking to do, but glamped in the Great Sand Dunes Lodge.
As the Sand Dunes are remote, the closest amenities (other than the Lodge) are thirty minutes in any direction, we packed enough food for lunch and dinner on Saturday.
With breakfast in our bellies, we headed out to find a place to park, then set up a base camp before the park grew too crowded and the sand too hot.
We stopped at a rental place and picked up a sand board. We thought it would be a lot of fun. As it turned out, it was a bust. Neither Xavier nor I could get the board to go more than a few feet down the hills. Rebecca had the best run of us all with a record-setting (for the family) ten feet, give or take.
Xavier did not seem to mind. The Dunes did not call to him, but the stream of glacier melt skirting the Dunes did. He wanted to return to base camp to get his sand toys and go dam up the river.
We dug a number of trenches, but the cold, shallow water had a mind of its own and frequently undid all our work.
Xavier soon met several other boys with the same plan but having better success. They invited him to help and he offered them his shovels and buckets.
Eventually, the boys moved twenty or so feet away from the stream and dug a large hole. To their surprise, they found water under the sand about a foot down. This opened up new games to play.
The storm clouds, which had been growing throughout the morning and early afternoon, turned threatening. The family of boys Xavier played with decided to pack it in, as did we.
We ended the day with a picnic before starting our long four hour journey back to Denver.
We all were tired. We ate a late dinner at a restaurant, then came home. After unloading the perishable items from the car, we all took showers to get the sand out of everywhere, then hit the sheets.
Xavier Wrestles an Alligator
Greetings to everyone.
This Father's Day, we decided to pack up the 90 and head south to the Great Sand Dunes. Xavier is old enough to enjoy them, and this is a wonderful time of the year to experience them.
Of course, what trip to the Great Sand Dunes is complete without a visit to Colorado Gators, an alligator rescue and reserve right here in Colorado.
Part of getting into the reserve is holding an two foot alligator and getting your picture taken with it. Xavier stepped right up. Now we have 4x6 refrigerator magnets to prove it.
After a short nap once reaching the Dunes (it was a four hour drive), we headed out to a hot springs spa and pool. Colorado, it seems, has hundreds of hot springs. It's one of the reasons the alligator reserve exists where it does: they have a hot spring.
Xavier spent his first hour in the pool bobbing, splashing about and having a great time. Then he wanted to try the one meter spring board at the 10 foot end of the pool.
We rented a life vest, strapped Xavier in and let him go. He climbed up the board and walked to the end. Dad was waiting in the pool below him.
"Get out of the way, Dad," Xavier called down.
I put some more distance between us, and sploosh! Xavier was in the pool. When he surfaced, he wanted to do it again. He went off the board six or seven times, although we could not talk him into jumping off the three meter spring board next to him.
Xavier Goes Fishing
Greetings to all.
For the last several months Xavier has been asking to go fishing and to go tent camping this summer.
Rebecca has wanted to take Xavier fishing for a while, but we have been waiting for "the right time."
Xavier's desire to go fishing aligned and the time was right. We just needed a hole to open in our schedule!
With Rebecca out of town these past weeks and next week, that hole was a 34 hour window centering around today.
Rebecca spent a few of her nights in Wyoming buying the basic rods, fishing licenses, simple tackle and a tackle box.
This morning, we let Xavier open open his surprise. Of course, he could not wait until after breakfast to head out to learn how to use his new equipment.
Rebecca and Xavier did head to the garden to dig up several earthworms to use as live bait. After all, one's first fishing trip without the quintessential earthworm is no first fishing trip at all!
After digging up the worms and placing them in a coffee can, Rebecca worked with Xavier to teach him how to use the reel and how to cast.
We ran some errands, then came home to pack a picnic lunch and load up the 90. We headed into Morrison and stopped to pick up a jar of salmon eggs.
We headed for Lair 'o the Bear about twenty minutes west. There we found a table to eat our lunch and then string up the poles.
We found a small deck overhanging Bear Creek near our picnic table. That was Xavier's first place to drop in a line.
Rebecca helped Xavier cast his first line. After five or six tries, Xavier looked like he had been fishing all his life. "He's a natural" Rebecca said about his casting.
The bank across from the little deck had several small fish jumping (six to eight inches) at a swarm of flies over the water. Sadly, none of those fish wanted salmon eggs or worms.
We walked down stream to find another place to put in a line. Not an easy task as the trail and park were popular today. Many families were camping for the day and splashing around in the creek.
Still, we found several nice spots. Xavier learned his pole and his reel well. He continued to improve his casting. Xavier was a little disappointed he did not get a fish on his first day out. "You have all summer," we encouraged him.
Xavier is excited to go again. He wants to go tomorrow. I told him no. Rebecca is out of town, and I don't want him to catch his first fish without her present to experience it.
