After our last post, we are adding fuel to the fire, or more appropriately, adding fire to the fuel wood road. Yes, another three hour delay to our day yet again. This time due to a forest fire that closed our only convenient route to Cortez, CO (the SW CO destination just across the street from Mesa Verde National Park). We should have seen the signs from the get go (nope, it was not a mule named Charles's fault this time). here, let us tell you the tale for today...
It all started with the elevator alarm sounding at 7:30 a.m. in our hotel. No, not because of a large emergency to speak of and no one was evacuated. It was all due to Nora pushing the emergency call button by accident with her backpack while she and Kate tried to shove their way in an already cramped elevator due to Laura pushing the hotel luggage cart packed to the hilt with our travel bags. Then, of course, the cart tipped ever so slightly and left Laura trying to clean up exploded bags all over the elevator and answering the intercom call for the desk once in the elevator as to what the emergency was. Glass broke (Jennifer cleaned up the broken glass mess back up in the hotel room), Mommies were not happy and little girls with large round eyes stood so quietly against the back of the elevator, afraid to move or breathe after the incident. needless to say, all kids behaved so well during breakfast while moms cleaned up and packed the car. Still, not a great moment nor a good foot to start off your daily adventure.
Once on the road, our day was wonderful at Great Sand Dunes...nice weather and plentiful sun. However there is the perpetual problem of getting sandblasted while on your outdoor visit of the dunes. It feels like I've had a spa treatment on my skin, if it weren't for the slight sunburn. Nora had a meltdown at the Visitor's Center and later during the previously mentioned "sandstorm".
We made it!
Sand boarding and sand sledding on the dunes...
Now this is fun!
Just a boy and his sand board ... Does life get any better than this?
For those of you that know and love Jack, his question was, "Are there more blades of grass or grains of sand on earth?" Gotta love that boy!
Big hats help protect from the buffeting winds that blow constantly and create these dunes (except when they get blown to the next sand dune - Jack ended up being the hero of the day chasing after Emma's hat).
We did it! We sand boarded, sledded and got completely covered in sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Emma, Jack, Nora and Kate all got sworn in as Junior Rangers. We had lunch, books on tape and the route all mapped out...and then the forest fire changed our plans!!!
Did the kids even realize what happened? Not really, at that point, they were watching a movie and looked up only long enough to see the sky glowing red and ask if that was the sun or the fire. Such is their trust in their mamas that it never occurred to them to be nervous or afraid, the movie played on and their moms would take care of everything.
Even so, experiences like this are character building...not in the moment so much as after the moment. Later, when all is safe and well in hand, we can talk about how because we had a plan and were well-prepared, and then we were flexible and open to changes we were able to change those plans, because all of this, things turned out just fine. We had the kids fed and swimming in a hotel in New Mexico by 9:30 and all is right in the world. This is a good life lesson that will serve them well in the future...
Either that or they will tell a tall tale of how their mothers drove them into a forest fire only to then turn around and head for the border after they spoke to a police officer at the scene. Yup, like an undocumented adventure of Thelma and Louise, we will go down as the moms who had the big brass ones to attempt a forestry service fuel wood road and take on a forest fire. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
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