Starting again: Our month camping around the Southwest

The Colorado Kathol adventures continue…

Hello Family and Friends,

Our month-long adventure around the Southwest has begun! We are writing this post from the southern corner of Colorado in the Mesa Verde National Park where we are taking a slow morning to visit with campground neighbors, and take advantage of the showers and laundry facilities at this park. As this is our first post, I’ll start from the beginning!

Although we have been planning this trip for months, we ended up getting a later start than expected. We were scheduled to head out on Monday, April 15 with our camper, kids and gear, but due to an unforeseen structural problem with our little camper trailer, we ended up using an extra day to fix it up and get on the road. Not bad for a delay, really, and we’re glad our camper is safe and functional. So on Tuesday the 16^th, we left our dog Bodie to watch over the house (with a friend), and we headed south.

Our first stop was the Great Sand Dunes National Park where we spent 3 cold nights. So far, Emmett, Josie and I have been sharing the camper and Spencer has had the luxury of sleeping by himself in the tent. Spencer says he’ll absolutely try to sleep in the camper with the kids, but the kids haven’t allowed that yet – once we’re all more comfortable with the camping life, we’ll deal with that battle so that I can sleep more soundly. Both kids woke up disoriented the first 2 nights, but Emmett seems to have adjusted at this point. Josie woke up crying inconsolably for about 45 minutes to an hour the first two nights so for night number three, I broke down and gave her the forbidden pacifier and told her she’ll only get to use it for the trip while she’s sleeping in the camper (we took it away over a month ago and it has been a hard transition for Josie, and therefore all of us, but seriously – everyone in the campground is sleeping better now). She has not woken up screaming since (4 nights in, so 2 nights of no screaming!!), though she wakes me up plenty so that she can “cuddle” (which means she lays on my head while I’m sound asleep).

Emmett has taken to getting cozy in his sleeping bag each night but usually once or twice finds himself out of it and needs to get back in (with help); Josie wriggles free of any sort of blanket and refuses to wear the multiple sleep sacks I brought (basically blankets that zip onto the kid), so I’m sure part of the waking up at night is because she’s uncomfortable. Luckily, Mesa Verde is warmer than Sand Dunes so we’re hoping things get better from here.

Our camper is now equipped with solar panels so that we can run fans, the cooler, lights, and charge phones and other equipment – it has been so cool! Spencer never ceases to impress me with his do-it-himself abilities. We brought a space heater, but realized that it uses too much energy for our little solar panels and car battery to handle – luckily, the sleeping bags, fleece, down and wool blankets have been keeping us cozy. My homemade mesh shelf and kitchen organizer have also been put to good use – we’re glad for all the improvements on our little camper trailer.

Due to construction at the dunes, we arrived on Tuesday and stayed in the half of the campground that was open but then were told on Wednesday morning that we had to switch to the other campground. Due to the change, we were fortunate to get a spectacular campsite. We were right next to the dunes and got to watch them glow a velvety softness while the sun was setting each day.

On Wednesday, we hiked from the campground to the little creek where the kids played in the sand and water for a while, but the clouds were blocking the sun and the snow-melt creek was frigid, so we didn’t last too long. The kids, of course, refused to nap and therefore had a crabby afternoon. We decided to spend the rest of the cold and crabby afternoon at the visitor center where Emmett did the work to earn a Junior Ranger badge. Josie, as expected, saw the badge and wanted one too. So she then filled out a workbook (with help) and pledged to take care of the earth and learn more about the national parks so that she could earn one too. The ranger who swore her in was so happy that she finally agreed to answer “yes” to her pledge and that she got to swear in her youngest junior ranger yet. Dinner tasted excellent that night and the early bedtime felt good for everyone.

With such a gorgeous site and not wanting to make the kids sit in the car for another long day too soon, we decided to stay another full day at the dunes. We spent more time playing in the sand and the kids were a little better rested. We are so glad we stayed – the sun shined all day and we packed a lunch, so we got to spend several hours playing in the water and sand. Spencer and Emmett hiked up one of the bigger dunes and Josie played happily in the sand and water. The water was so shallow that the sun warmed it to bath temperature. Then, Josie even napped that day! We’re looking forward to more visits to the Sand Dunes in the future.

We packed up camp by about 10am and Emmett said good bye to his new campground friends. We stopped for lunch in between the dunes and Pagosa Springs and stopped once more in Durango to stock up on some fresh groceries. We arrived to Mesa Verde around dinner time and made some pita pizzas over our little camp stove. The kids played in the woods and in the snow a little while we finished setting up camp, then we tried to go to bed early (which didn’t happen…). We are all feeling a little tired today, but were glad to just hang out this morning and are even more glad to have showered. Josie’s pink clothes (she refuses to put on any of the clothes I brought for her that are not pink) – and the rest of ours – are almost done in the washing machine. Spencer brought the kids to the visitor center so that they can earn more junior ranger badges and I am typing this. We will likely take a drive to see some ruins this afternoon before making another early dinner and bedtime.

We’ll be here two more nights and hope to see some more of the Ancient Pueblo ruins tomorrow. Given Josie’s lack of sleep, we’re thinking we won’t be doing the guided tours to the ruins that include climbing ladders, so we will look into stopping at Hovenweep where we can see some ruins up close without the climb. On Monday or Tuesday, we will head toward the Grand Canyon and hope to find a first-come first-served site there. Wish us luck!