Colorado "beach"

We took a day trip down to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. A bit of a long drive (~3 hrs from COS), but it was nice. We got a late start, so we didn't get to stay as long as planned. Left home just before 10am & arrived around 1pm. The park seemed pretty packed, probably b/c the previous holiday weekend was rather rainy. After paying the $3 pp entrance fee (16 yrs & older), we drove down to the parking lot for Medano Creek (a seasonal creek that runs past the dunes). It was very full. We had to circle around before finding a space to squeeze in near the picnic tables. An intern approached us for a children's nature walk, so we joined up. Quickly realized that Olivia was not paying attention, so we went for a walk along the creek. It was great. We tried to start hiking up the dunes but the sand was hot & Olivia did NOT want to put her shoes back on her feet. great...More walking along the creek before we decided to go back & have a picnic. After eating, we grabbed our beach chairs, changed in to some swim clothes & went back to the creek. The wind began to pick up & the temp. started dropping, but it was a lot of fun. Before leaving the park, we drove up around the Pinon Flats camping area to check it out & see if we'd find some co-workers camping up there. Looks like we need to come back & camp there. They have some nice flat areas for the tent, a large metal cabinet to lock up your food (bears in the area) & a pit to light camp fires.