Posts Tagged With: sand dunes

Texas State Parks Part 2

This post covers the next two state parks we visited in Texas. If you missed part 1 you can view it here: Texas State Parks Part 1.

Monahans Sandhills State Park (my personal favorite of the 4)

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This park was all about sledding on sand dunes in the middle of west Texas, and it was so much fun! Our campsite was right at the dunes and we were able to head out and go sledding from our site.

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Notice Fat Cat on the sled with Jake. 🙂

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The dunes were so pretty, they looked like snow.

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Resting… climbing up those hills is exhausting!

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The boys made their own water slide at our site.

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I loved the look of the ripples in the sand!

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The sunsets were amazing!

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Along with the almost full moon on the other side…

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Not to be outdone, the sunrise was pretty spectacular too!

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In the morning the moon was on the other side.

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Fat Cat came out to wander around with us while we were out in the early morning watching the sunrise.

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I hated to leave Monahans (I loved that park!), but it was time to move on.

Balmorhea State Park

Next we went to Balmorhea State Park. You can swim in the San Solomon Springs pool at this park. The spring-fed pool is a constant 72-76 degrees year-round, but if the outdoor temperature had not been so warm I doubt we would have been brave enough to go for a swim. Thankfully the weather was really hot while we were there so the pool was very refreshing.

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Jake jumping off the high dive.

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I loved swimming under water and looking at all the fish. Some parts of this pool go as far as 25 feet deep!

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This was my FAVORITE underwater picture I got! Jake and I tried so many times to get a good picture of him under water, and we finally got this one. I love it!

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There was a little wetlands area over near our campsite where we could watch turtles, fish and ducks, and a beautiful sunset.

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We loved visiting some of the Texas State Parks and hope to come back and visit some more another time. If you plan to camp for more than a night or two at any of these parks it is recommended that you purchase a Texas State Parks annual pass for $70. Otherwise you have to pay a daily entrance fee for each person in your party. That would add up quickly after just a few days.

 

Categories: Texas | Tags: , , , , , , | 8 Comments

White Sands National Monument

While visiting Las Cruces, NM we went to visit White Sands National Monument for a day.  It was an amazing thing to see!  I felt like we were back in Florida at the beach with all the sand dunes, but there was no ocean.  Just sand, and lots of it.  The sand is so white that it looks like snow and you can even go sledding on it.  So that’s what we did.  We spent the day sledding in shorts, how strange is that?  And what made it even better was spending the day here with another Fulltime Family.

This is our truck driving through the snow sand.  I even saw tractors that plow these roads.

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Sledding…

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The FtF mascot Rambler got to go for a few sled rides…

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Beautiful white sand for miles and miles…

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The beautiful Reyes family, we love them!

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Chris teaching the roadschool lesson for the day…

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Getting the Junior Ranger badges…

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New vests to display all the Junior Ranger badges they are earning…

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Back at the campsite in Las Cruces wearing their new badges…

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We have been blessed to be able to spend a week with the Reyes family.  We had so much fun with them at Carlsbad Caverns that they joined us for a couple of nights at the RV park in Las Cruces.  And since that wasn’t enough we joined them at City of Rocks State Park for a couple of nights.  We went our separate ways this morning, but we hope to meet up with them again someday soon.  But before leaving Michele gave me a wonderful gift, the picture below that she took of our RV under a sky full of stars…

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Categories: National Parks, New Mexico | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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