Team Coleman (extended) Family Camping trip 2008

Each year the Coleman family descends on an area for a week of camping. In the past we've done Branson, MO. Black hills, Wisconsin Dells, Nebraska (sounds funny to go camping there), Yellowstone and a few others. In 1997 we went to the great sand dunes national park and it was a lot of fun. So much in fact that we decided to do it again this year. My sister Joanna and her family pulled a pop up from Minnesota and joined us and then all the other Colorado Colemans came along. There were three sisters that didn't make it and they were sorely missed. Laura was busy with her college group who are currently doing a summer outreach on the University of Colorado, Jenny and Josh Duncan who are expecting soon, they didn't make it out from Connecticut where they live. Michelle and Robb didn't make it because she's due any day now with their fourth kid.
The trip officially kicked off for us when the Krussow family (Joanna's) came down and stayed at our house last Wednesday night. We had a quick BBQ at Michelle and Robb's house.
The next morning the Krussow's left for Mueller state park for a couple nights of camping there by themselves.
Team Coleman (us) packed up and headed down Saturday morning. My brother Jon came and followed us down there and my nephew August (Michelle and Robb's oldest) tagged along as well.
It was about a three hour drive to Hecla Junction state park where we were to camp for one night right on the Arkansas river. (here is a you tube video of basically where we were) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkiWTrEVOHs
We got to the campground right around 11:30am and it was super hottttt.


Anna isn't deterred by the heat.
We set up camp in the blazing sun and we were not very impressed with our site, we realized that this campground was primarily used by rafters and people who were using the Arkansas river for recreation. There were tons of rafting tour buses picking people up just outside the campground and it made me wish we were going to raft that day! There was zero shade on our site so from 11:30 until about 2:30 when the Krussow family showed up we sat and baked in the sun. We tried going down to the river but there really wasn't a good place to get in where we tried the first time. Finally when Pete and Jo showed up we help them set up and they happened to have one of those shade tents which we promptly set up and enjoyed the shade. Jenny toughed it out even though the heat got to her and she had to go and sit in the car with the A/C on for a bit. She was a trooper.
That afternoon we just hung out playing ladder ball and enjoying the company. I offered the kids $5 for the first one who came back with a lizard since I'd seen them running around. My niece Leah was the winner!



Jenny and I made a quick run into Salida to get some more ice and when we came back we all went down to the river and stuck our toes in to cool off. That was super refreshing and we were glad we did that.

That evening we saw a beautiful sunset and enjoyed roasting smores around the campfire and talking. Got a good nights sleep with the sound of the river below us hushing other noises.














Woke up and packed up camp fairly early and after breakfast which was delicious. We have these pie irons and were shown by some friends this delicious breakfast treat. You cut a piece of bacon in half and put that in one piece of bread on top of that, crack an egg and put a slice of cheese and cover it with more bread and bacon and roast over the morning campfire. It's a real winner!
We took a short hike along the river with the kids and stopped at an area where there was a lot of drift wood and plenty of rocks and everyone took turns throwing them into the river. This was especially fun for my nephew Ryan who never stopped throwing something the entire camping trip. Here are some pictures from that hike.









After our short hike we took the 1.5 hour drive down to the Great sand dunes national park. http://www.nps.gov/grsa/
We arrived and were pleasantly surprised that we found a. campsites all together (unlike the last one) and b. plenty of shade!
After setting up camp we headed down to the river at the base of the dunes to let the kids splash and play.











After our time playing in the water we went back to camp and laid low for a bit and then Jenny had to make the drive home. :(
She had to work the next day and so she hit the road much to our chagrin. That afternoon was more ladderball and hanging out. My brother Jeremy and his family joined us, his son Asher went promptly to playing in the dirt which was the theme of the week for that guy! Super cute... (Asher not Jer)


That evening after dark we walked to to the amphitheatre and sat through a show about living in bear country. The campground we were in was ultra serious about bear safety complete with the bear proof boxes to store food and garbage. We didn't see any but it was exciting knowing they were around. During the presentation they asked for a volunteer to come on stage and my family volunteered me and I got to go up on stage and be the "bear" They put this bear skin over me and had me down on all fours. She asked if I had just come out of hibernation and I told her with my new gut I'm just getting ready to go in! :)

After that was campfire and bed time. This night I shared a tent with my brother Jon. It was far less comfortable than sharing with Jenny and I think we exceeded the weight limit for that air mattress because around 4am I woke up on the ground. My brother stayed in the air though. What does that say? :(

Monday morning after another bacon breakfast sandwich we were off to the Colorado Gator Farm. http://www.gatorfarm.com/
Anna had woken up about 5:30 that morning throwing up and wasn't feeling good still but she soldiered on and we headed out for the 30 minute drive to see the gators. We stopped twice for her to throw up but the poor things stomach was so empty that all she had left was dry heaves. We learned A Lot about nature that day and it started with a reptile house filled with lizards and turtles and snakes and spiders etc... Some of the kids were even brave enough to hold onto these creatures.







Anna was doing pretty badly and wanted to leave but being the super tough girl that she is she stuck it out. After being there for 30-40 minutes she started feeling better. We even saw one turtle giving another a "piggy back ride"! Which was fantastic!

After seeing some of the bigger crocs we were got to see a young guy "gator wrestle" which was cool. After getting the beasts mouth taped shut he asked for volunteers to hoist him over the fence and my brothers were right spot on for the challenge. (glad it wasn't me)





Then all the kids got to sit on the gator and hold him by themselves for a minute. Best part about that was Anna was first to volunteer.
Guy: Now if any of you kids want to give this a shot raise your hand.
Anna: Fine, I'll do it!
I was proud of her that she bounced back so quickly from feeling so badly the rest of the day.



After the gator farm we stopped by the visitor center for the sand dunes for a while watched a movie on how they were formed and then headed back to camp.
That evening Pete, Jonny, Sara, August, Tyler, Leah and I decided to climb one of the tallest dunes. It's about 700ft but feels like climbing 1,200 due to the fact that it's sand. I'm happy to say that Pete, Jonny, Sara, August, Tyler and Leah all made it to the top. I wussed out about 1/4 mile from the top due to being in extremely poor shape and a bum knee. I was proud of all of the kids for making it up there though, they got to see the sun set over the dunes which was beautiful from my understanding.
That night my parents and two youngest sisters rolled into camp as well as my sister Rebekah and her son Oscar. After the dunes we sat out pretty late by the fire talking and joking etc which was great.

Tuesday
The next morning we had a quick breakfast and headed up to Zapata Falls
http://www.nps.gov/archive/grsa/zapata_falls.htm
It was a nice easy hike up .5 miles and then to the river where you actually hiked the last 300 yards in the river through a canyon to see the falls. It was AWESOME and I was really glad we did that.



Back to camp where I finished packing up grabbed Anna and August (Sara stayed) and we hit the road for home.
It was a good trip and I'm looking forward to next year where we are planning to hit up the black hills again.