Outdoors

The Experience

I visited the Great Sand Dunes in April of 2021 with my husband and my mom. The visit was actually part of a larger trip to Colorado for my mom's birthday, which is one of my fondest memories! We spent a lot of time at the gift shop as it was amazing! I have a poster hanging up in my bathroom from the park and a baseball cap from the park that I wear all the time (and admittedly stole from my mom, sorry mom!). The rangers there were very kind and informative.

The sand dunes themselves were gorgeous! I don't think I could have imagined how tall they were and the pictures don't do it justice at all. The sand was also so hard to walk on! The more we walked the more it seemed like we sunk into the shifting sands. My poor mom wasn't able to make it far unfortunately, and that combined with the fast, cold wind made it to where we didn't get to stay as long as we wanted. Despite this we still had fun! We wrote things in the sand with our feet (like boobs and a dick courtesy of my lovely husband lol) and got lots of sand everywhere when we rolled down the dunes.

If I was to go back, I'd definitely try our duneboarding! Apparently people take snowboards and glide down the dunes, which sounds amazing! The hardest part would for sure be getting up those giant, shifting dunes.

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Favorite Moment

Stumbling upon a heart made out of various dune rocks in the sands.

Notes for Next Time

Bring your boots with high lips so the sand doesn't get in them when you're walking. Make sure I and everyone I bring have the stamina to climb the dunes. Bring enough money to spend in the gift shop.

The Experience

Pedernales State Park was not that far from where I used to live and as a result I went there fairly often. It's a beautiful park nestles in the hills of the Texas Hill Country to the west of Austin. It is notable for its titular falls, a section of the Blanco River where it flows of 300 million year old limestone rocks. With these millions of years of erosion, the rocks have deep channels carving throughout them. As long as there is no flash flood or potential for one, you can freely walk and hop across the limestone, seeing the river coursing through the mini canyons.

Beyond the limestone section, the park has much to offer. There are numerous trails throughout the park that are great to hike, including some near the river. Further down from the limestone section of the river are places to swim and fish, though the river doesn't get too deep. Despite this, the waters are a nice and cool respite from the Texas heat. Me and my husband enjoyed trying to fish on the banks (especially because you don't need a license to fish in Texas State Parks!) though we never had much luck at all.

While the chance of me returning is very low now that I live all the way across the country, I'll always have fond memories of hiking, swimming, and fishing in this beautiful park :)

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The Experience

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Favorite Moment

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