Before we moved to Colorado, I had never been to the state before. My west coast traveling was very limited, and I’ve been wanting to do something about that.
Last summer we got the National Parks pass and splurged for the one that gets you into any park. Rocky Mountain National Park is our “local park” but I figured if we went to one other in the year it was worth it.
I am obsessed with the Junior Ranger program, thankfully the girls love it too. We drove down to Florissant National Monument last fall and did the program there. Then in October when Josh and I went to Maui we took a trip to Haleakala National Park.
Julia from Quilt To It is doing an amazing National Parks quilt project, and I talked to her about how I want to join in and make blocks for all the parks we’ve been to. But I was looking at my short list and realized I needed to plan some more trips if I wanted to get an actual quilt out of it!
There aren’t really any other national parks that are close enough to do as a day trip, but we decided to take a night over spring break for a little road trip. We drove down to Great Sand Dunes National Park and it was absolutely amazing. Spring was definitely the perfect time to go, it wasn’t too hot and wasn’t too busy either. We rented sleds and went down the dunes, the girls had a blast!
We had booked a hotel in Santa Fe which was another 3 hours south.
The next morning we went to The Pantry restaurant for breakfast which was delicious. We kept hearing over and over that we had to go to Meow Wolf, so that was our next stop. It absolutely did not disappoint, it’s incredible!
I don’t even know how to describe it, it’s just amazing and magical and so much fun to explore.
After that we took a quick stop at Santa Fe Quilts because fabric is my favorite souvenir!
Our last stop was Los Alamos to visit the Manhattan Project Visitor Center. It was really interesting, but largely lost on the girls.
It was a really great trip and I’m excited for more little trips like that in the future. Plus, road trips give me tons of stitching time!
Awesome! Sounds like a great time was had.
I’m so glad you had fun in my beloved New Mexico!! I’m in Albuquerque:) My daughter is obsessed with Meow Wolf!
We almost stayed in Albuquerque but decided on Santa Fe because it was closer. We’ll definitely be back!
I love the National Parks. Mesa Verde in SW Colorado is a good one and then into Utah there are several great ones. The closest being Arches outside Moab. But go in the spring before it get too hot.