Garden / Dunes Vacation

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1Exciting family vacation.

1 ranger injured on a nature walk.
Peter experiences the clinging power of a gum weed blossom.

1 birthday celebrated: Josh turned 12!

Who knew you could bake a cake in a dutch oven? It turned out great!
    
1 stream played in
Earlier in the season, the stream would be more like a river, but it was fun anyway!

1 distant planet sighted: Saturn

2Campsites stayed at. 





3 Miles John traveled while looking for me... when I took a ten minute walk before dinner.

4 days spent in the wilderness

4 deer seen wandering through the campground

4 hikes: Siamese Twins, Bouldering rocks, High Dune, Zapata Waterfall



5 sand dunes John rolled down
   
5 boulders climbed

6 types of animals seen at close range: deer, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, lizards, birds

6 types of insects sighted: dragonflies, ants, mosquitoes, flies, beetles, spiders

6 family members

9 wildflowers identified: sunflowers, goldenrod, mullein, coneflower, gumweed, fleabane, thistles, butterfly weed, blue grandma

12 constellations identified: big dipper, little dipper, summer triangle, cygnus, scorpius, tea pot, cassiopeia, virgo, bootes, Hercules, draco, coronal borealis.

200 foot drop watched in awe at the Cave of the Winds TERROR-dactyl ride. (We didn't actually go on this ride; the kids did have a lot of fun crawling through a simulated bat cave.)

1,000,000,000,000 grains of sand

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