We headed out to the desert on Christmas Eve, hoping for calm skies and no need to use our newly acquired air compressor (for reinflating car tires after getting stuck in the sand). The getting stuck story is in the long promised, still to come, post about our first camping trip. Of course after all this time it will be underwhelming, but I promise that it will appear soon(ish).
our secluded campsite — surrounded by sand 
The weather was perfect, the new tents popped up easily, and the kids ran around sliding down the dunes and racing back up.
The sand sled was slow, the sandboard was fast, but heavy, and the boogie board was the best of both. Each time we camp we learn a better way to do something.
Found a desert lizard! 
Racing along the dune ridge 
wrestling for King of the Mountain 
Our campout was a success: a dinner of South African Boerewors (sausage) with flatbread and our version of smores using dark chocolate covered digestives (cookies) as a sub for the graham crackers and chocolate (better than the original!)
Breakfast was sausage, eggs, coffee and hot chocolate. Eggs get cracked at home into a protein shake container and stored overnight on ice — no need to worry about breaking eggs in transit.
Our camping gear worked great — except our middle age bones would appreciate sleeping mats. Yes, we’re on sand, but the sand is surprisingly hard and gets chilly.
Thankfully this trip held no adventures except for the adventure of being in the middle of nowhere together. A few more runs up and down the dunes and then back to the city. Merry Christmas to us!
What an awesome way to spend Christmas! I love the idea of waves of sand and boogie boarding – a weird combination of the beach and skiing.
Great photos, so glad you are all together – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!
Love, Jerian
p.s. thanks for posting a link on FB, I haven’t been getting updates via email, again.
Thanks Jerian! Your family would have loved that kind of adventure. Looks like you had plenty of fun though in NYC. 🙂