July 8, 2025
Welcome back! Our Day 11 Sand Dunes experience started promptly at 3AM with music and glow sticks that woke the desert up. Emma, Rodes and Logan led the way with their red and blue lights while the rest followed into the sand. After pushing themselves more than they were used to, the group was triumphant and reached the top as the sun was rising with accomplished smiles on their faces. Jack mastered sand dune surfing almost immediately while Gracie and Marian drew pictures in the sand. Our last sand activity was a 1v4 of Will against Franklin, Peter, William and Rodes, with the kids coming up on top. Everyone ran down the dunes to a long awaited eggs, bacon and pancakes for breakfast. After eating, we drove to Salida and enjoyed live music, ice cream and the river.
After a much needed rest, the group woke up excited to embark on their next adventure: zip lining and rock climbing! Tytus, Marian and Gracie excelled and accomplished the double black course, while Hazel was an encouraging member as she led William through the course. After a quick lunch break, the group was back on the ropes zip lining and had fun with Gray making new handshakes on the side. After zip lining, we hung out by the river and colored and swam.
Our last full day consisted of a pizza party in the morning before our departure out of the woods with brownies and soda! Once we arrived to Cherry Creek in Denver, we quickly showered and organized before going to the thrift shop to change our wardrobes and personas for the night. About $20 later, each one of us was looking fabulous and ready for our night out on the town! We went to the rock and ordered an abundance of food before going back to our campsite, where we shared memories from our favorite parts of the trip. Laughing collectively about our experiences was the perfect way to end the trip.
The kids flew out today and we couldn’t be happier with how these last two weeks have been with them. The bonds and memories formed is what is so special about moondance, and we loved fostering an environment of acceptance and community for everyone on the trip. COT 2A out!
June 29, 2025
Hello from the ROWDY ROCKIN STATE OF COLORADO!!! Session two has finally arrived and we could not be more excited! After a quick departure from DEN, we ascended back into the woods and back to one of our favorite campsites, Helca Junction. Rodes, Jack, Peter and Will went down to the river to fly fish while the others tried to climb as high as they could to see the sunset. We ate pizza and shared our excitement and goals for the next two weeks, before choosing our first LODs, Jack and Hazel! Jack impressed the group with his helpfulness and confidence and Hazel with her selflessness and humor which united our group to start!
Day two started with a breakfast burrito buffet and fruit to fuel them for our big day of whitewater rafting ahead. Our guides Kai and Connor brought the energy for our raft down the Arkansas! Will and Maya headed one boat crew with Connor, while Tytus and Kai led our second boat crew for our first section. The water was white and white and challenged the group mentally and physically. During our early section, Gracie began calling paddling commands, prompting Kai to bring her to the back of the raft to guide our final half of the day herself! She learned steering from the back and commands like a pro. Then Kai taught the group his patented beaver tail slap on the water to which Marian replicated with scary accuracy. Back on boat crew one, Emma and Gray led the group into some rocky water, navigating with precision. Right behind them was Logan and Jack matching paddles perfectly. By the time we ended at our campsite dinner was fast approaching and our guides cheffed up some stir fry which filled our tummies leading into day three.
Our final day of rafting began early with some hot cocoa! Then we had a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon before jumping back in the cold water. Boat crew two (Kai, Tytus, Franklin, Peter, Gracie, Nina, Marian, and Hazel) led the way early but encountered a hurtle when we came across two other boat crews stuck on a rock in a difficult rapid. Both our crews pulled off the river before Kai led boat crew two into a rescue mission! We paddled from one side to the other through the rapids to the stuck boats. Hazel and Nina led at the front of the boat and provided the right timing and power for the maneuvers. Once we reached the group, Kai jumped out of the raft and facilitated the rescue for the other crew and ensured everyone was back on the raft, movin and groovin. Soon after the rescue, our group reaching our lunch spot, Hecla Junction! We pounded down some sandwiches before our final push down the river. During some calm sections, many got to swim while holding on the boat and some (Franklin) couldn’t get enough and were in and out of the water like a dolphin for most of the afternoon. When we got off the river we earned some celebratory hamburgers (and some bison) before a thoughtful Moonup, culminating in our new LODs for day four, Peter and Logan.
Day four also begun early, with a quick oatmeal breakfast before fly fishing on Franz Lake near Salida. Peter and Franklin led the way, working hard to reel in a fish, but it would be Will who grabbed the first bite. After some fishing, we cheffed up some nice sandwiches while Emma and Gray taught the group a new game and learned another for themselves. We then took off to our next campsite at Elk Ridge! While on the way, William impressed the group with his singing and the energy was at a high, heading into our next few days in the San Juan’s backpacking!
Shoutouts!
Logan- Hi mom, hi dad! Miss you guys! Loving Moondance, tell Cooper and Carly I said hi ❤️
Hazel- Hey mom & dad! Moondance has been so far one of the best experiments ever! We are about to go backpacking in the San Juan’s today! Love you guys!
Gracie- hi mom and dad and Ainsley and Devon! Moondance has been so fun and everyone is so nice! We are about to go backpacking today, love you guys!
Emma- Hey mom and dad. I miss y’all. Camp is so fun, tell Owen and Lily I said hi! Hope they had fun at camp. Tell Maddie I miss her, love y’all!
Gray- Hi mom, hi dad! Camp has been so fun! Also tell Nash and Rhodes I say hi! We are about to go backpacking for four days! I’m so excited!!! Love y’all!
Nina- hi family! I am having so much fun and everyone is so nice. Tell everyone I say hi! I love you guys so much! We are going backpacking today!
Marian- hi mom and dad!!! I miss you so much. I’m excited to see y’all in a few weeks. Love you so much!
Jack- hey mom and dad I miss y’all. Tell Ave and Millis I said hi and gunner. We are about to go backpacking. Love y’all!
Peter- hi guys. I miss you a lot! But I’m having a great time. I Whitewater rafted for the first time and it was fun, I’m about to go backpacking. Tell Maple I love her!
William- hi mom and dad I miss you a lot! I love you so much. We went Whitewater rafting and fly fishing, we are about to go backpacking. Tell Emeline I love her!
Franklin- hi mom and dad I miss you guys so much, I love you guys. Tell Viv and Victoria and Alice hi!
Rodes- Hi mom and dad take care of Mymy and Ozzy, I miss you guys so much. I’ve been having fun fly fishing and whitewater rafting. I also caught a rainbow trout! Love y’all so much.