Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Our first trip after we started thinking about vanlifing was to Utah. I had been dreaming of the amazing hiking opportunities available there and we finally went for my 30th birthday. Of course we ended up seeing campervans every five minutes it seemed. We started playing a game we called, “Vanlifer or Rental?” It was easy most of the time because the rentals were generally well labeled but fun nonetheless.

One of the only times my type A personality rears its head is in trip planning. I had a pretty thorough itinerary planned out with a binder and everything. Our first stop was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. We made it just in time for the sun to set as we sled down the dunes.

We only had enough time for each of us to slide down the giant dune once before we needed to return the sled. Getting up the hill was crazy exhausting, but the slide down was plenty rewarding. The soft sand was novel and beautiful. The weather was gorgeous with wind to keep us cool. It was a great choice for our first activity if I do say so myself.

Hiking back out of the park was not quite as fun without the prospect of sledding to spur us on. We took our time and played in the sand as we moseyed back up to the parking lot. We actually saw a family getting into a very nice campervan as we were cleaning off all the sand. I thought it was a rental because it looked so new and the family didn’t seem that comfortable. Thomas posited that maybe the van was just new to them. There was no label from a rental company, so we will never know!

Our next stop was Zion National Park, the place I was most excited about.