Within two hours of landing at Midland International Airport we were sliding down dunes in Monahans Sandhills State Park, surrounded by a surreal Saharan landscape.
We want to scream like loons and slide down dunes and play frisbee badly.
And what toys they are: you can create inflatable decoys to distract, slide down dunes in a cardboard box, whizz around on a personal bipedal mech, make your horse take a dump on the road to cause an enemy vehicle to spin out, call in artillery strikes, and loads more.
The park rents plastic discs ($1 an hour) and sand boards ($2) for sliding down the dunes.
For £20 you get your own skipper and a day to wander aimlessly, cartwheeling along endless deserted beaches, sliding down sand dunes and snorkelling with tropical fish.
For the dusty Silk Road on GE's 26-day "Frontiers of Inner Asia" tour, the light and comfortable Nike Air Wild Goat's sticky rubber soles will keep you from sliding down sand dunes {$80 www.nike.com}.
Journey is worth your time, if only for sliding down sand dunes, but don't go into it expecting total unconventionality.
A combination of "dune surfing," sliding and just plain stumbling had us back to the base in less than five minutes, our feet giving off comical, seal-like squeaks as they rubbed against the sand.
Older kids and teens will love climbing the highest dune and sliding down (either roll down old-school or bring a snowboard or sled with you!).
A combination of "dune surfing," sliding and just plain stumbling had us back to the base in seven minutes, our feet giving off comical, seal-like squeaks as they rubbed against the sand.
