White Sands

We continued our trip across New Mexico today with a stop at White Sands National Monument.  The kids were up early this morning so we enjoyed our hotel breakfast and got out of town in good time.  Our plan was to travel the 3 hours to White Sands by lunchtime. 

Most of the roads we traveled today were 2 lane roads with very little traffic.  We were impressed how well maintained they were.  The land went from flat to some rolling hills and then we passed a sign that said "Welcome to Lincoln National Forest".  I hadn't paid much attention to this section of the trip when planning so this was a nice surprise.  We went from flat desert to mountain forest.  It was beautiful driving the winding roads through the mountains.

We saw a sign that said to expect congestion ahead.  Since we'd hardly seen anyone the entire day, this was pretty funny to us.  We rounded the corner and saw the town of Mayhill.  From what we saw, the town consists of 2 stores, a café, a post office, and a small park.  And no congestion.  It was so picturesque that we decided to stop and have a snack in the park.

I needed to use the restroom so we all went across the street to the little store.  They had a sign in the window advertising fresh apple cider so we thought we would try some.  As we walked up to the store and then inside, we saw that the apple cider sign was not the only sign prominently displayed.  This store owner has some very clear and very strong opinions about things and is not afraid to make them known.  We went inside and the signs continued in the bathroom.  If we didn't buy something in the store, we would be charged $1 for using the restroom.  It turns out that the store owner was extremely nice (probably because we were not Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Pelosi). 

The apple cider is seasonal so we got some cherry juice instead.  Caleb picked some gum.  He loves gum.  He thinks it is very cool to have gum.  We walked back to the picnic tables to drink our cherry juice and Caleb said, "Mom, do I look cool walking down the street carrying my gum?"  So cool, Caleb.

I'm not sure I've had cherry juice before, but it sure tastes like cherries.  Caleb loves cherries so he gulped his down.

Cheers!

We got back on the road and passed through a tunnel in the side of a mountain.  So cool!

We drove through Cloudcroft and saw the ski slopes.  I'm guessing this whole area is pretty busy in the fall and winter, but it was quiet and peaceful today. 

As we were going down out of the mountains, we saw signs for a Runaway Truck Ramp.  This was a new one for us, but Siri helped us out.  It is a place for trucks to safely stop if their brakes are not working well on the steep hills.  It is a long, straight, slightly uphill path filled with gravel that will stop the runaway truck.

Just before the end of the National Forest, we stopped at a lookout for some pictures.  This part of the drive was unexpectedly beautiful and ended up being one of the highlights of the day.

Going down from the mountains, we could see the White Sands in the distance.  The white line just below the horizon is the White Sands National Monument.

We made our way to White Sands and covered ourselves with sunscreen, including the inside of our noses because the sun reflects up off the sand.  We don't want a sunburn there! 

The road into the dunes is paved for a short distance and then it is just packed sand.  The kids worked on their Junior Ranger activities as we drove out to the picnic area.

Our lunch was in the dunes and was windy once again.  We should have brought heavier plates.  No lunch was lost and we were ready for some sledding!

We drove a little further to sled and found a dune that already had a sledding path packed down.  It was steep!  Going down was fun.  Coming back was HARD.  The kids were acting as if they were dying.  We eventually figured out that it is easier to walk over to a shorter part of the dune and then walk up across the top.  But it was still hard.  And it was hot.  And so bright!!!  We had to wear our sunglasses or it was blinding. 

This was taken from the top of the dune that we sledded down.  You can see the top of our car in the center of the picture. 

After a couple of times, Morgan was exhausted!

All the basics: sled, wax, and water.

Beth and Caleb's footprints

We saw a bleached earless lizard running across the sand.  It was white and very cool.  I wish I'd been quick enough to get a picture.  There were also big ants crawling around.  Those were not cool.

We didn't go far from our car, but if you explore very much it is very easy to get lost.  It all looks the same once you get away from the road.  They have red trail markers in the sand to use if you want to hike the dunes.  You should always be sure to have sights on the marker ahead and behind you.

 

We enjoyed the dunes but it is not a place to hang out all day.  All in all, we lasted almost an hour and then we were tired and hot and ready to go to the hotel to swim.  But first we had to stop back at the visitor center so the kids could get their Junior Ranger badges.  They turned in their books and said the pledge.  Once again, they were given a choice between a plastic badge or an embroidered patch.  We had learned our lesson yesterday so we kept our mouths shut and let the kids make their own choice.  Caleb grabbed a plastic badge and guess what Morgan picked?  The patch.  Go figure.

We drove another hour on to Las Cruces, NM to stay the night.  Our hotel is brand new and was advertised to have a water slide.  Woohoo!  It was an awesome water slide too.  If it had been open, we would have really enjoyed it.  :-(  The pool and hot tub were fun, though, and the hotel was very nice.

For dinner, Rodney found an authentic Mexican restaurant named Andale!  Being so close to Mexico, we thought Mexican was the way to go tonight.  It was really good and pretty cheap.  They make everything there and the homemade cinnamon pecan ice cream was amazing.  Tomorrow we head to Arizona and stay with Aunt Sue!