...we got up at the 'regular' time...5:45 AM...haha...but we got in the car and headed south...about 3 and a half hours south to the White Sands National Park...
...we had a great time talking non-stop on the journey...and just enjoying the varied scenery along the way...
...I know there are lots of photos in this post...
...but the desert is just so intereting to me...
...so foreign...and it's amazing to think of the first settlers here...how difficult it must have been to survive here...
...we could see this range of mountains from afar...
...and I do mean 'afar'...
...but they kept getting closer and closer...
...and more in focus...
...and less in shadow...
...and then we were past them...looking back at the other side...
...the United States Army military testing area and firing range...
...and we had to go through this citizenry check point...
...basically they just asked if we were all US citizens...
...it was weird...and I'm not at all sure what happens if you answer no...
...and then we finally arrived at the National Park...
...we put our pass in the windshield and drove in...
...across the road...it's just 'normal' desert...
...but driving in there is just a wall of White Sand...it's amazingly like the piles of snow in North Dakota...
...we drove past several groups 'sledding' on the dunes...it looks like fun...but HOT (it's about 106° F - 41° C)...crazy hot...and crazy bright as well...
...I love this photo of Our Airman on the dunes...it looks like he's walking on the moon...
...the view climbing up a dune...
...the Man...one dune away...
...it was an amazing place...
...so different from anything really...just this huge patch of blazingly white sand...
...fine...like sugar...
...mountains in the distance...but it's like you keep expecting to see the ocean instead...
...we stopped at a rest area...and loved the little sheltered picnic tables...it still looks a bit other-world-y...
...all the trash I gathered on our hike...
...I tried to get a photo of the packed gypsum/sand...it's so like the packed ice in North Dakota in the winter...
...you can drive on it easily...
...and you can see where they plow the road to keep it clear...
...again...just like snow...
...not a lot grows here...
...and what does...struggles...
...this was the interdune pathway...
...and you can see that there's more plant life here...
...and more animal life too...this sand snake was skittering across the hot sand...
...there was a little sitting area with a cover...and this poor little bat had decided to sleep there...
...there really is a strange beach-iness to this place...just absolutely no water though...
...I spied this little ground squirrel scurrying for cover...he darted into that hole...
...and this bluish tinged lizard is hoping for some shade as well...
...we had a great time at White Sands...
...then we drove back along the original Camino Real Route to find this oldest Mexican restaurant...actually from the 1950s and located in the Historic Mesquite District of Las Cruces...
...such a nice place...guac and super spicy salsa...
...and a vegan bean burrito...also super SUPER spicy...I'm such a wimp when it comes to spicy food...
...and then we settled in for the long drive back to Albuquerque...still chattering the whole way back...
~Have a lovely day!
what a beautiful place!
ReplyDeleteCool photos. Not sure why Google is letting me sign in to comment on your blog....I have to post as "anonymous" on most other blogs. I guess you're just special! The restaurant looks fun. Love, K
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