After staying up late to celebrate the new year coming in we slept in a little and took it easy getting out of town that morning. We headed to White Sands National Park near Alamogordo, NM. We got to the park just before noon as it was getting to the warmest temperature of 60 degrees with a slight breeze. My personal preference would have been about 15 degrees warmer but there isn't much to do about the weather so while it was a bit chilly we made the best of it and had fun. The sand holds the temperature outside quite well so it was cold sand we played on.
This is the view as you approach White Sands. There are missle test sites around this area that the government owns and operates. The desert around this area is so barren. No one is around for miles! Then in the middle of nowhere are these sand dunes, it is really impressive. If you feel up to it you might want to look into the way they are formed and why they are there in that area of the world. It is the world's largest gypsum dune field and it is impressive! Read more about it here http://www.nps.gov/whsa/naturescience/index.htm
Some group shots before playing. As I'm sure you can guess, it's a little bright out.
PLAYING!!!
We used the "Baby Mac" travel trailer as our picnic preparation site. All the tables are set up to get as much shade as possible but visiting in January makes the need for sunshine much greater than the need for shade.
We stopped for a few more group photos.
Caleb messing around with the camera on the tripod.
As we were leaving after a fun-filled afternoon we passed an area of the park where horses are allowed. As we drove past we saw this sight, and no, it's not a horse!
After playing all afternoon we went back to the visitor's center to discover more about the awesome park we had just played in. We learned lots of cool things about how it is formed and the wildlife that lives in the park. We headed back to spend the night in Las Cruces, NM. We were exhausted but had had a great day. We ordered pizza delivered to the rooms and watched tv. Though the kids got to relax a little more than Jason and I who had to go locate a vacuum for the car, we brought back a LOT of sand. We had fun vacuuming in the dark, one holding the flashlight and the other trying to work as efficiently as possible. We got the giggles trying to get the car clean but we managed to remove about 90 percent of the sand out of the car.
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