White Sands, New Mexico

The best laid plans of mice and Tamara often go awry.  Mom and Dad decided to skip being groped and fondled by TSA agents and drove to Tucson this time, rather than flying. A few people have told me that I ought to go out to White Sands some time, but I couldn't quite figure out a good time/reason to drive 700 miles round trip for sand dunes. Mom and Dad provided the time and reason. Although, I think my husband might disagree...

We had plans to meet at the motel, decompress a little, then head to the park to do a little 8-mile scenic drive around and a sunset stroll with the Ranger. Alas, it was too windy and the sunset stroll was cancelled. It was so windy that we could barely see across the street through all the dust and sand in the air. It was madness. So, we decompressed a little then went to dinner and visited until bed time. We also thought it would be fun to pop in on a couple museums in Alamogordo, but since we missed the dunes Sunday evening, we wanted to get there early in the morning to avoid the blinding sun reflecting the blinding sand, and we didn't want to backtrack to town.

We grabbed a little fruit and toast and drove out to the dunes. It was still windy, but not nearly as bad as the night before. But it was cold. Only 50 degrees with crazy wind is not remotely pleasant. We drove up to a short trail and took a slightly miserable walk. It was quite impressive and interesting, and Nicco sure had fun. We got back in the car and continued the drive until we reached the interdune boardwalk. We got out and saw more sand, and the road was blocked off so we couldn't go any further. We turned around. Mom and Dad wanted to buy some postcards, so we stopped in at the visitors' center and caught a little video presentation. The video made it look like we missed the best part of the park by not being allowed to drive beyond the boardwalk. A ranger came in and said that the plows moved the sand off the road and it was now open, so we went back out again. It was true. The inner part of the dunes was really quite amazing. A literal ocean of sand. The park is some 200 square miles, right there in the middle of nowhere. We took a drive, climbed some sandy hills, let Nicco run and slide, and called it a day.

So, while it was definitely a great thing to see and I'm glad we did, I'm not sure Patrice will forgive me for a while. At least not until his back feels better. I guess a massage is in order.

Here are a million pictures of sand.

When we drove past last night and caught our first glimpse of the dunes, Nicco squealed "SNOW!"

Hardy yucca which have adapted to this harsh climate and constantly moving sand. They say the dunes move about 30 feet a year.

This sand-hill was a little intimidating, but we convinced Nicco to slide down. He was hooked.

Hand prints and a little graffiti in the wall of sand

Waves in the ocean of sand

Our first little hike

Nicco, following the path

Peeking over the edge

Patrice, shivering.

Sand Angel

Sand Angel again

Sliding

Skipping along the boardwalk

Running down the hill with the Papa

Rolling down the hill, filling his britches with sand.

Tootsie

A mouthful of sand

Racing up the hill...Patrice couldn't resist doing donuts in the sand

Looking down at Grandma and the donut from the top of a hill

Grandma, hop-skipping down the hill.