Today our travels took us to White Sands National Monument. I realize that nobody is going to plan a vacation around this place. Vacations are planned around Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons or Yosemite. But that doesn't diminish how amazing this place is.
We drove from the south on route 70. Once you leave the city, you gain elevation until you arrive at the mountain pass. It's roughly 5,700 feet above sea level. Once you come over the pass, there is is. Right in front of you. This enormous expanse of land that goes out for who knows how many miles. You can see mountains in the distance. How far away is a guess. If you saw a picture, you'd be all ho hum. But to experience it is something else.
Here's a Google earth pic of the pass:
Arriving at the national monument, there is a visitor center, museum and gift shop. 1 of the unusual items that the gift shop sells is disk sleds. People take the disks and slide down the sand dunes. In the park there is an 8 mile road to see the different sights. The first portion of the road is paved. Then it becomes hard packed sand. The sand just sort of appears. The terrain is scrubby, more scrubby then all of a sudden it's sand. Lots of sand. Everyone has seen sand at the beach. This view is unique and different.
The visitor center was full of cars from all over America. I'm glad that people go out of their way to visit this place. We brought Apollo with us. This was a good location since we could take him with us on the boardwalk trails. I'm thankful they had the boardwalks so we could proceed above the sand that would have made walking much harder. We didn't drive the entire 8 miles of loop road in the park. There is only so much sand you can look at. I was hoping to spot another road runner actually.
Around the park it looked like ominous rain clouds were forming. Very little rain falls in this area. Somehow plant life manages to survive in this harsh climate. Humans are encouraged to take a maximum amount of water with them while in the park.
Today is 5 years from when Vrai & I had our first date. She says we are on the longest 2nd date ever. Today is another different place where we can celebrate. I wonder where we will celebrate next year.
Pics to took to follow.
