Day at the Dunes

We woke up early in Lordsburg and began our 3 hour drive to our destination, White Sands National Monument.  We first stopped at the Visitor's Center at the entrance to the park (we call it a park, even though it's technically a monument).  There, we toured through a little museum that talked about the Native American history of the area and all the art and novelties of the period.  There was also a lot of military history there too, because the US Military uses it, and the surrounding area, as missile test areas.  Sometimes, the highway leading into the park is closed for missile testing, but not today.  Connected to the museum was a gift shop of course, selling you all the Native American stuff you just saw in the museum.  Also, we saw they sold sleds.  This got us thinking because it was a little on the warm side, and definitely no snow on the dunes.  Are the dunes soft enough to sled down?  We had to see for ourselves.

We got back into the car and started on the loop road that led cars through the dunes.  Every few hundred yards, there were little signs on the side of the road that taught you all about the dunes.  So, in a nutshell, the dunes were formed by rain falling on the San Andres Mountains and washing a mineral called Gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) down the mountains into a shallow lake.  There, the mineral dries during the hot season, and blows eastward with the prevailing winds out of the west and settles as the winds die down.  So, after years and years, this mineral gathers in dunes creating a very white part, in an otherwise brown and tan desert.  The dunes have their own little ecosystem with plants and animals unique to only that area.  Most of the wildlife there has evolved to match the white color of the sand.

After reading all the signs, we walked out onto a boardwalk that explained more about how the different plants survive in an ever-changing environment.  The dunes actually move, like very slow moving waves, but the plants stay put.  So, they have to grow extremely long roots, then settle back down when the dunes move on.

Now on to the good stuff, the dunes!  Rolling hills of white sand stretched for miles in all directions.  At mid-day, the dunes were so bright, that Lindsay's photos were nothing more than a white landscape with a lack of depth.  We could have been on a glacier and you couldn't tell.  So, we decided to come back when the sun was setting for better photos.  On our way down one of the dunes, we slid slowly down on our rears, covering our legs in the, surprisingly cool, white sand.  Maybe a sled would've been fun, maybe next time.

We drove to Holloman Air Force Base where we made reservations in advance at the Air Force Inn.  The base resembled any other airbase that's stuck out in the middle of no-where desertland; flat, dry, and loud with jet-noise.  The inn was nice.  The best around for $39 a night!

We went back to the dunes when the sun was due to go down and Lindsay was in photographer's heaven.  The colors played on the horizon perfectly.  We hiked to the top of one dune, then roamed from top to top until is was almost too dark to find our way back to the car.  On our way back, we ran into another photographer who was also capturing the great landscape of White Sands.  She had brought her dog out with her and we couldn't help but to think of how much Cooper would love the dunes.

That evening, we took the advice of one of the Inn's staff and went out to town for some Chinese food in Alamogordo.  It was excellent!  On the way to the restaurant, we passed a burger joint named Blake's Lotaburger and, due to my burger obsession, Lindsay would not allow us to pass by again without taking a photo, so...

The next morning, as the Air Base was filling with its normal amount of airmen and such, we waved goodbye, and started driving towards the great state of TEXAS!!

~Blake

Through the desert

For the whole trip, we decided to only use the power of our GPS to guide us.  So, no matter the distance or the quality of road, we followed it turn-for-turn.  This took us off the main Interstates, and on some of the more scenic routes of this great country.  So, we hit the road before sunrise for our next destination, Lordsburg, New Mexico.  This route took us back to Vegas from Mom's house, then south towards Phoenix.  Lordsburg was nothing special, just the first small town in New Mexico.  It made us feel good to think that we 

could make it through one entire state in a day. 

As we drove, we started seeing signs about the Hoover Dam.  Dam tours, dam information, and even dam radio stations.  After seeing so many dam signs, we wondered if we were actually going to see the dam!  It wasn't on our list of cool things along the way, but it was a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.  We saw the new bridge as we were diverted down and along the top of the dam.  Turns out the bridge wasn't quite finished, but we didn't care.  We were just along for the ride.  After we crossed, there were a number of great photo opportunities and information along the road.  After we got our fill of the view, we hit the dam road, and put some miles behind us.

We stopped in a quaint little town, which boasted their little strip of Route 66, for breakfast at the most adorable diner: the Roadrunner Cafe of Kingman, Arizona.  Someone in the parking lot even noticed our Missouri plates and said he enlisted in the Navy from Missouri.  By the looks of him, it must have been back in the 40's.  Maybe someday, I'll end up in Kingman, eating breakfast in a small, down-to-earth diner.

Arizona was beautiful, if you like the whole desert thing.  Long straight highways, with high clouds and blue skies, filled our view for most of the day.  When you think of Arizona, you think of cacti and when you think of cacti, you think of the saguaro cactus.  Oh man, were there a lot of these.  There were other desert plants too, but for endless miles, all that stood out were saguaro.

While we slowed down for Phoenix and Tucson traffic, Lindsay reminded me of the notorious highway speeding cameras, of whom she fell victim to once before.  We crept through each city with our eyes peeled, but our search was for naught.  No cameras were to be seen.

After a long day of driving, we pulled into the Best Western of Lordsburg, New Mexico.  After dinner, we got to bed early because we had a very busy day planned...

~Blake

The Journey Begins: Visit with Mom & Paul and the Grand Canyon

Our first stop on our trip to England was in Arizona to see Mom and Paul.  We left a very soggy San Diego after turning in our house key and stopping for donuts for one last time at our favorite breakfast place, Rose Donuts.  The rain stopped just outside of San Diego and the trip went very well.  This was Cooper's first road trip in the Integra, which was mostly full with all of our property for the next 2 months, so he had a seat either on Lindsay's lap, or right behind my head rest.  With a normal stop in Baker, CA for fuel and food, we arrived without any major delay at Mom's house.

Of course there were a slew of wagging tails when we arrived (maybe some oinking, but we couldn't hear).  Staying over at Mom's is always an adventure; that's probably why Bobo is called the Adventure Dog.  Mom had remodeled since the last time we were there so it took Cooper a little while of exploring to get used to it again.  This was going to be his home for the next 6 weeks while his time finished on the 6 month quarantine that the UK requires for entry.

While we were visiting, we got to go out to eat, see movies, and mostly relax before our long journey to England.  However, we knew we wanted to go see the Grand Canyon because we've been talking about it for years now.  Actually, Lindsay had already been, but it was our first time together.  So, one day, we all jumped in the Integra (we took it because out of all the vehicles, it was most ready for a day trip into the great unknown).  The drive took us through the beautiful plateaus of Kaibab National Forest.

When we arrived, we got out and wondered with wonder.  We stopped by the Lodge and got to see Brighty, someone whom Mom and Lindsay didn't want to miss.  

We also went to view the Canyon from the patio there.

There were numerous hiking opportunities and we chose one that didn't seem too long, since we weren't really dressed for hiking.

We also got back into the car and drove to a few fantastic lookouts.  One that stood out for us was Angel's Window.

Lindsay took lots of pictures and we actually got to walk out on the precipice and took a few more.

Paul talked to us about some of the ancient history of the first settlers of the Grand Canyon and we got to see one of their 'summer' settlement areas.

On the drive home, we hit some rain that we guessed came from San Diego, but while the Sun was still up, we got to see some stunning views of the Aspens growing in the fields and forests of Kaibab.  The leaves were bright yellow and the trunks were white with bits of black where the bark had been removed.

Since Kaibab was a National Forest, there was no hunting, so the deer there were in the meadows, grazing as we drove by.  I thought it would be funny to give a quick honk honk as we drove, but the reaction was not what we suspected.  The entire group, in unison, looked up and their big ears pointed straight at us.  We got a huge kick out of this!  Since they didn't run, or panic too much, we felt it was harmless to do it to every group as we left the Forest and every time, we laughed with glee.  After dark, we stopped in the small town of Jacob Lake and had a nice dinner, before we hit the long road back to Mom's house.

The morning that we left was a sad one.  Cooper knew we were leaving but he didn't know that he wasn't coming with us.  As we said our goodbyes and started to pull out of the driveway, his ears lowered with sadness and he started whimpering.  We would end up missing him the most of all until he arrived in England in December.

The story continues soon...

~Blake