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