Brake Lights & Bug Bites

I am sitting here atop a rolling white sand dune under a sunny blue sky watching Charlie, Grant and Miles play their sledding-football-catch game! It is our final day in Alamogordo, New Mexico and we just had to sneak in one more visit to White Sands National Park.

You may remember from my post in the fall about Great Sand Dunes that I am not a big fan of sand. You may roll your eyes, but the idea of a beach vacation is not my first choice. I am just not a big fan of sand. So, when Charlie, who is our family’s national park expert, said that we would be traveling near White Sands National Park, I did this internal groan. It went something like this, a sand dune is full of sand. Its going to be hot. Its going to be messy. The car is going to be full of sand. The camper is going to be full of sand. On and On, my little complaint session went. However, I put a smile on my face and said, “Of course we will stop at White Sands!” We found a simple campground about 15 minutes from the national park and added it to our itinerary. (One more complaint, the campground does not have a laundry facility….what about all the sandy clothes?!?)

We got an early start from Tucson last Saturday morning with a 5 hour drive to New Mexico. Flat brown desert with cactus and desert shrubs and distant mountains filled our windows for the majority of the drive. We passed through one major town, Las Cruces which is North of El Paso, but overall a very barren uneventful drive. After Las Cruces, we crossed a mountain pass that opened to the Tularosa Basin. This is home to the White Sands Missile Range which is the largest military area in the US for testing, researching and developing weapons. It is also home to the Trinity Site which is where the United States tested the Atomic Bomb. There was not much to see, but we thought it was neat to drive through this area.

As we were nearing the end of our trip, out of the desert floor rose these beautiful white sand dunes. The contrast between the desert landscape and rolling white sand captives the passerby. We could not wait to explore and learn about this National Park! And there was so much to learn and explore!

I won’t bore you with all the details but White Sands is truly a remarkable landscape. Giant wave-like dunes of gypsum have covered the desert floor. Gypsum is found in the surrounding mountains. Rain and snow carry gypsum down the mountain and deposit it in the lowest point in the basin. As temperatures rise and the water evaporates, gypsum crystals are left behind. Over time, the wind and water begin to break the crystals down and move the smaller particles across the desert floor. As the gypsum continues its journey tumbling and crashing on its way, the crystals break down into fine grains of gypsum sand. Because of the shallow water table found in this area, the gypsum stays moist and heavy which prevents it from blowing across the United States but rather forming dunes in the basin area. There are only two other gypsum dunes in the world. One near Guadalupe Mountains in Texas and the other in Mexico. However those dune fields do not even compare in size to the 275 square miles of white sand in White Sands National Park, making it a truly natural wonder of the world.

The white sand reflects the sun’s rays instead of absorbing them so the sand is cool and refreshing. In fact after the sun sets, the sand feels as cold as snow. Trust us, we learned the hard way…setting out on a hike at sunset without shoes! And for whatever reason, the sand doesn’t stick to everything like regular sand. So, yes, we have sand in the car and the camper and pockets, but it is not nearly as bad as a day at the beach or our trip to Great Sand Dunes! Great Sand Dunes easily jumped its way into my top 5 places that we have visited! I do not have the words to express the beauty and sereneness of this place. A never-ending sea of shifting white sand that goes on for miles and miles.

Oh, and one other very interesting facts, the creatures at White Sands have changed over time to become lighter in color to adapt and survive in their environment! Wow! So cool!

We ended up spending four days at the park. We strolled among the dunes. The boys went sledding for hours and hours, played football, wrestled, and had sand fights. Tate loved throwing and chasing a ball over the ups and downs of the dunes. The National Park offered a great movie and ranger program about the park (if you visit White Sands, I highly recommend the sunset ranger talk). The boys earned their junior ranger badges. But, hands down, the highlight of our visit was the unbelievable sunsets. We could not help but watch in silence as the sun set over the mountains casting beautiful colors across the sky and sand.

We also enjoyed the city of Alamogordo. We only scratched the surface of what the city has to offer with the Almeda Park Zoo and the Toy Train Depot (for our train loving almost 2 year old!).

I still cannot say that I love sand, but I am so thankful that I listened to Charlie and didn’t let my grumbling heart prevent us from experiencing this truly magnificent display of God’s beauty and creativity. I couldn’t help but praise Him in this place!