White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
You know that peaceful feeling you get when you are looking out over fields of fresh snow? The quiet and calm. Did you know you can get that same feeling in a warm, sandy place? For those of us who do not like to be cold there is an alternative. A beautiful surprise in southern New Mexico, White Sands National Monument reminds you of fields of snow but warm and sand. We drove from Texas into New Mexico on highway 82 through Cloudcroft, NM. Such a diverse drive. You start out with miles and miles of desert plains, oil fields and not much of anything, you come into Cloudcroft and all of the sudden it feels like you are up north somewhere in the mountains. Huge pine trees, mountains and a ski resort. Once you pass through the mountain you come out the other side into Alamogordo, NM. A small town with nice mountain views. About 16 miles down highway 70 from the town is White Sands National Monument. The largest gypsum dune field on the Earth. For a small fee you can drive in and spend the entire day exploring the dunes. It really looks like you are driving into fresh snow. You drive for a while on pavement but that gives way to sand roads as you go just a little bit deeper in, this was safe even for rvs. A lot of people were sledding on the dunes, hiking around and taking photos. There is no overnight area for rvs but there is an area for tent camping.
Bordered on the west by the San Andreas Mountains you get gorgeous views and photos, especially at sunset, of blue mountains in the distance, white sands all around and golden hues from the setting sun. Enjoy!
