May 30, 2017

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

Here’s one of those places we visited on our spring trip this year that I didn’t include in the blog – White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.

It was March or April, and the weather had been nice until a sudden storm came.
White Sands, NM - 2017-6721.jpg

Several inches of snow fell on the mountain tops and several inches of heavy rain fell on our campsite. A bucket I’d left outside filled to the brim with rain water. Some of that had to have been runoff from the camper’s roof! At least I think it was!

The temperature dropped into the 30s and more heavy rain fell as we drove to the Monument. We were afraid it would be closed or inaccessible. We waited for a while in the Visitor Center parking lot and soon the clouds coming from the west began to clear and the rangers said it was ok to go into the monument. You can see the departing storm clouds in most of the photos of the park.

It was so cold that I had to wear my down coat, heavy hat, gloves, and neck scarf. I could barely walk against the wind when I got outside the truck. Bob didn’t even get out at all. He wasn’t dressed for the weather. With all the wind and cold, being in the white sand dunes really felt and looked like a winter wonderland.

Here are a few of the sights at White Sands: