On Thursday, 2/2, we drove about 20 miles from our CG in Alamogordo to the White Sands National Monument. It is entirely surronded by the White Sands Missile Range; just East is the Holloman Air Force Base, and a few miles North is one ot the space shuttle landing sites. The space theme is reflected in the nearby town of Alamogordo, home to the International Space Hall of Fame and the Space Theater.
It is in the desert and very unique in that it is one of the world's greatest natural wonders - glistening white sands. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand engulfes 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield.
You can drive thru it, and, the further in you go, the more pronounced the sand becomes. Here it is mostly covered with plants.
As you go further, there are fewer plants. Plants that do survive usually have a defined life span. When a plant grows, it becomes surrounded by moving sand so it must grow taller and its roots go deeper. As the sand moves years later, the roots become exposed and then die.
It's a great tourist area. You can rent saucers to go sledding.
They even have picnic areas
Back at the CG, we had another beautiful sunset.
That sand is so beautiful. It would be fun to go sledding until I end up with sand in my clothes.
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