We arrived at the Las
Cruces KOA RV Park on March 1, 2015 for five days. We are on our way to Tucson,
AZ and this seemed like a great place to park the RV. Due to our detour to Red Bay, AL we had
missed seeing White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, NM.
The KOA overlooked
the City of Las Cruces. We walked through the park and stopped at the
playground where Sharon challenged Mike to the chin up bar. Guess who won! And
the teeter totter and swing brought back child hood memories!
And one of our RV
neighbors had a drone that he flew over the park. Somewhat an invasion of
privacy, but it is an amazing invention!
In the “good ol’
days” Las Cruces’ Main Street was the perfect place to take a leisurely evening
stroll or to gather and socialize with neighbors. Today, Main Street is
characterized by its eclectic mix of unique specialty shops, outstanding
restaurants, art galleries, theaters and other cultural venues. This quaint
nationally recognized New Mexico Main Street Community is home to the Las
Cruces Museum of Art, Branigan Cultural Center, Rio Grande Theatre and Museum
of Nature & Science, as well as popular events that include the annual SalsaFest,
monthly Downtown Ramble “gallery hop” and twice-weekly Las Cruces Farmers &
Crafts Market. We did not have time to
enjoy the Las Cruces Main Street, so we will have to return another time!
White
Sands National Monument
The main reason
for coming to this area was to see White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo,
NM. On the way we passed the White Sands Missile Range that performs missile
tests that may close the Highway we were travelling on. But we were lucky that
no tests were being done on the day we decided to visit. Other area landmarks
included the Sacramento Mountains, San Andres Mountains, Sierra Blanca, White
Water Tower and Tres Hermanos.
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| Missile Range |
At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world’s great natural wonders – the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert here and created the largest gypsum dune field in the world.
Gypsum is a soft
mineral – softer than a human fingernail – so it breaks down easily. Water
seeps into cracks, freezes, and breaks fragile sheets of selenite apart. The
process continues over time until large crystals become small shards. When
pieces become small enough that they can be picked up by the wind they are
known as “cornflakes,” and this is when things really speed up. Grains of
gypsum picked up by the wind bounce along the surface and leap-frog over each
other, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. As the soft grains
collide with the ground and with one another their surfaces get scuffed. These
scuffs reflect light rather than letting it pass through and give the gypsum
sand its distinctive snowy appearance.
We stopped at what we thought were pull-outs along the Dune Drive to take photos. The lighting was perfect as it was getting near dusk. After several stops a park volunteer stopped and told us we could not stop along the road, we had to stop at designated stops. Thank goodness we stopped, as these photos were the best shots ever!
The dunes,
brilliant and white, are ever changing. They grow, crest, then slump but always
advance. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds,
covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the
dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to
survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by
the moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved white
colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand.
We later took a sunset tour with the same woman who stopped us earlier! The tour was fabulous and the sunset over the dunes was awesome!
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| Overlooking the snow-capped mountains in the background |
We later took a sunset tour with the same woman who stopped us earlier! The tour was fabulous and the sunset over the dunes was awesome!
The sand reminded us of the sugary sand on Siesta Key beach back home in Sarasota, FL. But it was the formations and ripples and stark beauty of the dunes that inspired us. It was a very memorable experience. The sunset sequence was spectacular!
Town of Mesilla
We heard of
Historic Old Mesilla, a small town not far from Las Cruces, so we drove down
and walked around the town square on a rainy day. Sharon found two pairs of earrings she
couldn’t live without at one of the boutique shops. Tres Manos Weaving of New
Mexico sold beautiful hand-woven scarves, shawls and jackets out of an old historic
building. Sharon admired the creativity and artisan skills and the vibrant
colors of each piece.
We heard that the best authentic Mexican food could be
found at Andele! Restaurante so we ate lunch on our way out of town. It was
truly the best Mexican food we had ever tasted! It was so good, Sharon forgot to take a photo!
Watch for our next
blog on Tucson, Arizona where we spent March and part of April. We also stored
the RV and Jeep and flew home to Sarasota for two weeks!
Mike & Sharon
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we
must carry it with us or we find it not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
