Last night, we switched things up…Plan A: take the truck to
White Sands National Monument and Plan B: take the bikes. All depended on the wind. Woke up to the sun shining through the
ceiling vent, which was a bonus after yesterday’s dust storm, but could also
hear the wind before I opened my eyes to see the sunshine. Plan A it is!!
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White Sands National Monument is about 145 miles from
camp. However, there were a variety of
landscapes along the way. Open plains,
fenced in cattle ranges, and a mountain or two.
Along the way, we needed gas, so we stopped in the little mountain town
of Mayhill, NM. There was a convenience
store by the pumps…had to go to the bathroom so I wandered over. There was a fence separating the store from
the pumps and a sign saying that the store had no connection whatsoever with
the gas pumps so don’t complain to the store owner about: watered down gas,
faulty pumps, and a third item I can’t remember. I entered the store from the front, passing
by a number of negative signs about Obama and Hillary Clinton---that’s okay,
everyone’s entitled to their political opinion.
However, after we bought drinks to pay for our flush and left, I
happened to look back at the side entrance.
The windows on that side of the building were covered with blatantly
racist homemade computer printed signs…”Where is the KKK when you need them?”
was one along with a very derogatory suggestion for Colin Kaepernick…and at the
bottom it stated that “Your actions have set back the Civil Rights Movement by
decades”. Really?! There were more but they
didn’t register…that one glimpse was all I wanted. A childhood song comes to mind, with a slight
modification: Oh, be careful, little eyes,
what you see because you can’t un-see it!! It
was disgusting!! 😒 I felt dirty for having
simply been in the store, let alone making a purchase. Had I seen the full
scope of hatred on both windows, I wouldn’t have even walked through that
door. Peeing in the woods would have
been preferable. It took me a long time
to open the water I bought. Bah!! As we drove on down the road, I
wondered if the whole community felt that way or he was just speaking for
himself. Might also have explained the
fence…maybe the owners of the gas pumps put it up.
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We could see the white sand in the distance as we were
descending the mountains and it looked like a snow covered field. I would say the average visitor to The White
Sands National Monument drives in, finds a sand dune to sled down and then
leaves. Maybe also have a picnic. There
are hiking trails for the more adventurous visitor. We fell into the first category…or I should
say I fell into the first category and Kim was my driver. I didn’t realize about the sledding until we
were in the gift shop and overheard a cashier explaining where the best sledding
dunes were. Found out they sold round saucer sleds with a
small refund if you brought it back with your receipt because, really, where
else would you be needing a sled on a vacation to New Mexico? Kim had no interest in sledding down a dune
but I debated with myself about it because there’s the whole walking up the dune thing, but in the
end, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Thanks to Kim’s quick thinking, we
bought a sled from someone who was in line for his refund…then we gave it to a
family as we were leaving the park. Sledding down a sand dune was fun for the
novelty of it but climbing up the sliding sand dune was certainly a cardio
workout.
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| I stand victorious after the climb up the dune. |
The white sand isn’t like the beach sand we have back in
Michigan. Besides being white, it has a
finer texture and despite the sun beating down on it, it isn’t hot to walk on.
This is what I learned from the park pamphlet:
The white
sand is derived from the many layers of gypsum left behind millions of years
ago when the Permian Sea retreated.
Mountains rose up and so did the gypsum.
Over the course of time, melting glacier water dissolved it and returned
it to the Tularosa Basin. Water and snow
continue that process today.
It’s an experience to drive into the park and be surrounded by
shimmering white sand dunes…and watching people sliding down them on sleds. J A grader is on hand for when the sand gets
confused and drifts onto the road… and as you go in farther, the road becomes
covered with a thin layer of white sand.
Like snow without the cold...or snow. 😉
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The city of Alamogordo, elevation 4335 ft., is between the mountains
and the white sand. On our way back up
the mountain, I saw a sign that stated there would be a 4315 ft. rise in
elevation to Cloudcroft, the city at the highest point of the road. Sure enough, there was a sign in Cloudcroft
that indicated we were at 8650 ft. elevation.
No wonder my ears were going bonkers!!
Ski hills were bare already with snow lingering just in the
shadows.
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This morning we passed a young man wearing a safety vest,
walking and pushing a running stroller.
Late afternoon when we coming back we passed him again farther down the
road. It’s was obvious he was walking
somewhere…I asked Kim to turn around so I ask him about his journey. Had a bottle of Gatorade that I offered and
he gladly accepted. His name is Marshall Hardee and he is going from Ocean Beach,
CA, to Myrtle Beach, SC. His intent was
to run but currently his Achilles tendon is bothering him so he’s walking…he
figures he makes 30-35 miles a day running and 20-25 walking. He started on
Feb. 8, 2017, and he told me his cause is conservation awareness. Besides having all sorts of earth friendly
camping gear, he also has little solar panels on the front of his ‘stroller’
for charging his cell phone. 😎 Got back
in the car, googled him and found he is a 2016 graduate of Clemson and on the
site I found, it said his cause was raising money for Save the Manatee,
Inc. Whatever his cause, running/walking
from coast to coast is a huge undertaking.
Marshall, I salute your ambition!!
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We’ve been in the dry desert climate for a couple of weeks
now; however, my sinuses haven’t recognized that fact. Been waking up in the morning with a stuffy
nose and going through the mountains today played games with my ears. Even when we were out at the White Sands, my
right ear just wasn’t right…couldn’t get it to ‘pop’. Kim told me to hold my nose and blow…that
just threatened to pop my eyes out. The pressure in my ear didn’t equalize
until we were going back through the mountains.
Yay!! However, upon leaving the up
and down of mountain travel, my right ear was stuck in plugged up mode again. I
had better luck with the ‘plug the nose and blow’ routine the second time
around but that still didn’t really do the job.
Maybe tonight while I sleep it will magically unplug.
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When we left this morning, there was a fair amount of
wind. Weather app said winds in the 33
mph range with gusts up to 41, gradually tapering off in the late afternoon,
early evening. We had blue skies dotted
with fat fluffy clouds the entire day, despite the wind. No dust on the horizon, no dust blocking out
the sun…clear blue skies the whole way.
Two thumbs up for that!! By the
time we were heading back, the wind had died down noticeably…and at camp it’s
down to where Kim feels good about setting up the eye scope. It’s our last night in this camp and he’s
been anxious to get about the business of imaging. Little to no wind…clear dark sky….I hope he’s
successful tonight.
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Today, coming through the city of Artesia, we stopped to
check out some huge statues that we’d seen yesterday. The
central one was an oil derrick with workers on it...two others had to do with
those who discovered oil in these parts in the mid-1920s and a couple of
successful oil men who started in the 1970s and continued into the 21st
century. Oil and natural gas are a huge
part of the economy of Southeast New Mexico.
Yesterday was our 1st trip north to Artesia and the
atmospheric conditions weren’t exactly great for noticing anything and today I
was reading, so I really hadn’t paid any attention to the 12 to 15 miles vacant
land between the campground and Artesia.
Today after reading about the history of the oil/natural gas exploration
and production in the area, my eyes were up and looking out…and I noticed that
the land is dotted with oil pumps and storage tanks as far as the eye can
see. With a clear field of vision and a
little knowledge, I could see that those weren’t just empty scrub brush acres
of land.
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