Returning to White Sands

The previous night we were in bed early expecting another early start in the morning. Once again we were packed up, coffee in hands, dogs in the truck, and actually driving before sunrise. It was truly a miracle to see Kerri out from under the blankets so early… twice in a row! That morning we had to make a 4 hour drive into New Mexico, through Las Cruces (the home of all two of my mechanical breakdowns), and to White Sands National Monument. Once again, I have been here before but Kerri had never been.

Our visit was short, with just a quick hike out onto the “sand” (actually gypsum) which the dogs seriously enjoyed. Byron, the true beach bum, kept pulling Kerri along towards the waves that must be just over the next dune. Eventually we turned around to head back to the truck. Grumpy Byron was well ticked off that we never let him get to the water. There was no talking sense into him. Moose… Moose really needed to be off leash to burn off his energy, but being in a National Park and all I just kept poking at him to dig-dig-dig!

After an hour or so, we piled back into the truck (now with two layers of very different colored mud on the fenders) and continued our Eastward migration out of Alamagordo, up the hill towards Cloudcroft. I chose this route specifically because I had never driven this stretch of road before (something that is becoming increasingly more rare in my travels), yet half way to Artesia we passed by a road side fruit stand slash petting zoo and all the memories of me driving this road in 2012 came back to me, just from the opposite direction. Argh!