We are going to White Sands National Monument today.
And there is so much white sand there! If you start digging at the shallow part, you will still be digging sand for more than 30 feet. A sign said there is enough sand to fill 45 million boxcars. That makes a train long enough to circle the earth, at the equator, 25 times. That is a lot of sand! White Sands National Monument is near Alamogordo, in southern New Mexico and is surrounded by White Sands Missile Range. Sometimes this monument is closed during missile range tests. White Sands Missile Range is also an interesting place. The first atomic bomb test was here, at Trinity Site, July 16, 1945. There is also a fascinating free museum at White Sands Missile Range. But, today we are talking about a lot of white sand. After the Visitor’s Center, we walked to the gift shop. Isn’t this a pretty court yard between the Visitor’s Center and Gift Shop?
Our mission in the gift shop was sleds. Yes, we bought 2 sleds and wax sticks for each sled. We can sled on the sand dunes. Sleds and wax tucked into our car and we followed Dunes Drive until we found our perfect dune for sledding.
Here we are, ready to enjoy sledding on the sand dunes.
Well, these dunes really look big from here. Remember, we are small rubber ducks. Maybe we should let the humans try this first. Soapy’s mom was the first to go. She survived and said it was great.
Here comes my mom sledding down the dunes. We ducks went also. Fortunately it was not crowded today. Another family was sledding down a nearby dunes. All the humans were all laughing and having a great time. This white sand is primarily from gypsum. This sand is fairly rare because gypsum dissolves in water, but there is no water here.
The sand is very white and beautiful. A quite a bright reflection when the sun is at its brightest. There are several picnic areas. These picnic tables are great.
The covering protects from the sun and also the wind. Nobody wants blowing sand in a picnic lunch. But here I, Zeb the Duck, am sitting on the sand. Those ripples are caused by wind, so be careful if a storm is coming. But we do like to see mountains behind the sand. There was another sign reminding us that from the space shuttle, the only white features visible are snow on mountain tops and this white sand. At 275 square miles of white sand in the Tularosa Basin, this is the world’s largest gypsum dune field. Much of southern New Mexico is desert, so you can guess that many desert animals live here at the sand dunes. This one, the Bleached Earless Lizard, was the most fascinating to us.
We did not see the lizard, but he many have seen us. We loved our time at White Sands National Monument. We hope you visit soon. We think you will have as much fun as we did. And in the Visitor’s Center we learned so much about this whole area. New Mexico is great!
This looks like such a cool place to visit! I bet sledding on the dunes is fun. 🙂
It really is a fun place to visit. Sledding and hiking in the sand was great.
Great post! Now that I know there is sledding, I’ll have to visit sooner, rather than later.
Hopefully you will go soon. It is fun. Whole area is interesting.
Playing in the sand can be so much fun, even for adults. I like how the place has a rustic feel to it.
It really is fun. Hope you visit soon. Sand is perfect.
White Sands is VERY high on my list of must-see spots
Hope you visit soon. It is fun and interesting.
So gorgeous! The duckies look great in the that pristine white sand. ❤
Ducks and humans had a great day.
That’s great to hear! ❤
Sledding down would be great fun but I don’t fancy walking back up again for another turn.
True. Sledding is great. Climb back up is a workout. But even sliding and climbing in loose sand was fun.
Went there for work once. It really is a neat place.
We really enjoyed it. Sounds like you have a great job with work trips to White Sands.
Well I do get to go all over. I was only in Alamogordo for a about a day. In those days you had to drive up from El Paso if you wanted to make sure you’d really get there.
We drove from El Paso and phone GPS took us to Missil base. Guard says it happens often. White Sands was fun and Alamogordo interesting for a few days. Enjoyed the desert in February. Maybe not August.