Our1Chance

Mountains and White Sand | New Mexico

After our impromptu extended stay in Texas we hit the pavement bright and early towards Las Cruces, New Mexico.  A 543 Mile trip.  It was a double length trip since we opted to stay 2 days in a place we hadn’t planned.   Consider the long drive a “penalty” for fun and spontaneous behavior.  Thank you Fredericksburg, Tx!

White Sands National Monument
Our Travel Map so far (only places we’ve stayed overnight in).

Our plan was to stop over in New Mexico for the night and head out to a boondocking location in Arizona.  

White Sands National Monument
Roadschooling today wasn’t the most exciting I presume, based off the girls’ faces.

Knowing we had a long 7-8 hour driving day on tap, we got homeschooling done as early as possible; and bribed the girls with movies of their choice.   So they worked diligently on their work, and flew through it as expected.

White Sands National Monument

We finally found a solution to keep the sun glare off of Shayla’s dvd player screen.

White Sands National Monument
For the first time we were beginning to see some substantial mountains in the southern mid west.  One of them (I forgot the town we came across), had Shaylas’ initials formed into the mountainside.  (Top picture of these 3)
White Sands National Monument
Somewhere in north western Texas, our noses began to turn  a bit.  We came upon several of these cattle ranches that were unlike the other grass fed ones we had seen to date.

White Sands National Monument

Around every long straightaway there appeared countless numbers of unforgettable mountain ranges.  If we were to stop and photograph them all, I feel like we would never get to our destination, so we opted to just capture the “driveby” photo.  After a long, but uneventful trip we made it our destination.

White Sands National Monument
The end of our LONG 543 mile day’s travels, we ended up at Coachlight RV Park in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We had stumbled upon it through our Passport America membership.  It was a convenient, no frills parking lot RV park; but suited us just fine for our overnight stay.   While looking through the evenings’ Instagram posts; I noticed a fellow RVer at a place called White Sands National monument.  After noticing we were only 30 minutes away we opted to try to see it and return to hook up the RV all before noon that day.  (checkout time)

White Sands National Monument So after stuffing our bellies with a hearty breakfast we were on our way to White Sands National Monument. We arrived just before 10am and there were few people there at the this time. White Sands National MonumentAs we turn the corner and enter the through the Ranger station gate, we come upon these hills of gorgeous white sand.  Out of the middle of nowhere there is this oasis of snow white sand.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

Being from New England, I have to admit this place just looks like it could be covered in Nor Easter snow, but knowing that it is confectioner’s sugar powder sand; makes this place really impressive.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

Since there really wasn’t anyone else there, we were able to park and move our truck all around at will.  As long as we stayed on the packed sand roads.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

I kind of felt a little bad for Cole with all this sand.  He didn’t really know the difference between this and snow; and often tried to bite the sand, or chase mini sand balls as he would normally do with snow.  He had a mouth full of sand, and it took bowls of water to get it all out of his mouth.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

This place truly is a phenomenon of nature.  Everywhere but here the ground is brown, grey and black.  So strange.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

Sledding down the hill is a popular pastime of visitors of this magical place.  But since we only really had an hour  to spend here, we made the best of it without a sled.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

No adventure would be complete without a nice interval timer family portrait.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument my Desktop Screensaver of the week.  

If you wish to download this image you can do so by clicking here and saving it.  

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument | The official Family Portrait of the White Sands Park
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

All in all, white sands was pretty beautiful.  Had we known more about it, we would have allocated more time to spend there and possibly even earn a Jr Ranger’s Badge from there.  Putting this in the must see again category.

 

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument (while we were at White Sands it was Mima’s birthday, so we snapped these to send to her)
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument
Emptying out the sand from their sneakers.
White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument

So a quick hookup of the trailer and we said goodbye to Coachlight RV .    Next stop, the middle of nowhere in AZ.  (Actually just southwest of Phoenix)