On Sunday July 12th, we drove to White Sands National Monument in Southern New Mexico. White Sands is a gypsum dune field in the Tularosa Basin covering nearly 300 square miles. It is surrounded by the San Andres and Sacramento mountain ranges. Gypsum leached from the mountain rocks and deposited into the Basin. Eventually, the gypsum turned into selenite crystals which was further broken down into fine sand. The dunes constantly change with the wind. The sand is so white it's almost blinding. This is near the area that the atomic bomb was tested in July 16, 1945.
One of the mountains on the trip to White Sands.
You can always tell when there is flowing water nearby because there are irrigated green areas, trees and bushes.
What do you know....it's the Rio Grande! Sorry the picture is so blurry, but I had to take a quick shot.
Windmills on the range.
This is lava rock from an ancient volcano. The area is called "Valley of Fires" and it is near Carrizozo in the Tularosa Basin.
Valley of Fires.
A roadside shop in Alamogordo, NM.
A Church in Alamogordo.
Cactus at White Sands visitor center.
No, that's not snow on that hill.
And we are NOT driving through a snow packed road.
I included a picture of the sun because it was bright and HOT!
Ed and Janet on top of the dunes.
No, Steve was not freezing....on the contrary, it was so hot it made you weak.
We are so lovely :-)
Taking it all in, but wondering when we are going back to the air conditioned car.
Should I be skiing?
Notice the dry mouth.
These folks were trying to sled down the dune. They weren't very successful. Click picture to see them bettter.
The sand was so fine. I've always associated gypsum with drywall dust and caves.
Soaptree yucca plant.
It's amazing that these plants survive with so little water.
Hoary Rosemarymint plants form pedestals that binds them to a certain location and helps them to survive the moving dunes.
Ed and Steve on the boardwalk. The air was so dry that this metal boardwalk shocked me numerous times. I kept hitting myself to prevent buildup of static electricity, but it still shocked me. I'm sure I looked silly, but what else is new :-)
Yucca.
Seed pods at the visitor center.
Visitor center.
This area of White Sands looks like a dried up lake bottom.
We drove home through the mountains. I liked this church on the way.
Evergreens in the mountains.
One of the mountains on the trip to White Sands.
You can always tell when there is flowing water nearby because there are irrigated green areas, trees and bushes.
What do you know....it's the Rio Grande! Sorry the picture is so blurry, but I had to take a quick shot.
Windmills on the range.
This is lava rock from an ancient volcano. The area is called "Valley of Fires" and it is near Carrizozo in the Tularosa Basin.
Valley of Fires.
A roadside shop in Alamogordo, NM.
A Church in Alamogordo.
Cactus at White Sands visitor center.
No, that's not snow on that hill.
And we are NOT driving through a snow packed road.
I included a picture of the sun because it was bright and HOT!
Ed and Janet on top of the dunes.
No, Steve was not freezing....on the contrary, it was so hot it made you weak.
We are so lovely :-)
Taking it all in, but wondering when we are going back to the air conditioned car.
Should I be skiing?
Notice the dry mouth.
These folks were trying to sled down the dune. They weren't very successful. Click picture to see them bettter.
The sand was so fine. I've always associated gypsum with drywall dust and caves.
Soaptree yucca plant.
It's amazing that these plants survive with so little water.
Hoary Rosemarymint plants form pedestals that binds them to a certain location and helps them to survive the moving dunes.
Ed and Steve on the boardwalk. The air was so dry that this metal boardwalk shocked me numerous times. I kept hitting myself to prevent buildup of static electricity, but it still shocked me. I'm sure I looked silly, but what else is new :-)
Yucca.
Seed pods at the visitor center.
Visitor center.
This area of White Sands looks like a dried up lake bottom.
We drove home through the mountains. I liked this church on the way.
Evergreens in the mountains.
1 comment:
Very cool pictures. I thought it was Destin for a minute with all the white sand!
Post a Comment