Las Cruces, New Mexico

We spent a couple of days in Las Cruces, New Mexico on our trip west. We stayed in our friends' side yard and had a great time. In the evening we played games and caught up on what we've each been doing since we stopped by a couple of years ago. We visited the White Sands National Monument and the White Sands Missile Range Museum on a windy day. Highway 70 was a pretty ride and the valley in which the Missile Range lies is very vast. This is the site where the atomic age began with the detonation of a plutonium bomb. The area is still used by all branches of the military as well as private companies for testing purposes. The road is closed for 2 hours whenever there is a test. As we approached the National Monument, we could see the wind blown sand for miles. It was different than other sand dunes we had gone to, as the sand is very white and the wind was blowing it around. It kind of looked like a blizzard from up in New York, except it was warm. It is the largest gypsum sand dune area in the world, about 300 square miles. The gypsum is carried from the nearby mountains by water run-off and it collects in a lake with no outlet. As the water evaporates it leaves the gypsum which then blows into dunes.

Our rig parked next to Paul and Stephanie's house. What wonderful hosts!

Their nicely landscaped back yard.

Looks like snow drifts, but it's really sand.

The picture is made blurry by the sand in the air.

Sand dunes all the way to the mountains.

We climbed to the top of one of the dunes.

At the Missile Range Museum, which is located inside a military base. We could take photos here, but had to make sure the mountains were the background.