Alamagordo, NM

We left Carlsbad and took hwy 82 to Alamagordo.   It was a surprise that we were going to have to cross the Sacramento mountains at 8500 feet!   Whoa!   Hadn't planned on THAT!   We drove down a 16 mile descent at 6% grade.   The descent included several opportunities to view the area.   We could even see White Sands in the distance as a strip of white.

After setting up at the Boot Hill RV park we drove back into town and had lunch and then stopped at the Chamber Visitor's Center to survey the opportunities while we are in town.    Headed to the NM Museum of Space History and checked out the rockets, satellites, etc.  

Sunday we drove the 16 miles to the White Sands National Monument.   After a stop at the Visitor's Center to stamp my Passbook and watch the intro film and look through the exhibits, we drove into the park.   Our first stop was the 1 mile Dune Life Nature Trail.   It took about an hour, and we saw a bleaached earless lizard, a darker lizard and snake trails.   The loop road is an 8-mile road through the dunes driving on packed sand.   We at lunch at Primrose Picnic Area where many children were riding plastic discs down the dunes like children ride them down snowbanks in colder climates.    Many singers have used the dunes in their music videos, and some movies have been made there as well.  

On Monday we broke camp and set out for Albuquerque.