Link to White Sands, NM Facebook Pictures

So if you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that we slept in the Walmart parking lot.  Upon waking up, we got to see the awesome picturesque scenery behind this otherwise seemingly normal Walmart.

We brushed our teeth in the parking lot, filled up the tank with gas, and made Almond-butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast.

Then we headed on to White Sands National Monument.

It is hundreds of square miles of white sand.  All of the sand is really tiny particles of Gypsum from the surrounding mountains.  The wind blew the Gypsum rocks into other rocks, and eventually they break down into grain-like particles.  It’s unlike any other sand I’ve ever touched.

Getting a few 10 shades darker…

It’s unbelievable how huge and quiet this place is.  I walked for a good five minutes and could not see any landmarks except the mountains in the distance.  It is so quiet that you can hear your heartbeat in your head, and your ears ring from the lack of sound (at least mine did; Molly said that hers weren’t ringing at all).  The only way I knew how to get back was by following my footprints.

We had the opportunity to rent a sled to sled down the dunes, so we didn’t want to pass that up!

After White Sands, we decided to head towards Tucson, AZ.  I have a cousin that lives there (Josh) that I had never met.  He is stationed at a nearby Air Force Base and offered to show us around a little bit.  We met him after he got off of work, and he is a real cool guy!  

He took us to the base and we had to check in as visitors (which is super intimidating – they run a background check on you right then and there!) and he showed us the helicopters that he works on.  I never realized how much engineering and thought goes into making those things, or how expensive they are, for that matter (~$20 million ea.).  

He told me about a 6-part series on Discovery that his unit is featured in, called Inside Combat Rescue.  I want to check it out, for sure.  He seems to love his job and it is definitely not your typical 9-5!

After hanging out with Josh, we headed up to Mount Lemmon to find a place to rest our heads for the night.  Found a quaint campground about halfway up the mountain, and didn’t hesitate in finding a spot and falling asleep.  I woke up in the middle of the night, shivering!  It was magnificent!!  Finally, COLD air!!