Alamogordo, NM

They grow pistachios here

We took this trip through New Mexico south rather than Texas's panhandle due to the cold front that was hitting the state. 

There isn't much to see in some of the towns of southern New Mexico that have seen their better days. Alamogordo had a different feel with the Air Force base and Border Patrol just outside of town. It's crime rates are less than some of the places we have visited.

New Mexico has a big problem with crime. Hence the recent criminal sweep of 327 people this week in Albuquerque. 

While walking along the Rio Grande River Trail in Socorro, we found a homeless camp and made a u-turn on our walk. The same thing happened as we walked across town to the park in the middle of town.

As I took the picture of the church in Socorro, a homeless man was standing outside of the church hitting up the Christians for a handout as they left the morning service. He asked me if I had anything to spare. I rarely carry money and told him "Honey, I think you have more than I do." For some reason, he didn't offer me his spare. 

The other side of the coin as they say, we met so many welcoming people and the poblano enchiladas were the best.

On the way to Alamogordo, we made a quick stop at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area next to the Malpais Lava Flow and took a walk on the paved Malpais Nature Trail to stretch our legs. It had a nice campground for $7/night.

This area was primarily Apache and Navajo until the Spaniards made their way there. The Apache would steal their horses and cattle. Then the Spaniards would steal them back until they were rounded up and put on the reservation (the people not the horses). That is the dummied down version. 

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico is wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield.

White Sands Missile Range regularly conducts missile tests. For visitor safety, the only road into the dunefield, Dunes Drive, may be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests.

We checked the time for scheduled missle testing before driving out to avoid seeing this sign requiring a 2-3 hour delay.

The white sand looked like snow. Even though we knew it wasn't slick, our brains kept saying we were going to slip and slide.

The 2 mile hike on the Alkali Trail was rated difficult. It didn't seem so hard at first. But the further we walked the harder it was to climbthe dunes. But we enjoyed White Sands NP more than we have thought.

We took this disc someone had left at the parking lot for a couple of rides before handing it off to another couple that had just arrived.

Mike missed a photo of my face plant and I took home more gypsum than I think is legal. It took a while to get the sand out of my parts.

The picnic area looked like it was on the moon.

The National Christmas tree made a stop in Alamogordo on the way from northern New Mexico to Washington DC. The high school marching band and most of the town was at the high school for the visit.

We have days when we get tired and wonder if it is time to throw in the traveling towel. A nap is usually the remedy for that. My youngest sister's passing this week reminds us that we had better live the life we desire instead of the life other people think we should live. Time is passing faster than we realized.