Greetings from White Sands National Monument.

We are still here. No news means we’re still doing and being the same old, same old. We have entered the last 3 weeks of our stay here with mixed feelings. However, it’s always good to move on. The weather is gradually getting warmer; nights are not so cold and freezy anymore. It’s getting pretty decent to be outside at night looking up at the bright and glorious night time sky.

We are all collectively holding our breaths waiting for the start of spring break. Monday, actually today, is the start of the Texas public schools break, and starting tomorrow we are expecting big things. Right now, all is calm, but that will change. There are large areas at the end of the Dunes Drive that have picnic shelters set up for all those who have come to experience the white sands on round, plastic discs coated on the undersides with wax. Recreation is huge here at the monument, and now that kids are on break, weather is warmer, and dunes are made for sliding, the scene is set. They tell us that Easter Sunday is the biggest day here at White Sands. Families come from as far away as El Paso to spend the day playing on the dunes. Traffic jams are common. Thank goodness this year Easter is in April, and we are Kentucky bound..

Our biggest news right now is that Kedric, our youngest son, flew out on Wednesday the fifth of March to spend a long weekend with us. We will be taking him back to ABQ tomorrow, and he will fly back to yucky Minnesota on Monday.

Yesterday we went to Carlsbad Caverns; down and back in one day. The Old Man and Woman, and Tuzi, are tired out after that long trip, and Kedric is on his own today for a trip to Roswell to look for aliens. Shannon drove to ABQ on Wednesday and picked him up. On their way back they detoured to the Socorro area to stop at the Large Array as depicted in the movie “Contact.” So, that day involved lots of driving. On Thursday we took him to the petroglyph site north of Alamogordo and that involved lots of driving. When you have three full size adults, one car sick prone puppy, and a kennel all shoe-horned into a Ford Focus, mental health for all dictates taking some breaks. And so we are today, but looking forward to a great New Mexico dinner out tonight. That means whatever you eat you get it smothered in green chilies.

Last weekend the WHSA offered a “living history” tour to Lake Lucero. Lake Lucero, if you are paying attention, is the remnant lake where gypsum-laden runoff from the mountains ends up. When the lake evaporates, the gypsum forms selenite crystals. It is breakdown of the crystals into sand sized particles that form the dunes.

Anyway, a living history tour.

As the tour participants were led down the trail to Lake Lucero, there were characters dressed up in period costumes stationed along the trail to talk about the human history of the area. The characters ranged from a Spanish colonist collecting plants to a rancher to Pat Garratt coming out of retirement hunting the killer of a famous local who was gunned down in the dunes to a prospector to Tom Charles, the father of the monument. 

It was a fun way to get exposed to the history of the area. More excitement however was the kicking up of a rattle snake as we walked down the trail, and seeing all the crystals on the dry lake bed of Lake Lucero.