This morning found us in Alamogordo, NM, home of White Sands National Monument. Quick factoid. The name says white sand but it's not sand at all. It's gypsum, but it is white.
Anyway, on to the White Sands. It isn't a large place. The monument can be done in a couple of hours. You drive out about 8 miles round trip into the sands. A portion of the road is hard surface, the balance is hard packed gypsum. Sleds are available at the info center and used to slide down the dunes. A bunch of kids, young and old were doing this. Did I mention this stuff is really white?
Since we were driving by the White Sands, we visited. It certainly isn't a destination place.
After White Sands, we set sail for Tombstone, AZ. There is a lot of dry, flat country traversed by I 10. No water, few cattle, lots of dry grass, and scrub trees. All of the southwest, including west Texas, is dry and covered with scrub land. But at least west Texas and southeast New Mexico have oil wells.
We crossed over one larger mountain range (mentioned in PT 1) yesterday, and a smaller one today on the way from Alamogordo to Las Cruces, NM. US 70 from White Sands south to Las Cruces goes through White Sands Missile Range. In fact, depending on the missile test, US 70 can be closed for several hours at a time.
We got to the RV park here in Tombstone at dusk, so we weren't able to take a look at Tombstone. I've heard it's been turned into a huge tourist trap. We'll see tomorrow morning. I definitely want to go to Boot Hill, and the Tombstone Epitaph, a newspaper that has been in print since Tombstone was born as a silver boom town back 1879. I will walk the same streets where the Earps, and Doc Holiday did. After that, we may hitch up and take off for Tucson. We'll go there by driving a couple of state scenic routes through high desert country.
I'll have more the next time I find a good wifi connection.
Revised 4/12/14. Added pictures.
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