Sledding on Sand

If there's one thing I've learned on this trip it's that driving the RV for long contiguous periods of time really stinks.  It's best to do 3-4 hours at most, and if you have to go further, break up the trip.  Also, since it's springtime, we're being bludgeoned by strong winds here in New Mexico.  Leaving as close as possible to sunrise helps too.

The day's strategy was to leave City of Rocks and drive to Carlsbad.  We were basically driving the entire width of New Mexico west to east.  Sarah and I both enjoyed our stay at City of Rocks, and were a bit sad to leave.  We were also a little dismayed at having to backtrack - we'd already driven from Las Cruces once.  In order to break up the long trip, I'd planned a mid-morning stop at White Sands National Monument.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was a really neat experience.  This park was a close replica to Indiana Dunes State Park, near where I grew up.  We drove from the visitors center along an asphalt road and eventually onto a sand road.  The sand road was very badly washboarded, and the RV shook from roof to tire, including the occupants.

The store near the visitors center sold saucer sleds, which we used to sled down some of the larger dunes.  I wanted to sled near the nature trail parking lot, but Sarah insisted that we weren't supposed to.  I didn't believe her, until we found a sign.  I hate it when she's right.

We had a ton of fun, but had to quickly retreat to the RV when a sandstorm approached.  I took a quick shower in the RV, which was really pleasant.  Unfortunately for Sarah, I was in a super hurry to get back on the road.  She had to finish her shower while I got the RV on the road.  There were some complaints and some loud thuds coming from the shower compartment, but she came out without bruises or bloody marks so I assume all was well.  :)