3/12 White Sands National Park, NM

 OK, my biggest problem on this day was forgetting about Spring Break.  Since I have been retired and quit teaching online part-time, I can barely remember what day of the week it is, let alone when school holidays occur.  I was told by a couple of "breakers" that they were from Texas, as about half of the visitors were, and had figured they would avoid the crowds by heading northwest to New Mexico than to the beach as they usually do.  Ha!!  Did not work!

The last time I was here, there was hardly anyone in the parking lot in front of the visitor center.  This time, there was a volunteer directing traffic!  There is a small parking lot in the front which includes three long lanes for buses or RVs only.  What most car owners did not realize was that there was a much bigger parking lot behind the building and an overflow lot across the entrance roadway.  The volunteer was keeping cars from parking in the bus and RV spots and making them circle around to park in one of the other lots.  

I was a bit shocked at the crowds, but happy to have a designated parking spot that someone was actually monitoring.  Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of it, but below is a photo of the line-up to pay fees at the entrance booth.  You can see it in the distance to the left.  And they even had two lanes open at the booth!! 

 

Anyway, I parked in the RV lane and entered the bookstore, which is owned by the Park Service.  There was someone there answering questions and a cashier who had a  line of at least 15 people tryiing to buy books and postcards.  I walked around the little museum and looked at the exhibits before waiting in line to purchase postcards to send my grandkids. 

There was also a consignment-run gift shop toward the back selling the usual gift shop junk, but it was even more packed than the bookstore, so I did not stay.  Had to practically fight my way out.

A quick photo of one of the posters showing how animals living in the white sands became pale or white in color over time.  There was also a huge pile of red snow-type saucers--$25 for a new one and $19 for a used one.  (Somehow I doubt if travelers from Texas or even New Mexico have any reason for taking these home, so most seemed to be used.)

Now this was interesting.  The fossilized foot prints on the left are of an adult and a child human, and the ones on the right are from a giant sloth. 

Another view of the line waiting to get into the park.  Luckily, there were a lot of people leaving the park, as well, since it was about 3 pm by the time I got there.  You can see one of the dunes of white gypsum sand on the left. 

More white sand dunes.

The white sand is really not sand, but is gypsum, the stuff they put in drywall.  It is soft and not hot on your feet, but it does blow around more easily than regular sand because it is lighter.  Over time, the dunes move. 

Enough people were leaving the park so I was able to find a good parking spot at the area where I wanted to walk on the boardwalk to a viewing point. 

This is the boardwalk, literally the only one in the park, but it was a short hike, just right for me!  It was also not crowded with people carrying red snow saucers they had rented!!

A view of my parked rig from the boardwalk. 

A lot of people, whether they had sleds or not, were sitting on the top of dunes and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. 

 

 

At a certain point, the paved roadway disappears, and you end up driving on very hard-packed gypsum.  The park plows it periodically, but it was like driving on a very rough gravel road, so my top speed slowed to about 15 MPH. 

Whew!  Back on pavement and headed home to Oliver Lee State Park.  I stopped in Alamogordo and picked up a pizza from Domino's on my way back.  Haven't had pizza in months.

3/11 Oliver Lee State Park, Alamogordo, NM

I have been here before, but it is such a quiet, peaceful, and beautiful place, I made reservations this time for the maximum 14 days you are allowed to stay here.  

The weather has finally been warm and sunny.  There has been a lot less rain here than in Arizona, but they have had enough that only a few places in the eastern part of the state has really been under a drought.  However, the Chihuahuan desert here is higher than the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona, and it mainly gets rain in the winter only, while the Sonoran Desert gets rain in both the winter and the summer.  Here is a map of the Chihuahuan Desert.  You can see how most of it is really in Mexico.

There are a lot of cactus in this desert, but there are no large saguaro or organ pipe cactus.  The most common plants seem to be yucca, mesquite, and creosote bushes.  Anyway, here are some photos I took this week of the campground and the mountains behind it.  

First, the state park is four miles from the main highway that goes past it.  This makes it nicely quiet.  Plus, it is on the slope of the mountain range in the background, so you have a terrific view of the plains opposite.

This area used to be a ranch, and the first thing you notice as you drive up to the state park is this canyon which provided the ranch with water for its animals and the home that was here. 

 

You can walk up the canyon to find the little stream that still exists here. 

 Looking south, there is a good view of the mountain range. 

Looking to the west, you have a very long view. 

 

 

And looking slightly northwest, you can see a line of white sand dunes, which are part of White Sands National Park and the still being used White Sands Missile Site where rockets for the space program were originally tested.  There are still a few days when the nearby military base closes the road past the national park.  

 

On the day I took this photo using my camera's telephone function, it was very windy, and the white sands looked like a big sandstorm, except the "sand" is not really sand.  It is actually gypsum, which is the same material used to make drywall.  It is softer on your feet than sand and never gets hot. 

About half a mile down the slope from the state park campground is a place where people are allowed to camp without water or electric hookups.  Personally, I like electricity so i can have satellite TV, among other things like air conditioning. 

This is looking north towards the canyon from the far south part of the campground.

 

If you look carefully on this photo, you will see an old exploratory mine and a line of rocks going from top to bottom just to the right of this mine.  The low rock fence was intended to keep cattle from getting into the ranch house and canyon area where the stream was located. You can walk up to the mine, but it might be a bit much for me. 

 

 

This photo shows another rock cattle fence on the north side of the canyon and stream.  

A long view through the campground to the southwest.  I wonder how far those mountains are away??

 

 

This is my campsite.  It is large, but unfortunately, the only level place is about two feet about the roadway.  It takes a little wheel spinning to back up those two feet.  Then, I have drive back and forth until I get the while rig on the higher and more level part of the site.  As it is, I have to put a board under the right front wheel to raise it up a bit and have put chocks on two of the tires to prevent my home from rolling downhill.  The result is that it is mostly level.   

Most campgrounds have long narrow campsites at an angle that you can easily back into.  This one has some of the hardest sites to get into, but the view is worth it.  The electric and water hookups are on the far side, but that is OK.  I have to drive about a quarter mile to dump my tanks every 3-4 days, but I am used to that and just plan my outings for those days.

There is a small botanical garden near the visitor center.  I took some photos, but need to take more, so check back tomorrow.  I just wish I were here about a month from now when these are in bloom. 

The cactus below is a strawberry hedgehog cactus.  Hedgehog cactus grow in clumps and are only about 8-10" tall.

The sign on this one says it is a blind prickly pear cactus. 

 

 

This display is under development, but it looks like some kind of old farm wagon.  Will check at visitor center tomorrow.  

 

3/6 Rockhound State Park, Deming, NM

I have been here before, but it has been several years.  Why do I go back to a lot of the same places?  Mostly, I go back to places I have enjoyed in the past but did not stay long enough the first time.  If I do not go back to a campground, it probably means I did not enjoy it in the past.

Anyway, New Mexico has some very nice state parks.  Although it is not the Sonoran Desert, southern New Mexico's Chihuahuan desert has its own beauty.  It is higher and drier, in general, than Arizona's Sonoran desert, and it does not have any Saguaro Cactus.  It does, however, have most of the other cacti found in other states.  

Rockhound State Park is much smaller than most state parks in New Mexico, and it does not have a lake or river running through it.  The result is that it is VERY quiet. And, as the name indicates, it really has a lot of rocks, and as is NOT true is almost every other state park in the country, you are actually encouraged to collect them and take them home with you!

I only had three days to spend here, but here are some of the photos I took. 

This part of southwestern New Mexico has had enough rain this year that the desert has a lot of vegetation in it, turning it green.  This is the campground on the edge of the slope up the mountains in the background.  It is a few hundred feet higher than the town of Deming and the valley in the distance, so at night you can see a lot of lights sparkling in the distance.

My campsite was large and very long, with a covered picnic table for hot summer days.  Except it was pretty chilly when i was here!  Nights even dropped below 32 degrees!

This cement strip is actually a shallow ditch so that rainwater would not erode the gravel.

 

 

 

Next to my campsite was this small botanical garden.  It was surrounded by barbed wire, by the way, so that the neighboring cattle did not get in to eat the plants.  

This is a weird-looking barrel cactus.  Not sure what caused it to grow with this deformity, but it was interesting. 

 

It is a bit early for wildflowers, but there were a few.  Nearly all desert wildflowers are small and often hidden under other plants, so you have to look carefully for them.  These little yellow flowers, I think, are Gordon's Bladderpod.

There are a lot of types of prickly pear, and the sign clearly identifies this as Cow's Tongue prickly pear.

These are Mexican Gold Poppies.

And these, as the sign says, are Brown-spined Prickly Pear.

And some Purple Prickly Pear.

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Desert Chicory

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Mohave or Hall's Suncup??

Desert Globemallow

Visitor center.  Next stop will be Oliver Lee State Park, near Alamogordo, NM.