Love is All – At White Sands National Park in New Mexico

During our short stay at White Sands Missile Range, we took a day trip to White Sands National Park. If you saw the movie Oppenheimer, the range is where he and other scientists tested the first atomic bomb. A haunting history in this starkly beautiful area. The jagged mountains loomed each morning as the sun rose in a brilliant buttery ball. The mountains provided insulation against the nuclear blast. Nature protecting the human race from itself.

Nearing White Sands National Park 

As we drove away from the Organ Mountains at the range, nature offered raw high desert panoramas. White Sands National Park simply appeared between two mountain ranges, San Andres Mountains and Sacramento Mountains. The shimmering white sands started appearing along the roadside, and gave us a peek at what was hiding in the Alkali Flats, a dried up seabed.

Still some vegetation before the pure white sands appear.

After a quick stop at the visitor center, we headed into the park. The further we drove, the higher the drifts of snowlike sand. In fact, the sand had been plowed off the road just like snowplows pushed snow off the streets in the Midwest. My husband and I grew up in Michigan and have fond memories of playing on the piles of snows Mother Nature offered each winter.

Mother and daughter having fun sliding down the dunes.

The sand was surprising. As we got out at the base of a huge hill, we expected the white stuff to be cold like our snow at home. But, to our surprise, it was soft as air and floated through our fingers. There were sleds at the base on the hill and a couple of people trudged to the top and tried to slide down. It was slow going, but when a small child tried it, she had more success.

Stunning white dunes at White Sands National Park.

Mother Nature is full of surprises. This small stretch of white sand dunes, made from gypsum, in the middle of mountains with a history that goes back to the Ice Age. They found “ghost prints” from ancient animals and humans. Fascinating evidence of from 23,000 years ago.

Nature flaunting her beauty.

Love is All in the undulating white sand dunes that shift and flow offering a place to visit that feels other worldly.

To learn more about White Sands National Park, please click on the following link:

http://nps.com

Make sure you check before you go. A few times per week the park closes when missiles are fired from White Sands Missile Range.