Across the U.S.: Day 14

by Kathy 28. June 2009 20:45

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White Sands National Monument

Happy 10th Birthday to Genevieve today! We were celebrating this special day by visiting the nearby White Sands National Monument and going sledding down the big sand dunes.

Genevieve opened her presents and cards this morning, as soon as we would let her. She was very happy with her cards and gifts.

When she was opening some of the cards, Sebastian commented, “It doesn’t matter what the card looks like; what is important is the love that’s inside.” So insightful, that little guy of ours.

Genevieve and Sebastian then ran outside to meet their two new friends, Devan (age 9) and Donovan (age 5), at the playground.

Devan and Donovan were traveling to Texas this afternoon. They had gone sledding on the dunes of White Sands National Monument yesterday. When the children said their final goodbyes, Devan presented Genevieve and Sebastian with some sled wax that would help their sleds zoom faster down the hill.

The Monument does not allow overnight camping, which is why we were staying in Alamogordo, the nearest town.

Our RV site:

Genevieve got her wish for a brilliant clear blue sky!

We drove 17 miles to the White Sands National Monument.

We could see the gleaming white dunes in the distance. The white sand looked out of place among the other desert colors.

We obtained two Jr. Ranger booklets at the visitor’s center.

We also watched a short movie about the formation of the sand dunes. Sebastian thought that the movie was a bit dull, and he ultimately decided not to pursue a Jr. Ranger badge today. Genevieve, on the other hand, had enough enthusiasm and motivation for both of them—she attacked her Jr. Ranger assignments with gusto!

We purchased sleds (round plastic discs) at the Monument gift shop. New sleds were $15; however, you could purchase a used sled for $10. You could also sell the sleds back to the shop at the end of the day--$5 for turning in a new sled, and $3 for a used sled. We opted for the used sleds.

We then took the RV down the “Dunes Drive,” an 8-mile road leading to the heart of the sand dunes, with roadside displays discussing geology, animal life, and plants.

We stopped at each roadside exhibit and learned that the White Sands National Monument sits at the northern part of the large Chihuahuan Desert, which extends through northern Mexico, southwestern Texas, southern New Mexico and a tiny bit of Arizona. This desert has scorching days, freezing nights, strong winds, and poorly-developed soil. The sand dunes at the Monument are formed from gypsum, a mineral found in the nearby mountains. (Plaster of paris is pure gypsum.) Rain and snow dissolve the mineral and carry it to the desert floor; when the water evaporates, the gypsum is left behind, forming crystals that eventually break into smaller and smaller pieces, until they are fine grains that are then pushed into large dunes by the strong winds.

The dunes at the beginning of the scenic drive were fairly small.

We decided to hike the Dune Life Nature Trail, a one-mile loop with numerous exhibits along the way discussing features of the dunes.

Genevieve and I at the trailhead:

Sebastian:

Genevieve was looking for an insect to satisfy her Jr. Ranger “search” requirement. We were fortunate enough to spy a camel cricket:

We found out later from one of the rangers that sighting a camel cricket was very rare. He had never seen one at the park, so we showed him the above photo on our digital camera.

The temperature was very hot today, and the air was unusually humid. The glare of the white sand was blinding. Ben put his sunglasses on Sebastian. The trail wandered through the thick fine sand, with some uphill climbs. After about ¼ of a mile, Sebastian was lagging and starting to overheat. Ben took Sebastian back to the RV, while Genevieve and I continued onward.

Genevieve and I had fun hiking to each display along the route. We learned so many things! Here is a sampling of our new knowledge: Various animals (such as the kangaroo mouse) have adapted to their environments by camouflaging themselves to match the white sand; the stinkbug, however, has remained dark black because it fends off predators by releasing a horrible stench. Some desert animals, like the kit fox, have very large ears to give off heat and keep their bodies cool. Cottonwood trees can become buried by dunes but still survive so long as they can keep some of their leaves outside of the sand. The dunes move a few inches at a time. Yucca plants can grow faster than a dune can cover them, so if you see a three foot yucca plant sticking out of a 20 foot dune, the yucca plant is really 23 feet tall.

The hot sun was almost unbearable. I loaned Genevieve my hat:

Here are Genevieve and I at the end of the hike—we are used to hiking, but we felt like we had walked three miles instead of one.

We then drove to the far end of Dunes Drive, where the highest dunes were located.

The road wound through the dunes:

The gypsum looked like snow and was blindingly white—almost painful to look at without protective sunglasses.

We spent some time zipping down the hills. The sand was very soft and fine, and crashing into them was like landing in a soft pillow.

The hardest part was climbing to the top of the deep soft sand dune.

Getting ready to slide . . .

Genevieve took off first:

Sebastian’s turn:

Ben took a turn . . . trying the “surfing” technique:

I took a turn too—using the old-fashioned “sitting” technique:

The “backwards” technique was very popular:

Genevieve tried the “surfing” approach:

So did Sebastian:

And then he took a rest:

All of this fun was hard work!

Ben and I took photos of each other:

The birthday girl was very happy:

We returned to the visitor’s center so that Genevieve could complete her Jr. Ranger activities. One of the requirements was to interview a ranger. She chose Mike, a new ranger who had only been on the job for 7 weeks. He had recently retired from the U.S. Air Force. Becoming a ranger was his “dream job.” He said that he loved the outdoors and had gone to college and prepared his whole life for this job. He was extremely patient and kind with Genevieve, and it was obvious that he truly loved his work.

Mike carefully reviewed Genevieve’s completed assignments, and then he swore her in as a Jr. Ranger:

Genevieve bought a Geology book last week and has been devouring it. Her head is now brimming with theories about how the earth was created and the land formations developed, and she is very enthusiastic about discussing her ideas and knowledge. The National Park Rangers that we have met during this trip, as well as previous journeys, have all fostered and encouraged Genevieve’s excitement and desire to learn more about the environment. I am so grateful for each one of them who has touched our lives and contributed to our love and understanding of the world in which we live.

On the way home from the Monument, we stopped by Baskin-Robbins in Alamogordo to pick up a birthday cake that I had ordered before leaving home.

While navigating our way back to the RV park, we passed by “Kid’s Kingdom,” an amazing playground built by the community of Alamogordo:

Of course, the children had to explore all of the creative spaces, mazes, bridges, rooms, tunnels, as well as the rocket ship and boat.

After dinner tonight, the kids still had energy to play in the RV park playground.

Genevieve even created a sculpture that she entitled “Keeping the Evil Trapped.” She explained that the dark rock represented the evil, the grass on top was for fire, the bottle cap and straw on the rock was litter to show how some people mistreated the earth, and the circle of rocks around everything was for containment.