This place tripped me out! I couldn’t believe it! But before I tell you how gorgeous it is – let’s talk about costs.
Now, please remember, most of these places have an entrance fee…. please do your research as far as entrance fees, passes and discounts accepted.
We have the Lifetime Senior pass for National things (Parks and Monuments, etc). The Lifetime pass costs us $80. But we saved entrance fees at Big Bend National Park ($30), Three Rivers Petroglyphs ($10), and now at White Sands National Monument ($20) = $60 in the past couple of weeks.
We also saved half-price at Amistad National Recreation Center and a few more boondocking locations with our Senior Pass. So it’s already paid for itself for life!
The passes get confusing, I know! But once you learn them – you’ll never be without them if you like being outside of an RV Park! This particular one is probably our favorite!
I’ll go back and do a write up on the passes we use and what we’ve saved vs. paid out.
Ok, let’s move on to White Sands …..
White Sands National Monument isn’t actually sand. It’s Gypsum – yep, the stuff they make Sheetrock out of. We didn’t know what to expect and decided to expect the unexpected. The place was awesome!
Driving in – it all started slowly…. pretty much looked like sand dunes I’ve seen on the Outer Banks of NC. Without the ocean in the picture.
Then it turned to what I’ve seen in Vail, CO with snow banks taller than the vehicle we were in and driving on ice!
You’re sense of what you’re seeing is obscured. Like I just said, you go from thinking your on the beach (but you’re in the desert), then you think you’re in snow (but you’re in the desert).
And then you see this! And feel like you’re on the moon!
A lot of folks up here taking sunset pictures. We saw some couples having Engagement photo’s made, families sledding, people eating a picnic dinner, and others just wandering around like us.
This isn’t like beach sand (other than it’s not) and it’s not gritty. It’s actually cold to the feet (maybe it does get hot in the summer but for us it’s the end of February). I was surprised. I had to take my flip flops off at one point to make it up a dune and was surprised at how cool it felt. I thought it was wet!
We climbed the dune behind the truck and I sank up to half-way of my calf!
According to the Visitor Center, the wind out here changes the surface constantly. A few folks have gotten lost in the dunes and died here. Bring plenty of water with you and pay attention to the markers; although some days the markers are barely visible because the wind changes the landscape!
Enjoy the pictures please! And one day, come see for yourself. It’s amazing!
Great day! Now let’s go home!