White Sands National Park

November 10 - 16, 2019

Blog Highlights:

White Sands National Monument / Park
Cloudcroft, NM

1. White Sands National Monument / Park

White Sands was still a National Monument when we visited, but was re-designated as a National Park on December 20, 2019. We’ll have to go back for a new stamp in our park passport.

When driving through the park you feel as though you’ve been transported to the arctic tundra.

Scotty hard at work inside the Jeep (weekend on-call duty). Traci took the opportunity to grab a sunset pic.

We finally made it! Traci had faint memories of visiting here as a child and was excited to return and see that it not only held up to, but surpassed, her expectations.

Traci preparing to launch on an exciting slide down the hill! What could go wrong?

Well, apparently a lot. It’s a good thing we don’t have any skiing adventures planned in the near future.

Scotty wasn’t sure if he was going to make it out alive, but he found the will to carry on.

The orange posts along the trail guided us back to safety.

In typical fashion…we squeezed out of the park just before closing, but not before being treated with this beautiful view of the night sky.

2. Cloudcroft, NM

19.5 miles from Alamogordo, NM (the city we called home during our stay) is the town of Cloudcroft, NM. The drive up to Cloudcroft (which sits at an elevation of 8,675 feet) is both pretty and interesting, as you transition from the desert below into the Lincoln National Forest. Crazy! We made a few visits to Cloudcroft Brewery, where we always found friendly service, good conversation, and tasty brews.