Sledding in the Desert

We are in Alamogordo NM, which is near Holloman AFB and the White Sands Missile Range.  There is a lot of military history in the area and a railed test track where a land speed record was set in 2005 at over 6,400 MPH.

Yesterday we went over to White Sands National Monument to check things out.  We didn’t head over there until about 11am.  Typically the park is off limits due to Missile launches in the morning.  These launches can also shut down US 70 east and west.  

We made it to the visitor center and everything was open to head into the park.  We picked up a sticker for our travels and went around back to check out the sleds.  They had one used saucer for $15 and a block of sand wax for $1.99.  Hook line and sinker we were out the door for $18 and change.  With the option to sell the saucer back for $4.25 if we didn’t break it.  

We decided to drive all the way back into the park before making any stops.  Once you are back in the park it is like a Martian landscape.  No pavement, just fine sand and the sides of the roads look like snow drifts.  We circled the loop at the end and drove back around to the “right” sledding hill

.  We discarded our footwear, waxed the saucer and headed up the hill.  If the video loads, be aware...there may be a few expletives.  After trying multiple hills we finally got it right.  The best hills have denser, more packed sand.  

We didn’t really do a lot of hiking in the park.  It was a cool stop, but nothing I would swing back to NM to see.  

After our White Sands visit, we went to McGinn’s Pistachioland and picked up a few things.  All I can say is Margarita Pistachios are excellent.  We then stopped at Heart of the Desert and did a little wine tasting.  We came home with a bottle of Cab for dinner and it was good.  

The weather has been cooler and cloudy which is weird because we had about 20’days of sun in AZ.