White Sands National Monument

White Sands

The white sands were formed from snow melting in the mountains. The mountains are made of gypsum rock. As the snow melts some gypsum rock flows down the mountain with the melting snow. As the sun bleaches the rock fragments it turns into sand. It is forever growing.



As you travel along the roadway you can see that plows have to go down the road just like removing snow. Sand is constantly blowing & creating new drifts. It was a mere 108 degrees. Wow was it hot!!!


The drifts can be up to 30 feet high. The vast drifts are created by the winds. You can slide down the drifts like sleigh riding. I slid down the drift without a disk & it was fun, but very exhausting trying to climb up the sand drift.



The mountains in the background make a beautiful sight to see. All that is missing is the ocean. Miles of sand & no water.

And now the journey continues.

Carlsbad Cavern

Carlsbad New Mexico
Feels good to be back on the road. The temperature was 102 today with 15% humidity. The ride up to Carlsbad Cavern was enjoyable, but on the way back it was very hot!!! (102) It was our first time riding the bike through the mountains in the west. Looking forward to seeing & riding through some more mountains.



It was a cool 56 degrees in the cavern. (not like the 102 degrees outside) We went down 830 feet. The lowest point is 1,037 feet, but only researchers go that far down. You can fit 6 football fields inside one of the rooms, called the big room.




Now let the journey continue.