White Sands Really Are White!

Upon arriving in Las Cruces, we spoke by phone with our friend (formerly of Greenwood) who suggested we explore Mesilla and the Basilica of San Albino there. When we arrived, the Basilica was locked up so we explored the area. Lots of neat shops and people, including a couple of wineries!
When we returned to our car an hour later, we saw come women enter the Basilica, so we went in. They were musicians gathering to practice and said they had no problem with us poking around.



The Basilica is very pretty and small (about the size of Our Lady of the Greenwood's chapel.
We explored and listened to music before departing to meet our friend Yvonne for dinner.


She suggested Lorenzo's, an Italian restaurant in Mesilla. The architecture is reminiscent of the Alamo, but the food was authentic Italian. Their Mediterranean pizza was very good as a main course following a very nice caprese appetizer. Plus, there was a wine shop next door!


Next day, we stopped at a craft market on Main St and bought a few things, then proceeded North across the mountain to White Sands National Monument. the National Monument is right in the center of the valley, about 20 miles south of Holloman AFB and also about 25 miles South East of Trinity Site where the first nuclear bomb was detonated.


The sand blows and continuously tries to bury everything, so the National Park Service has to plow the roads regularly! The paved road only goes a mile or so, then you drive on "hard pack!" Actually, it is gypsum from the surrounding mountains, not sand. Next time you look at a piece of drywall, look at the gypsum and imagine it in big piles!


We climbed one of the dunes. You can see a long way from the top but it was very windy (but normal for White Sands) - 25+ mph winds whipping the sand around.
You can also run into some cute girls on these dunes!


This shot is taken from the car. Theresa is still on top of the dune - this gives you an idea of the size of the dunes!


At the north end of the valley floor is the White Sands Missile Range main complex.
The guard said we could take photos in the museum and missile display but that the mountains must be in the photo backgrounds - we could not shoot toward the valley floor. I assume because they may have been setting up classified tests.


After WW-II, our German rocket ship guys worked feverishly to stay ahead of Russia's German rocket ship guys! We used captured V-2's such as this one to conduct many experiments.


Finally, back in Las Cruces, we tried to drive cross campus at University of New Mexico only to discover that most of the "roads" on Micro Soft Streets and Trips are limited to pedestrian only!
We finally discovered a through street and this shot of the campus.


Tomorrow Phoenix!