2008 White Sands

We have visited White Sands National Monument, about an hour east of Las Cruces, every year that we have been in New Mexico.

This year, instead of going there for the sunset, the shortened WERC schedule required us to visit during the day, so we went for lunch. Unfortunately, the weather was deteriorating as the day went along, with the winds increasing and a high-wind warning in place for the area for later in the day. We got our visit in while the winds were still tolerable, and we were heading back to Las Cruces by about 1:30 p.m. Any later, and the winds would have made being outside unpleasant.








As we have always done, we ate our meal first. Nothing better than to be jumping off of sand dunes on a full stomach. We parked the van the way we did because it helped block the wind. Other than that, the weather was pleasant.


		A picture of people taking pictures.




Sometimes it's pleasanter to sit than to jump.		Other times its pleasanter to jump than to sit.




		This one gives a sense of the blowing wind with sand coming off the dune behind the jumpers


One way to get out of the wind is to go under the sand.		Most always, it's pleasantest to eat frozen custard than to jump or to sit.