Pistachios and White Sands
Today the weather changed. The early part of the morning was quite cool, but there was no wind and an almost cloudless sky. Because of the lack of wind the plans to visit Eagle Ranch and the petroglyphs were altered, since further forecasts for high winds meant that it might be difficult to visit the Whit Sands National Monument at any other time during our stay here in Alamogordo.
Following a fairly restful morning, during which I managed to get in touch with Julia using MS Messenger. Visual contact was made, but the sound wasn't too hot, so we relied on text. Have to try Skype tomorrow.
The first visit of the day was to the Eagle Ranch Pistachio Farm and Winery here in Alamogordo.
Having completed the purchases and arranged shipment, we left the Ranch, and moved a few hundred yards down the highway to the Running Indian Emporium, which stock huge quantities of tourist souvenirs, ranging from Apache bow and arrows to false fingernails. Much of the tat, sorry, merchandise had been manufactured far from New Mexico so after a few postcard purchases we moved on for sustenance. Today's choice was Subway, where yours truly and Audrey went for the 12-inch special, which each need a small trolley to transport back to the car. Having consumed our lunch back at our base, we then set off for the White Sands National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/whsa/ ).
The weather had improved considerably, and now it was really rather warm, nay.. rather hot! After spending a little time in the Visitor Centre, watching an interesting video presentation about White Sands, we drove onto the 8 mile drive through this amazing place. At first the sand ( its actually gypsum) dunes were covered with fairly dense brush, but gradually the vegetation became more sparse, and the sand seemed to get whiter and whiter. I am hoping that my efforts to upload some photographs meet with some success, as they failed miserably earlier in the day.
Having driven a couple of miles into the Sands, we parked gthe car and walked on a special board walk, to explore a small section of the desert, in which there was quite a lot of vegetation, and evidence of the area's wildlife, which is almost entirely nocturnal
The metal barriers designed to protect walkers from a three foot drop into the sand had one small drawback - because of the dryness of the air and the materials chosen to construct the walkway, almost every time one touched the handrail a short and very sharp static electric shock ensued.
This threat to life and limb did not deter these intrepid explorers, as they moved deeper into the desert.
It was interesting to spot tracks in the sand, and try to determine what kind of creatures might have made them.
There were paw prints of various sizes, and possibly tracks left by some reptilian creature. Some of the yucca appeared quite small, but apparently it was possible that, rather like an iceberg, a greater proportion of the plant was out of sight, beneath the sand.
I shall close at this point as I have failed to upload any more photos, and in addition, it's getting late.
More photos added on 20th April
Tomorrow we go north and east, to Ruidoso, where we will be staying for a couple of days, taking part in a Spanish Mass, having a meal at Ruidoso Golf Club, and enjoying a pot-luck lunch on Sunday.
More tomorrow, if internet access is available!
