Day 4 Las Cruces, NM to Tucson, AZ

The Honda Odyssey in the White Sands of New Mexico

The Smith boys at the dunes

Cole running in the sand

A dust devil traveling across from New Mexico to Arizona

The Honda Odyssey in Arizona - check out those rocks!

Today we started out headed out for White Sands National Park in New Mexico. This was a really cool thing to see. Millions (interesting theory) of years ago, this particular area was a small sea. Over time the sea left behind gypsum which was or turned into the white sand. 275 sq miles of this area is covered with white sand dunes. The White Sands Missle Range is also nearby. The US government and space program test missles, rockets, etc. there.

The boys loved the sand dunes and we had a hard time getting them off. They ran and jogged up and down in the pure white firm sand. I don't think the pics can do it justice. Beautiful western mountains surround the white sand dunes. However, the sun was getting hotter and hotter and we could feel ourselves getting ready to be baked. :) It was time to ride some more...

After we left the White Sands gift shop, we headed to Las Cruces to get lunch at WhatABurger. It was delicious!

We then traveled 4 hours to Tucson. The drive was nice with great weather. The scenery? Well, more brown desert looking terrain. We did see many dust devils (sands storms) funneled all along the route. Since yesterday we have met many long, long trains with the cars doubled on top of each other. We then crossed into Arizona and finally saw civilization when we got closer to Tuscon. Thank goodness! I, for one, was ready.