The route started out climbing over a pass in the San Andres mountains and dropping down in to the White Sands Basin. Once over the pass, the terrain is huge! You can see forever! It’s no wonder that they use parts of it as a missile test ranges. The San Andres mountains run for about two hundred and fifty km just a little bit east of north, and the land slopes down very gently across the width of the basin – 120 km in the south and 70 km wide further north.
As we drove along, we could see radio masts and things stretching out in lines into the distance all over the place. We guess that these are to track missiles when they are test flown. There are several different ranges that we saw; some for short-range, medium range, and longer sites. We passed the Missile Range Museum, but didn’t stop. We are sorry now that we missed it. It would have been quite interesting to visit.
Apparently we were a bit lucky, as there was a test scheduled for the day after we went through, and they close the road for several hours. Locals told us that the closure is normally for four hours, but is always extended, and will usually last for six or seven hours. We would have been well caught.
The White Sands part is quite small really, only about 20 km square. There is a lake that collects runoff from part of the mountains, but there is no apparent outlet. The water evaporates and leaves a fine gypsum sand that the prevailing wind blows into dunes. The lake is only accessible by ranger guided tours every so often. The ecology is extremely fragile, and they only run tours every couple of months or so. Needless to say, we weren’t there at the right time. What you can do is to drive the road into the dunes, and walk around. Remember that the previous day was windy in Las Cruces? Well it was windy here too, and the road was buried under a couple of feet of sand, so the road was closed and being cleared in the afternoon when we passed by on the way to the nearest town, Alamogordo. David came back later in the evening to take some photos and got at least one portfolio shot. He was planning on going back again for the morning light at 5 am, but it was overcast and dull, so he rolled over and went back to sleep.
In Alamogordo there is a Space and Rocket museum up in the hills about the town. Sharman was surprised in that she enjoyed it and was quite impressed with the displays. We normally don’t do a lot of museums (being a bit bored just wandering around mouldering old static exhibits), but this was quite different and interesting. David was chuffed to get up close and personal with the ‘Sonic Wind’ rocket propelled sled that they did very early experiments on human tolerance of G forces, and an old Nike rocket on display. He had put together a plastic model as a young boy in Himalaya Cres. Took him back a bit! Can still smell the acetone glue… 
Alamogordo town was a new layout to us. It is strung out all along the main road for about 5 miles. Around the middle of town, it is several blocks deep on each side, but all the businesses obviously want to be on Main Street, so it goes on and on, without a recognisable centre. Also, nothing is squashed in together like we are used to; the plots are plenty wide and there is more than enough room for your building and to drive right around the back and out the other side. It makes a nice wide open feel, but it sure does mean that you don’t want to walk more than a couple of doors down the road. A shop in the next block could be nearly a mile away!
An interesting and satisfying visit, but maybe a day short. David would have liked to spend more time out in the White Sands area, taking photos in the morning and evening light.
Next: Carlsbad Caverns...
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