White Sands, Black Lava.

The dusty conditions made for an interesting sunset.  

Remember when I mentioned that we might get windy conditions and a cold snap? We got both. We left Saguaro for Rockhound State Park in Deming, NM on Tuesday, 4/4 (Happy Birthday, Mike!) and Rog wrestled the coach for 180 miles through gusting side-winds that made staying in our lane a noteworthy achievement. The flashing warning signs about dust storm conditions and low visibility did not inspire confidence either. Several times we contemplated just finding a spot to hunker down for the night. But we persevered and made it to our spot at Rockhound. We’d stayed here once before and loved the huge sites and lovely views. This is one of the few state parks where you are allowed, even encouraged, to collect rocks! Sadly, given the weather conditions, we did not do any rockhounding. The temps dipped into the low 20’s that night, and we were happy to have hookups to run the electric heater. Brrrrr. We stayed just one night and left the next morning for Alamogordo, NM.

Rockhound rocks! (literally 😝)

Huge campsites and all the rocks you can carry. 😊

The next day the winds were considerably calmer, although still breezy enough to have Rog using some choice language when a particularly strong side gust caught him unawares. We planned our route to go through Hatch, NM, home of the deliciously famous Hatch Green Chiles. We were too early in the season for fresh chiles, but we did stock up on salsa, red chile powder, and an assortment of peanut brittle made with green chiles, red chiles, and chipotle chiles. Sweet and spicy!

No fresh Hatch Green Chiles, but we didn't come away empty handed.

Our destination on Wednesday, 4/5, was Oliver Lee State Park near Alamogordo, NM. The campground has a mix of reservation and first come/first served sites. When we were planning the trip there were no reservable sites available, so we knew we were taking a chance. Our Plan B was a boondocking area within sight of the park, so we weren’t too worried.

We pulled in mid-afternoon to a “campground full” sign. We were driving the loops in hopes that one of the first come/first serve sites might have opened up, when we ran into the Park Ranger. Did we have reservations? No. Had we called earlier that day? No. How long did we want to stay? Three days. He laughed at us. Then he went above and beyond and led us to an overflow area where I think we had one of the best views in the whole park. Lol. No hook-ups, but we were thrilled.

What an awesome view. I'll take overflow anytime!

Oliver Lee is a nice little state park and campground, with a small botanical garden, hiking trails, and a visitor’s center with information on the history of the area. Scattered throughout the park are artifacts from native inhabitants and early settlers. The park’s namesame, Oliver Lee, was a rancher who at one time had amassed about a million acres. He also was politically active and was charged and later acquitted of murder for shooting a rival. You can’t make this stuff up. We walked the puppers on the Riparian Trail and were tickled to see hummingbirds dipping into the cactus flowers in the garden. But Oliver Lee’s real claim to fame (the state park, not the person) is that it is the closest campground to White Sands National Park. In this case, closest was still 22 miles away!

Lovely flowers to keep...

...the hummingbirds happy.

Dog Canyon, the Riparian Trail, and stone mortar holes
used to grind seeds and dried beans.

On Thursday, 4/6, we added a new National Park to our list. Yay! White Sands was designated a National Monument in 1933 to protect the largest gypsum sand dunes in the world. In 2019, its status was changed to a National Park. Gypsum sand is a brilliant white, with the tallest dunes in the ever-changing landscape reaching 60 feet in height. It is so reflective, that even on hot, sunny days the sands are still comfortable to walk on. Speaking of walking, these fossilized footprints were found in the park's western playa. Researchers estimated their age at about 23,000 years old. This finding was significant because it was previously believed that humans had arrived in North America closer to 13,500 - 16,000 years ago. 

Fossilized human footprints found at White Sands.
(Photos from NPS website)

For you military buffs, after Pearl Harbor President Roosevelt created the nearby Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range and soldiers conducted tank maneuvers inside the park boundaries. In 1945 missile testing began and White Sands Proving Ground was established. The first atomic bomb was tested at the Trinity site about 60 miles north of the park. The Gunnery Range closed after WWII, but then reopened as Holloman Air Force Base in 1958. Both military areas still operate around the park boundaries and the park is closed periodically for missile testing.

Can you see the sparkle?

Beautiful, pristine white dunes.

While the park encompasses 227 square miles, the developed area is relatively small. We enjoyed the Visitor’s Center and then drove into the park. The road into the park is about 8 miles long with a loop at the end and several large parking areas at the picnic sites and trailheads. On all sides are the dunes. Closer to the visitor’s center the dunes have more vegetation with small shrubs and grasses covering large areas, the further you go into the park the less vegetation there is. The dunes are continually shifting and changing and both plants and animals have evolved to live in the desolate conditions. The lizards and rodents are much lighter in color than the same species in the nearby desert, providing better camouflage on the white sands. I’m going to post far more pictures than necessary, so apologies in advance!

Huge parking area with picnic shelters.

We had fun looking for tracks.
We found bird, lizard, and monkey. Lol.

Rog taking in the white expanse.

Rog and I were on the dunes early in the afternoon. In the bright sun, the white sands are blinding. When I took off my polarized sunglasses so I could see my camera screen, the glare was downright painful. The sands are dazzling! We decided to make a return trip later in the evening because this national park is exceptional, in that…drum roll, please…the entire park is dog-friendly!!!  I think I did a happy dance. This is the only National Park we’ve found where we could take the puppers pretty much everywhere but into the buildings! We were thrilled and so excited to have them join us. The usual rules apply, use a leash and pick up the poo. But we knew it would be easy to find an area where we could be off by ourselves and give them some off-leash play time. Once you get away from the more popular areas next to the parking lots, it’s wide-open spaces with undulating dunes hiding pockets of flat, sparsely vegetated areas.

The wind makes wave patterns in the sand.

There are miles of white sand in all directions.

Happy, sandy campers!

We returned about 6:30pm and found a relatively deserted area to hike out onto the dunes. The wind had picked up some, but we could see other people in the distance assembled to watch the sunset. With nobody near us, we let the kids off lead and both Raney and Riley ran wild in the soft sand. They got in some much-needed play time and zoomies, going full-on crazy dog. Lol. When they finally slowed down, we hiked to the top of a dune and found a spot to watch the sun set behind the San Andreas Mountains. Such a lovely sight.

Crazy dog!

Miles of open dunes and where do they play?
Yep, right between the wickets. Lol.

Riley looking majestic in the evening light.

The lovely Raney.
Rog called her our ink spot on the sand. Lol.

Waiting for sunset.
(Rog is really not the Michelin Man, the wind just poofed his jacket. 😄)

Sunset was worth the wait.

We really wanted to stay and watch the full moon rise over the dunes, but the park closed at 8pm and the Rangers were circling and admonishing folks to return to their cars and exit the park. The park runs a program to see the full moon on the dunes, but we found out it was a ticketed event that sells out in minutes. We dawdled on the dunes as long as we could but there was no way we could stretch out our stay long enough, believe me, we tried. Lol. Even so, the pups had an absolute blast and we will happily add White Sands to our itinerary whenever we’re in the area.

Dusk on the dunes.

Time to go.

On Friday, we did a grocery run into the town of Alamogordo and found a pup-friendly taproom, 575 Brewery. The kids enjoyed laying on the cool concrete in the shade while we enjoyed lunch and a cold beer. Oh, did I forget to mention we were back to high 70’s and hot sun. More than a 55-degree swing from just the other day. Springtime in the desert. Lol.

575 Brewing Company

The pups liked it too!

Couldn't resist a few more sunset shots. 😀

Our next stop was a distinct contrast to White Sands. Only 70 miles away is a huge desolate, black lava field. We arrived at Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, NM on Saturday, 4/8. Between 2000 and 5000 years ago lava spewed from volcanic vents and flowed along the floor of the Tularosa Basin. The flow is composed of olivine basalt, a black lava similar to flows in Hawaii. The lava flow is 44 miles long and 2 to 5 miles wide, with an average depth of 45 feet although at its thickest point it is 165 feet deep. In total, the flow covers 127 square miles. The campground at Valley of Fires sits on a kipukas – an island of higher ground surrounded by the lava flow.

What a difference a few miles makes, from white sands to black lava.
Photo from Google maps.

No soft sand here.

The campground at Valley of Fires is small, only 19 RV sites, but the spaces are very spread out with lovely views of the lava fields and mountains in the distance. We were able to take the puppers on the Malpais Nature Trail, a raised boardwalk about a mile long through the lava field. There are interpretive signs along the way with facts about the plants, animals, and geography. Little Black Peak, visible in the distance, marks the origin of a major lava flow. The lava field contains pressure ridges, collapsed lava bubbles and tubes. On a hot summer day, the surface temperature can easily exceed 100°, while just 10 feet below in the shade of a collapsed lava bubble it’s a comfortable 60-70°, providing shelter for several species of bats. I also found it interesting that animals here have evolved to be darker in color than their counterparts elsewhere - just the opposite of White Sands. You can hike anywhere you want on the lava field, but the footing is very challenging with sharp rocks and crevasses. Definitely not dog friendly, so we opted to stay on the boardwalk. 

Our site at Valley of Fires.

Lovely views of the mountains. 

The pups hanging out in the shade.

The Malpais Nature Trail.

The trail winds through the lava field.

Little Black Peak in the distance.

The lava here consists of two types: pahoehoe (pronounced 'paw-hoey-hoey") and aa (pronounced "ah-ah"). Both names are of Hawaiian origin. Aa forms when lava flows rapidly and is chunky and sharp and looks more chaotic. Pahoehoe is associated with slower flow rates and gentle slopes and is the primary type seen at Valley of Fires. It has a more ropey, organic appearance.

Pahoehoe is the most common type of lava at Valley of Fires.

Evening light and a storm in the distance.

We really enjoyed our two nights at Valley of Fires. But before we move on, let me regale you with a tale of woe. Ok, that was for dramatic effect. Lol.  In addition to all the boring chores and maintenance that needs done while on the road, we have found that stuff regularly breaks too. Just on this trip our microwave/convection oven gave up the ghost. Rog opened it up to make sure it wasn’t a simple fix. Nope, it’ll have to be replaced – for the second time! Ugh. The bedroom air conditioner is blowing air, just not cold air. The bathroom ceiling fan broke and the smoke alarm is no longer signaling that the toast is done.

But the really big issue was our bedroom slide. It first failed in August 2020. Rog managed to MacGyver it and we took it to Elite RV in Oregon for repairs. It failed again in April 2022. Rog did interim repairs and back to Elite it went. Now, just a year later, it’s acting up again. It operates on a cable/pulley system and this time one of the cables was visibly frayed and gumming up the works. Rog removed the trim boards so he could see what was going on and then spent hours watching repair videos on-line. He ordered tools and parts and had them shipped to a RV park in Carlsbad, NM where we had reservations. When we closed the slide at Oliver Lee, the cable completely broke so we decided to leave it closed during our stay at Valley of Fires. That put the closet doors smack up against my side of the bed, trapping me in place during our morning snuggles with Raney. There are worse fates. Lol.

Which one of these is not like the others? Arrrrgh.

When we got to Carlsbad on Monday, 4/10, the parts were waiting for us, and Rog set to work. He removed the frayed cable, which had somehow gotten stuck between the pulleys instead of running in the grooves. Every time we opened or closed the slide it just chewed it up more. Of course, the cable that broke was in the far corner and the hardest one to access. Isn’t that always how it works? 🙄 After several hours of work over two days, Rog got it repaired. Yay! Hopefully we won’t be making this an annual event. Although he did order a spare set of parts just in case! There happened to be an RV parts/repair business right next to the campground where we're staying and Rog has been a steady customer. He got the part and repaired the bathroom fan and bought a replacement smoke detector. He spent more hours on-line and on the roof trying to diagnose the air conditioner, but no love so far. We did have a mobile RV repair guy look at it and he got it working, but later that day it was acting up again. May be a bad relay, it's hard to diagnose an intermittant problem. Ugh. But, we can live without the air conditioner and microwave/convection oven until we get home. It is so nice traveling with my own personal handyman/mobile RV repair guy (also chef, driver, tour guide…you get the picture). 😊

My jack-of-all-trades working yet another miracle. Lol. 

We’re here in Carlsbad to meet up with our oldest daughter, Randi, and her boyfriend, Jose. We didn’t have time to go all the way to New Braunfels, TX (between Austin and San Antonio) where they live, so they agreed to meet us part way. We're so excited to see her and we should have fun stuff to share in the next post!