White Sands, my butt! Where's the surf?

Wednesday December 10 2008
Alamogordo, NM--Taos, NM

We get up at Cloudcroft to beautiful day and head into Alamogordo to visit the New Mexico Space Hall of Fame and then the White Sands National Monument. The museum was, unlike the astronaut hall of fame in Florida, a bit more international and historical. It included displays about the all the different contributors to New Mexico's space programs (remember this is where it all started, really). In fact, the third space shuttle landing was in the White Sands. Plus, it had a display about the XPrize and the future of space travel--not just NASA funded projects. Then we went on to the White Sands National Monument. It is a very large beach in the middle of the desert. Only difference is there is no water. Like the Carslbad Caverns, the White Sands was truly awesome. We got out to play in the sands for a while--pretty easy given how hard packed they were before heading onto Taos.

We left Alamogordo, NM at about 2 pm in the afternoon. It was a lovely drive up 54 and across 380. But at about 4 pm we realized we were a long way from Taos. Not sure where we got messed up. All I can say is that we have that traveling brain now. The days mix together; no cell phone reception; occasional Wi-Fi; and we’re making it up as we go along. In San Antonio, NM we took some pictures of the most magnificent sunset (actually it was the reflection of the setting sun). I see where we got the purple mountains majesty from. Whew! Anyway, nighttime came upon us just as we hit I-25. And given our time, instead of hitting some roadfood in Bernalillo (just north of Albuquerque) we decided to make some snacks and take a bee-line for Taos, lest we get in too late. And so, we pass Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Espanola, and finally arrive in Taos at Debbie’s college friend, Alan Vetter's house around 8pm. We drink some wine, eat some cheese and quesadillas, and crash. We’ll spend a few days here and then on for the next to last leg of our journey.