Christmas In The Desert

(White Sands National Monument) 28 degrees, cloudy skies

An unusual snow storm has swept our area and suddenly the  sand dunes have been covered completely in snow.  The White Sands National Monument has been closed for two days due to the major roads being shut down. Once again we  have the park to ourselves.  What a wonder it is to behold.  We wish our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Enjoy a few pictures of this unusual winter wonderland.

Holiday Festivities In Carlsbad New Mexico

(Carlsbad New Mexico) 42 degrees, chilly

We traveled with another volunteer (Judy) from White Sands to Carlsbad New Mexico last weekend.  It was a fun filled trip that we planned to experience some of the area attractions.  One of the highlights of the trip was a special candlelight Rock of Ages tour at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  Twice a year the park turns off all lights in the Big Room and participants experience a popular tour from the 1930's.  Several park rangers reenacted key figures of the time such as a very colorful Superintendent and an early explorer.  At the end of the tour we extinguished all the lanterns and stood in the complete darkness as a ranger sang Rock of Ages.  Her voice echoed through the cave.  We were not allowed to take pictures but it will always be a wonderful memory. 

Afterwards, we drove into town and floated down the Pecos river in a pontoon boat navigated by Carlsbad Navy officer.  The Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Christmas on the Pecos event and homeowners along the river decorate their homes with lights and very creative displays.  It was lots of fun. 

We stayed at a hotel for the night and the next morning went back to Carlsbad Caverns.  We had made reservations for a ranger led tour called the Kings Palace.  If you plan to visit, be sure to make reservations for the cave tours in advance.  They almost always sell out in advance.  There are lots of choices but we decided to not take one that involved crawling and climbing ladders.  :)

It was a great tour of one of the magnificent caves. Our ranger explained the caves were formed by around 4 million years ago by sulfuric acid dissolving the limestone.  Over time the cave formations began to grow.  The caves were discovered by an 16 year old cowhand in the 1893.  He explored many of the caves by lantern and eventually a photograph from the New York Times spread the word and in 1923 Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it a monument. 

As you can probably tell, I've been experimenting with Picassa's new features.  Have you tried it yet?

One our way back we stopped at Guadalupe National Park.  This Texas park is just an hour away.  It features lots of trails and has a nice campground. 

We took the dogs for a walk on the nature trail.  There is a very nice visitors center and the ranger really tried to recruit us as volunteers. Anyone interested? 

We really enjoyed our visit.  I liked caving much more than expected.  Maybe we'll have to explore some more in the future. 

A new header has been added to our blog.  We have now started our second year as full timers.  Our theme is "Our Trip Around The Sun" and we are now starting a new rotation.  Life is good. 

Ranger Patrol Along The Fence Line Border Of White Sands

(White Sands National Monument) 41 degrees, rain, cloudy

Rain is a rare event where we are volunteering in New Mexico.  They only receive about 10 inches of rain a year and have 330 days of sunshine.  It is chilly today without the pretty blue skies and there is still snow on the ground.  The rain does help refresh everything and the folks around here really get excited about it. 

Last week I got to drive around the border of the National Monument with one of the rangers doing a fence check.  John helped arrange this for me.   It was an opportunity to see areas of the dunefield not accessible to the public.  The dunefield in the picture above are the fastest moving dunes.  They travel on average about 40 feet per year.  They are lower in size, very rounded,  and look so different.  The gypsum sand is moved by the high winds and the pull of gravity along the slip face or leading edge of the dune avalanches the sand. 

There have been lots of movies filmed out here.  Most recently a George Clooney film called Men Who Stare At Goats was filmed in this area.  There is an upcoming movie with Johnny Depp that will be filmed soon.  Unfortunately, we will be gone. 

This area borders along the Missile Range.  The space shuttle landed near here in the 1980's.  I could not take any pictures of the missile range but it is certainly a very unusual place. 

Walking the fence line

The purpose of this trip was to check the fence line around the border of the monument.  In 1969 New Mexico Fish and Game introduced 97 African Oryx to the missile range.  The purpose was to provide wild game hunting to the area.  Great in theory but the animals became a big threat to the monument when their populations soared to over 5000.  There are not any predators to this animal and it has really flourished. 

The monument eventually had to erect high fences to keep the oryx out and  1998 removed approximately 228 of them from the park.  This was done by  tranquilizing the oryx and removing them by helicopter.   The fence line is now diligently checked weekly to keep them out.  Despite these efforts there are always a few that manage to get in. There are now more oryx in New Mexico than where they originally came from in Africa. 

African Oryx

It was a great day.  If I had known how fun it is to be park ranger, I would have certainly pursed this career. 

Have you checked out the new addition to Picasa?  I downloaded the recent 3.9 addition from their website and it has some pretty cool new features.  My pictures today use a feature called deep shadow that makes your pictures appear to "float".  Can you tell the difference? 

I also used a fun one called Polaroid and Focal Zone for the picture above of the snowman.  Check it out!  I have used Picasa to manage my pictures for many years.  It is free and so easy to use. 

Snow Day At White Sands National Monument

(White Sands National Monument, NM) 2 degrees, clear blue skies, 2 inches of snow last night

Visitor Center

Jimmy the snow dog

The temperature really dropped last night and we had about 2 inches of snow with lots of drifts.  This area is not really equipped for this type of weather and the major road in front of the monument was closed.  The staff could not come in today so the park was closed...except for the volunteers who live here.  That's right, we had the whole park to ourselves.  Now that is a great perk.  We all bundled up this morning and went out into the dunefield to see what was going on.  It was spectacular. 

Volunteers:  Judy, Johnny, Eileen, & John

Picnic Tables

John pretending to be in a snow drift

We went out twice.  What a fantastic snow day!  Jimmy and Sam (Judy's dog) joined in the fun too. 

The sand actually looked brown next to the snow.  Usually it appears to be dazzling white.   Under the sand here at White Sands  is 30 feet of water.  The sand wicks up the water and is always damp.  Today it was frozen in place and very easy to walk on. 

We may not be paid for the hours we work but the benefits sure are priceless.  

Luminary Open House At White Sands

(White Sands National Monument, New Mexico) 42 degrees, windy, rain

On Friday, White Sands National Monument held an open house.  This is an annual event that is held in the evening.  Luminaries were lit and placed around the grounds of the visitor center. 

All department at the Monument were involved the planning of this event.   We had a luminary construction party last week.  We made over 500 and each was filled with white sand.  Afterwards we had a delicious pot luck. 

Luminary construction crew

Luminary Crew

The Visitor Center offered a discount to shoppers and there was a great live band playing in the courtyard.  They were dressed in traditional western garb.  Traditional food and hot spiced cider was offered. 

Gift Shop in Visitor Center

Live Band

We offered tours of the new displays in the Visitor Center and another one about the adobe construction. 

New display

Johnny giving a tour

John was a part of the parking crew and I was the greeter.  It was lots of fun and very well attended. 

"Official" Greeter

Celebrating Our First Anniversary As Fulltime RVers

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico (16 degrees, snowing)

One year ago today we set off on our adventure as fulltime RVers. We had spent over five years planning for this big day. We left Indianapolis Indiana and are currenlty  volunteering at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.  Ironically the day we left it snowed and on our first anniversary it is snowing again. That was not in the plans!

We have:

• Traveled 8757 miles in the motorhome
• Traveled numerous miles in the jeep
• Spent at least one night in 14 States
• Reside in 350 square feet of living space
• Worked for two KOA's and one National Forest
• Volunteered at one National Monument
• Participated in one NOMADS project
• Marveled at many beautiful sunsets, sunrises, and star filled skies
• Paddled several rivers  and lakes in our kayak
• Made many new friends
• Enjoyed several visits from family and friends
• Plus so much more

We are certainly enjoying the ride!  It is a great fit for us.  We are healthier, happier, and still love each other very much.  We are grateful that we can travel and enjoy this beautiful country.  It's been a great trip around the sun. 

We put together a a slideshow of a few of our favorite experiences  

Thanksgiving Adventure to Durango and Mesa Verde National Park

(Durango, Colorado) 48 degrees, clear blue skies

Silverton - Durango Train

We had four days off during Thanksgiving and decided to spend the weekend in Durango Colorado.  It is about a 450 mile trip one way and for such a short weekend we decided to leave the motorhome at White Sands and stay in a hotel.  We packed up a few warm clothes and Jimmy and took off back to Colorado.   The scenery quickly changed and soon we were looking out over the beautiful snow capped San Juan Mountains (14ers) and breathing in the deep scent of pine.  It was a glorious drive. 

Downtown Durango

Durango is a pretty town located along the Animas River with brick streets, quaint shops, and great restaurants.  We stayed at the Durango Downtown Inn and they recommended Christina's for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was a huge buffet with all the traditional items, plus lots of fresh seafood.  Everything was delicious. 

The next day we had reservations on the Durango - Silverton Cascade Winter Train.  This is an abbreviated five hour trip offered in the fall and winter.  Lots of folks had suggested this train trip to us.  The scenery was breathtaking.  Watching the train arrive and hook up to the cars was fun. I loved listening to the train whistle each time we came close to an intersection.  Each car was decorated for the holidays, however, we spent most of our time in the open car.  The weather was moderate and we had unlimited mugs of hot chocolate. 

Open Car

We climbed about 2000 feet in elevation and soon the ground was covered in a light dusting of snow. 

We stopped for about 45 minutes.  You could hike an easy trail along the river or you could spend time around a big fire.  Some of the kids built snowmen. 

The trip back was just as delightful.  We met a nice couple (Mike & Kathy) and later on we had dinner together and even went Christmas caroling. 

In the evening there is also  a Polar Express train for kids of all ages.  Most folks arrive in pajamas and there is a short train trip to the North Pole.   We saw this depart later in the evening and it sure looked like fun. 

The next day we drove to Mesa Verde National Park.  It was about an hour drive. During this time of year only the Spruce House cliff dwelling can be toured.  It was a beautiful drive up to the museum with spectacular overlooks. 

Trail down to Spruce House

We stopped at the museum and watched a good movie that told us all about the cliff dwellers.   The museum exhibits were rather dated and dimly lite. However, a new visitor center will open next summer.

You can walk down to the Spruce House without having to climb any ladders or crawl through tunnels (like some cliff dwellings). It is actually wheel chair accessible, however, it would be a tough push back up the half mile trail. 

The ruins were discovered in the 1880's by some ranchers.  The Ancestral Puebloan's lived here for about 700 years from 600-1300 AD and hid their homes among the cliffs.  They must have been very busy constructing over 600 dwellings in the area.  The Spruce House is the best preserved cliff dwelling. 

Kiva (originally would have had a roof)

There was a ranger down at the site who told us about the ruins.  There were probably about 40 to 50 people who lived here. There were always fires going.  Evidence of the smoke were very obvious.  There were several kivas that were ceremonial gathering rooms. 

The Puebloans  believed that they arrived from another world to this one from a small hole in the floor.  You entered and exited the kiva by ladder and it was amazingly well ventilated. 

It was a tough existence and water was very scarce.  It can also be very cold in the winter.  It is not known why they left but it is thought to be due to a climate change.

Ceremonial Kiva

Foot and hand holes used to climb cliffs

We also drove the Mesa Loop Road that had ten overlooks that view small cliff dwellings, mesa top dwellings, and the amazing Cliff Palace.  We enjoyed our visit and would like to return to visit more of the cliff dwellings. 

Cliff Palace

Pipe House

Far View House

We enjoyed our trip and celebrated John's anniversary of his last day at the post office.  We certainly are enjoying retirement.