We left Texas on March 8 and headed west! We hadn’t been on the road for almost a month and we were ready to go. Mostly I was ready to be able to relax for a while. After Thrive I only got one day to do absolutely nothing, glorious, but after that it was busy with seeing friends, business meetings, and getting ready for the next leg of our road trip.

I can’t believe we’ve seen all of the states on the East Coast, it doesn’t seem real sometimes. Yet here we are, almost 8 months after starting this amazing adventure and we’re off to tackle the Western and Mid-Western states. The first stop on our list was White Sands, New Mexico. After a couple of days of driving across Texas (gosh, Texas is BIG) we finally made it into New Mexico.

We stayed in the town of Alamogordo, NM, which was a perfect location for us. It was 30 minutes for us to go up into the mountain town of Cloudcroft, NM one day and do a little hike. I don’t have pictures from this but I can tell you that during the last 5 minutes of the hike there were snow flurries and it was MAGICAL. The town of Cloudcroft isn’t something high on our list to visit again, it was pretty tiny, but we did find a cute little tea shop that now has us both on a major loose leaf tea kick. yummm

The next day, we headed to White Sands National Monument. This had been on our bucket-list even before we left Houston for the first time in July 2017, and it did not disappoint. Yes, it is a treck to get there but it is unreal. Pictures don’t do it justice. You’re driving through the desert and then all of the sudden there is a patch of white sand next to you, but you don’t see the incredible dunes until you’re in the park.

Once you drive back into the park it is white sand as far as you can see. Magical, unbelievable, breathtaking, those are all words that come to mind. I felt like I was on another planet. As soon as we got there Brannon took off on a 5-mile hike on a guided trail up and down the dunes. I took a hard pass on that one. I’d done that before in Michigan and it was not my cup of tea. It ended up taking him less than two hours *showoff,* and I hung out on the dunes, did a small hike on my own, and got a little work done while he was off hiking through the sand.

When he finished his hike we spent the next few hours playing on the dunes. Everyone brings sleds and discs to slide down the hill on – and even though the tallest hills seem scary, trust me, those are the ones you want to go down. Until you have to climb back up again…

We stayed until sunset and highly recommend it. Bring plenty of water and snacks and spend the day there. There are bathrooms at each parking spot (nothing fancy mind you), so you never have to leave.

Tips for Visiting White Sands: 

1. Bring lots of water. The park recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day. There is no water available once you get into the park.
2. Bring discs and wax (for the disks) to slide down the dunes. We saw people using toboggans as well, and those just don’t work well in the sand. The nose tends to get stuck and you don’t go far.
3. Take chairs, food, an umbrella and set up camp for the day! We’d do this if we had kids for sure, you can park right next to a dune so you’re close to your car where you can set up base.
4. Stay for the sunset.
5. Bring a coat! It gets cold out there once the sun goes down.
6. Sunglasses are a must.
7. Sunscreen is also a must.

Off to the next adventure! Next up, Sedona, Arizona. Another long 9 hour drive for us. Worth it. Blog post coming soon!

I’d love to know if you’ve ever been to White Sands, or if you have any questions about visiting! Let me know in the comments.