January 24, 2020 White Sands

We have visited White Sands NP 4 times, and every time is special. It's a treat for the eyes: blue skies frosting the white dunes. It's a treat for the ears: delicious silence broken only by occasional Sonic booms from nearby Holloman Air Force base. And it's a treat for the spirit. We set out on one of the

trails here that traverses the huge white dunes, and quickly realized that this time, the dune surface was different than previous visits. It hadn't rained in a while, and the dunes were soft and squishy on the trail. In previous visits, it must have rained , and it was windy so the dunes were hard packed and easy to traverse . This time, we decided to leave the trodden trail, and wander among the dunes. It was great to experience the beauty of the undisturbed dunes shaped by the wind into God's art. With no wind, it was completely silent, and so beautiful. Later in the day, we went on a walk with a ranger. At one point she showed our group a hole that had been dug in the gypsum.  The water table is barely 2 feet below the surface of the dunes! That's how trees and plant life survive here, even when they're engulfed in the gypsum. Later in the day, as a chill set in, we watched the sun set over the mountains. 

January 22, 2020 Bosque del Apache

For a number of reasons, we decided on this trip, to fly out to Texas and rent a car. Our first full day on this trip, we drove north from El Paso to Bosque del Apache national wildlife refuge near Socorro, NM. It's a stop on the migration route for sandhill cranes and snow geese, as well as many other birds. We hiked a bit here to a small canyon, but the highlight of our day had to be our stop at a large pond that was teeming with snow geese and ducks that were honking so loudly, we had to shout to be heard. I was surprised that one of the sounds I heard seemed to be that of a dog. A quick scan of the

far shore revealed 2 coyotes barking at the birds. One of them raised his head and let a long howl loose. Very cool! We watched as throngs of birds arrived and landed in the water, or left in the clear blue sky. This is why we love to travel: those special moments that make you feel privileged to see or experience something unique.