ALAMOGORDO AND WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, NEW MEXICO

We cross the Mescalero Apache Reservation and stop for gas at their Casino. I venture inside and am hit by a wall of cigarette smoke. The place is well attended and there is already a line at the bar and it's only 9:30AM.

We stop at the Eagle Ranch for pistachios. They have 12,000 trees and they grow, process and package right on the spot. They are the oldest and largest in New Mexico.

We spend the afternoon at White Sands National Monument. This is 275 square miles of glistening white gypsum sand. It is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. It is so big because it sits in a basin with no outward drainage. Peggy takes the dogs for an illegal, off leash, romp through the dunes. They are all exhausted when they get back.

We continue through the White Sands Missle Range which includes the "Trinity Site." This is where the worlds first atomic bomb was exploded in 1945. They open the site twice a year so you can go see the crater. We cross the San Andres mountains into Las Cruces and park at Fort Selden for the night.

Pistachio trees at Eagle Ranch Pistachios.

Snow covered mountains behind the pistachio grove.

Pistachios ready for harvest.

White Sands visitor center built by the WP in 1938, representing Spanish Pueblo Adobe architecure.

White Sands National Monument.

White Sands National Monument.

Poudre playing in the snow covered sand.

Sky playing in the snow covered sand.