We flew into El Paso and after stopping for lunch and a coffee, we headed to White Sands National Park.  We wanted to stop at Carlsbad Caverns because it was fairly close, but the caverns close at five and the last ticket inside is for 2:30 and we just couldn’t make it work.  

White Sands National Park is right next to the White Sands Missile Range. There are signs at the park that say that sometimes they need to close not only for weather, but for missile testing times!  The only thing you can see in terms of the missile range are fields.  We stopped at the visitor’s center because we thought we could buy a year national park pass, but they only sold them at the entrance.  We drove to the entrance and there was no one there, but a sign with a QR code, so we couldn’t buy the pass at White Sands.

We drove in and I was not very impressed at first. There were cool sand dunes, yes, but there was also a lot of vegetation on those dunes and I was picturing miles of white sand.  I just had to wait a bit.  Right before the asphalt road ended we saw an SUV stuck on the side of the road.  We decided to check on them when we drove out to see if they were still there.  My husband did not really believe me when I said they were definitely stuck.  

Some people rent or buy sleds and slide down the sands so you can see the lines from the sleds on the dunes.  It looks a little strange.  We stopped and took a bunch of pictures in all directions.  I love how the wind changes the ripples in the sand.  The sand is very fine and if you step in the wrong spot you definitely sink in a bit, but we climbed to the top of a dune and I didn’t get much sand in my sneakers.  

The road is a loop and there are several parking areas where you can go on trails into the dunes.  The one I wanted to check out was a boardwalk, but it was closed off.  It looked like it had flooded or something.  You can also just stop in one of the parking areas and climb on the dunes, but you have to be careful how far you go because you will lose all sense of direction easily.  You are not allowed to park on the side of the road.  I’m guessing because the soft sand piles up there.  

We drove the entire loop, took lots of pictures, and then headed out.  The SUV was still on the side of the road. The driver had the window rolled down, so we called out and ask if she needed help. She said yes.  Another driver said they would get someone, but no one ever showed up for her. We were in a rental car and had no idea how to get her out, but we said we would stop at the visitor center and let people know.  Can you believe that when we talked to them at the visitor center they said they could call the police, but she would get a fine AND she would have to call and pay for a tow truck to pull her out!  My husband asked someone who was driving into the park to please stop and let her know.  What a terrible visit she had to that park!

As we were driving we kept seeing signs for the biggest pistachio in the world.  We had to stop and see it!  People were standing under it eating their ice creams so we took pictures from the opposite side.  The shop has all kinds of neat pistachio souvenirs.  They also have samples of all the different flavors of pistachios that they sell.  You can even take a tour of the farm.  I tried some different flavors, but to me, pistachios roasted with some salt are the best kind.  

Our hotel was in Rudioso, which is near a ski mountain, so our hotel was ski themed.  It even had a barrel sauna you could use.  It got excellent ratings, but I thought it was pretty normal.  I did love that we got fresh muffins every morning and they were also different flavors each day.  Rudioso seems like a small town, but when we drove around a bit I found it was bigger than I thought. 

One of the reasons that my husband wanted us to stay there was because there were a lot of wild horses and elk.  We went for a drive (at the direction the hotel clerk) over near the high school and middle school.  We saw six elk, but no wild horses.  The elk were hanging out in the yards of houses eating brush.  We did find the wild horses on the morning we left Rudioso.  There was a herd of about 20 right outside the high school, next to the field where kids were having physical education class! No one stopped to look at them but us.