Yesterday we went to the White Sands National Monument. I had hoped to go early in the morning before it hit 100˚, but CM had read that it is best at night. So we ended up entering the park at around 7pm and we stayed until 10pm. Last night was perfect and I’m sure I will never forget it.

Although you can hike through the park on foot, we chose to drive through it. There are several pull-offs along the route that you can park at and wander off on foot. As it turned out, the first pull-off was the most isolated. The rest always had a lot of people, but there were still amazing views.

We saw the sun set and that’s when things really got interesting. It was almost a full moon and the white sands really reflected the moon’s light. As a result, even though it was dark we could still see for miles. CM and I sat at the top of a dune and let the kids run around. Widget drew pictures in the sand while Midget tried to build a “snow man”.

It was a great night. By 9pm we couldn’t see anyone else on the dunes and the air just howled in our ears. At 9:30 the park ranger stopped by with a friendly reminder that we needed to be out of the park by 10. He was a nice guy and we promised that we’d follow the posted speed limits. We took a little video when we got back to the RV and then we headed home.

Midget and Widget fell asleep instantly. We drove back to the camp site and parked. Everyone was so sleepy that we didn’t even plug in or put out the slideout. We put the kids in their sleeping bags, sand and all.

This morning everyone woke up in a good mood and there’s a layer of sand over everything in the RV. I don’t mind, though. It was a great experience.