Sand and Rocks, Part 1

We began this Monday morning with a visit to White Sands National Monument. It's a good thing we did not stay there last night because we
found out something later that night: you can go sledding on the sand!


We got there bright and early so we could beat the heat and also to have enough time to go back to the hotel and shower before check out time. The gift shop had sleds for rent and the kids had a blast taking turns down the sand dunes. These gypsum sand dunes are huge!

We were supposed to slide down sitting on the sled 

and Azoica made it look easy. 

 Emphasis on look...

...and YoManBob had to make things more interesting...

  

While the kids were sledding, Dennis found a "friend." This little guy has awesome camouflage, matching the sand perfectly, except for the blue streaks on the sides of its belly and on the neck. Very cool. I have no idea how he saw it, let alone caught it! And, no, he was not harmed. Dennis set him back, safe and sound.

After wearing ourselves out sledding (yes, I took a turn, too - screaming all the way down!) and checking out the wild life, we started off towards City of Rocks.