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White Sands NM - Easter Weekend


A three day weekend yields a trip that is a bit farther away...It took us 14 hours to get to Alamogordo, NM. Really? Ok, so we stopped at Fort Union on the way, took a few shots, ate a picnic lunch and got back on the road.  I guess we were there for three hours?  Must have been.  I can't say we are very good at keeping track of time while on a road trip, we just act on whatever moves us.  It is all about the journey after all!

We saw a sign for Fort Union and took the detour.  The first fort was constructed in the 1851 as a military garrison on the Santa Fe Trail, 28 miles outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico.  Three forts were built on the site, the third fort (1861-1891) is what now remains.  It was built from natural materials such as clay, stone and lumber.  The walls were constructed of adobe brick and adorned with red bricks.

Camera: FujiFilm XT3






Day Two: We didn't want to shoot the White Sands National Monument in the morning, or in the middle of the day.  What about a quick trip to Roswell to kill some time?  Ok, that is what we did.  Roswell is about two hours drive from Alamogordo, that gave us enough time to visit the International UFO Museum and have some lunch.  There was a fantastic grilled chicken aroma near the parking lot - we were going to have to get some of that.  We actually ended up at a Mexican restaurant next door, no grilled chicken here, great food at any rate.

The area around the UFO Museum is called Alien District - there are a few gift shops that have cheesy UFO trinkets, nothing that we had to have.  The museum had a lot of information, most of the stories we already knew since we watch a lot of that stuff on TV.








After lunch we got back on the road to the main event - The White Sands National Monument.


Look - there is a an abandoned house on the side of the road! Just too good to pass up.




The monument was once an ancient sea and the sand that remains is pure Gypsum.  The cool thing about Gypsum is that under the dunes there is moisture and the sand does not retain heat from the sun, therefore it is cool to the touch.  The winds blows constantly and if you leave a footprint it will soon disappear into the ripples of the dunes.

We arrived around three in the afternoon and stayed though sunset to the blue hour - totally amazing photo trip and a great way to break in the new FujiFilm XT3 camera.











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