It's been a long winter with not nearly enough exploring while I working moving my household among other things. So yesterday when I found out that the new owner for one of my dogs (long story there, which I won't bore you with here) was unable to come pick him up this weekend, I decided to go on an impromptu road trip for today. This was one long road trip - roughly 3 1/2 hours each way! The new owner lives somewhere east of Almagordo in the mountatins. So she agreed that if I drove the dog down that far, she would meet me in Tularosa - just on the outskirts of Almagordo. So I got up early this morning and hit the road by 7 AM! That makes both weekend days where I didn't sleep in! Ugh! LOL!
Since I was going to be near Alamagordo, I figured I would take a few hours and do some sightseeing before coming home. I couldn't stay too late as I have an early morning at work tomorrow. So I had to do some preliminary planning to see what I could do in the time I had. I know, I know....you're going to say that takes the fun out of the road trip. Well, I did plan to see things, but I didn't set a time frame, make any reservations and left the rest to chance. And chance certainly came into play, when on the long 62 mile stretch that is Hwy 380, I realized that I had little more than 1/4 of a tank of gas without any civilization in sight for miles. I was memorizing mile markers that had good cell reception when I finally came into Carrazoza and found a gas station! That was a close one. Road trip indeed!
According to Wikipedia, Alamagordo, NM lies in the Tularosa basin in the south-central desert of New Mexico. It is known for being connected with the Trinity test site of the first atomic bomb and home of the Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Monument. There's not much to the actual city of Alamagordo. A few chain restaurants, the requisite native New Mexican cuisine joints, a few hotels - and that's it. But there are several things to do in the area - one of those being the Space museum, which I did not have time to go see. Apparently many tourists stop in the area on their way to Carlsbad and Roswell - which actually makes it sort of a Trinity of visitation...okay enough of that. I googled things to do in Alamagordo and immediately picked the two things that stood out for me.
Thing number one: McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch. I know pistachios grow on trees. But I've never seen a live tree. And the web site promised photo ops with the world's largest pistachio! Who can resist that? Certainly not me! And it was only 6 miles from where I dropped off one of the dogs. Jane, my Frenchton, and I headed off in search of pistachios! Pistachios are originally from Iraq/Iran, but can now be found throughout the middle east, Turkey, Italy and the United States (California and New Mexico). Each tree takes up to seven years to reach full production and can produce up to 50,000 seeds every two years. Of course, New Mexico is well suited for this desert plant. And man do they taste wonderful! There wasn't much in the way of education on pistachios in the store - beyond some news articles tacked to the wall. Perhaps they do more during harvest season?? Also, I was there on a Sunday before noon, so was unable to do the wine tasting. Apparently they have a sweet wine flavored with pistachio extract. The trees themselves weren't much to look at, having been pruned and also leafless in winter. But it was still interesting to learn about them and try the sample flavors - I can highly recommend the lemon-lime flavored ones. See this link for some beautiful photos on the web of pistachio trees.
Continuing on Hwy 70W, past Holloman Air Force base, the land here is strictly desert basin surrounded by mountains. Lots and lots of scrub brush, tumbleweeds, cactus and sand. I have to say it's a really boring drive. I knew I wouldn't have very much time to see White Sands - if it was even open - and that's with it being an extra 22 miles from the Pistachio Tree Ranch. Apparently, and especially this time of year, the Air Force routinely closes Hwy 70 and White Sands Monument due to the proximity of their missile and rocket test sites. The web site suggests you call ahead to check for closings. But, heck, this is a road trip right? Who calls ahead on a road trip? :)
As it turns out I was lucky - not only was the monument open, but the guard house to the dune area was closed and entrance was free! I saved a whole $3!! (Entry fee is $3 per person unless you have a national park pass.) White Sands is the world's largest gypsum sand dunefield, covering 275 square miles. Gypsum sand grains are actually clear, but as they tumble about in the wind they become scratched. These scratches reflect the light and make it appear white. As you pass Holloman Air Force base on 70, you start to see a stripe of white at the base of the mountains ahead - it grows larger the closer you get - this is White Sands.
Just at the entrance is the gift shop/visitor center. Jane and I both agreed to skip it due to the crowds, lack of time and the need to stretch our legs before making the long trip back to Albuquerque. Driving past the visitor center, you approach the gate house entrance to the dunes. A large sign reminds you that once you pass this point, there is absolutely no water available. Make sure you have it packed or purchase water in the gift store. In the summer, with the sun's glare on the sand it can exceed 100 degrees and dehydration occurs swiftly. Once past that, it is about a 2 mile drive past the dunes on the left until you come to a parking area where you can get out into the sand. (As a side note, in case you are interested, the visitors center does sell plastic sleds if you'd like to sled down the dunes.) I parked at the first area, and headed down the path to the dunes. Dogs are welcome here - on leash of course. There are lots of signs pointing out flora and fauna - the dunes are home to a variety of small wildlife including the kit fox and various lizards and birds. It was really hard to get pictures because the glare on the back of my camera was so bad I couldn't see what I was focusing on. I did manage to get a picture of some cute little footprints in the sand - bird I think - before Jane swept them away in her mad dash for the stick she found. I swear, she can find a stick anywhere!! We had quite a blast running through the sand and looking around. I can highly recommend it as a place to visit. Plan to spend a bit of time so that you can do a nice long hike and check out the visitors center as well. Perhaps I'll go back someday.
Since I was going to be near Alamagordo, I figured I would take a few hours and do some sightseeing before coming home. I couldn't stay too late as I have an early morning at work tomorrow. So I had to do some preliminary planning to see what I could do in the time I had. I know, I know....you're going to say that takes the fun out of the road trip. Well, I did plan to see things, but I didn't set a time frame, make any reservations and left the rest to chance. And chance certainly came into play, when on the long 62 mile stretch that is Hwy 380, I realized that I had little more than 1/4 of a tank of gas without any civilization in sight for miles. I was memorizing mile markers that had good cell reception when I finally came into Carrazoza and found a gas station! That was a close one. Road trip indeed!
According to Wikipedia, Alamagordo, NM lies in the Tularosa basin in the south-central desert of New Mexico. It is known for being connected with the Trinity test site of the first atomic bomb and home of the Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Monument. There's not much to the actual city of Alamagordo. A few chain restaurants, the requisite native New Mexican cuisine joints, a few hotels - and that's it. But there are several things to do in the area - one of those being the Space museum, which I did not have time to go see. Apparently many tourists stop in the area on their way to Carlsbad and Roswell - which actually makes it sort of a Trinity of visitation...okay enough of that. I googled things to do in Alamagordo and immediately picked the two things that stood out for me.
Thing number one: McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch. I know pistachios grow on trees. But I've never seen a live tree. And the web site promised photo ops with the world's largest pistachio! Who can resist that? Certainly not me! And it was only 6 miles from where I dropped off one of the dogs. Jane, my Frenchton, and I headed off in search of pistachios! Pistachios are originally from Iraq/Iran, but can now be found throughout the middle east, Turkey, Italy and the United States (California and New Mexico). Each tree takes up to seven years to reach full production and can produce up to 50,000 seeds every two years. Of course, New Mexico is well suited for this desert plant. And man do they taste wonderful! There wasn't much in the way of education on pistachios in the store - beyond some news articles tacked to the wall. Perhaps they do more during harvest season?? Also, I was there on a Sunday before noon, so was unable to do the wine tasting. Apparently they have a sweet wine flavored with pistachio extract. The trees themselves weren't much to look at, having been pruned and also leafless in winter. But it was still interesting to learn about them and try the sample flavors - I can highly recommend the lemon-lime flavored ones. See this link for some beautiful photos on the web of pistachio trees.
As it turns out I was lucky - not only was the monument open, but the guard house to the dune area was closed and entrance was free! I saved a whole $3!! (Entry fee is $3 per person unless you have a national park pass.) White Sands is the world's largest gypsum sand dunefield, covering 275 square miles. Gypsum sand grains are actually clear, but as they tumble about in the wind they become scratched. These scratches reflect the light and make it appear white. As you pass Holloman Air Force base on 70, you start to see a stripe of white at the base of the mountains ahead - it grows larger the closer you get - this is White Sands.
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