Las Cruces, NM

Oh no, I just noticed it's been over a month since I've posted. I would say I've been so busy, but I'm not so sure doing what. We did make our little trip over to Las Cruces, NM. It was about a 5-6 hour drive but a straight shot east with 75 mph speed limits with not too much traffic so wasn't too bad. We did bring River, his first road trip with us. I must say he gets the award for best behaved, plus he was a bit of a distraction for the kids in the car so a little less whining than usual. The best part of the trip was when Dr. Gore surprised us by showing up back at the hotel room, unannounced, with the colleague he was visiting at NMSU. You can only imagine the state of the room all 5 of us & the dog were sharing. I had to slam the door very nicely in their face and run around frantically picking up while hissing at the children to turn off the tv and pick up. Dr. Gore said his colleague probably just wanted to see the crazy for himself. Yes, we are entertaining!
The pictures above are of White Sands. 275 sq. miles of pure white sand, never seen anything like it. You can rent sleds and go surfing on the dunes. You have do drive through a Missile Range area to get there. In the visitor's guide I was reading it said to call the missile range before you head to White Sands to make sure they aren't testing missiles that day or else the road will be closed, interesting.....
I thought New Mexico was a little more eye-catching than Arizona, a tiny bit more green or shall I say a tiny bit less desert, and I liked the housing style better, more authentic. And we got to see the Payne family, some old friends from Ithaca, a fun surprise.