White Sands National Monument

This has been a busy week.  We arrived in Tucson on Sunday evening.  On Monday we went to the Biosphere2.  Biosphere2 has about 6,500 sealed glass windows built on 3 acres.  There are 5 Ecosystems under glass. They are Ocean with coral reefs, mangrove wetlands, tropical rain forest, Savannah grassland and fog desert.  If you remember back in the early 90's a team of scientists lived in the Biosphere2 for 2years.  They had to stop the experiment because they were not getting enough calories in their diet.  On Tuesday we went Kartchner Cavern State Park.  Kartchner Caverns is a limestone  cave.  This "live" cave was discovered in 1974 by Tenen & Tufts and they didn't tell the land owners about it till 1978 after they  explored and mapped it.  It was kept secret until 1988 when it became a State Park.  Extraordinary precautions have been taken during it's development to conserve the cave's near pristine condition.  On Wednesday morning we went to The Pima Air & Space Museum.  They have a collection of over 250 aircraft covering 150 acres.  A lot of WWII Veterans were on hand eager to help you and tell their story.  Visiting the Museum was like stepping back in time.  Later on Wednesday we went to Tombstone, AZ and visited the town and, of course, Boot Hill Graveyard.  It was funny to walk through the graveyard and read grave markers.  They sure had a sense of humor.  On the way back to Tucson we had to go through a Border Patrol check point.  No matter what they say in the media those guys are doing their job.  We drove on to Las Cruces late on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday we celebrated Linda's birthday by eating at a Japanese Steak House. The chef was quite entertaining.  Friday morning we left Las Cruces heading to Ruidoso, NM.  We stopped at The White Sand National Monument.  The driving tour of the park covered about 15 miles.  It was so unusual to see so many white sand dunes.  They were so beautiful.  At times when we were driving on the sand it looked like a snow covered country scene.  Kids were even sledding on it just like snow. The townhouse we are staying in has two bedrooms and a loft and is complete with a garage. It could accommodate a family of eight.  Much more space than we need.  The complex is beautiful and has a par 3 golf course and our patio door is at the 5th hole.  We are spending the week reading, relaxing and seeing the sights of Ruidoso.  The following week we head to Texas.  I am excited about going to Texas because I will get to visit my sister Eunice and her family.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Below is a link to some pictures we took this week.
White Sand National Monument