159) White Sands National Park

Visited: Friday, December 15, 2023

Oh, my.  Let's see...

1) White Sands was a national monument, not a national park, until 2019.  It's still signed that way most places.

2) On Highway 380, you pass a turn-off to the Trinity site; perhaps the nicest patch at the White Sands bookstore is actually for the Trinity site.

3) The white sands themselves are treated as snow, effectively.  They are plowed, they look like snow.  A sandball does _not_ throw nearly as well as a snowball.  On the other hand, sand slush is much more pleasant than snow slush.

4) Just before you get to Amalogordo, there is a tourist trap which definitely ensnared us.  Pistachioland is advertised all the way up to Albuquerque - over three hours away.  And it's - really, mostly just a gift store.  With "the world's largest pistachio" statue out front.  It's actually rather a nice gift store as such things go.

5) At white sands, the yucca plants survive by growing very, very tall.  Which works fine until the sand drifts away, at which point the giant stalks collapse.  You can see these at the sight; while the sight as a whole is great, this might be my single favorite fact about the site.

6) At the gift shop - just over from the bookstore - they sell sleds; we saw a number of folks sledding - or rather, attempting to sled - down the sand dunes.  I know some can manage it - there are some sled tracks - but this isn't snow; it's not slippery.  They sell wax at the gift shop to, which undoubtedly helps, but - you're still trying to get down a fairly grippy surface.

7) The Lincoln National Forest, East of White Sands, doesn't really look anything like a forest when you first enter.  Over time, however, you see more and more (and more) trees, and it earns its name.

8) The movie, right next to the bookstore, is well worthwhile.

9) Given time, the thing we didn't do which most tempts is the sunset tour.  

10) Almost forgot - driving along 380, there are four "roadside tables".  Labelled as such, and literally tables - picnic tables? - with covers, and nothing else.  I have no idea why these exist.  But a "rest stop" was the same thing, but with _four_ covered tables.  So - a roadside table is apparently 25% of a rest stop.