As mentioned in an earlier post, I had a pleasure of travelling to Ruidoso, New Mexico this past Labor Day weekend. While there locals told us to visit the White Sands National Monument. We were debating whether we should spend our afternoon going to this reservation since it was located 75 miles away from Ruidoso, the village where we were staying. After brief argument, we nonetheless decided to check it out and set our course to the southern New Mexico. We went from a place located 9,000 feet above sea level to the basin where this monument was located. It was an unusual feeling to experience that much of a climate change. In the matter of hours the temperature have gone up from 75F to 100F. We were officially in the desert,

What we saw in front of us as we entered the White Sands National Monument was hard to believe. I have never seen anything like that in my life. We were standing in the sand with the basin plains behind us and grand mountains far in the front. It is worth mentioning that this reservation is covering an area of 275 square miles. You don't realize the massive size of this place until you climb up one of the dunes and all you can see around you is the sea of bright white sand. We spent an hour driving around the dunes, stopping at the resting areas and climbing up and down the piles of sand. It is hard to explain the mixed feelings you get while being there, but the White Sands National Monument is definitely one of the most unique places (if not THE most unique) that I have visited in my life.