Yes that is what my day consists most of. It is now day 4 of my life on the road and this was a long one, I got up fairly early again and although the wifi at the White Sands Motel sucked it truly is such a cute, comfortable place and the lady at the front desk was so nice i highly recommend staying there. I ate a standard continental breakfast and loaded up the car to head to White Sands National Monument. I was really anticipating this part of the trip because i have never seen dunes before, let alone white ones in the middle of the desert and mountains. They were magical, so bright i could barely see.
I enjoy long walks on the dunes
I was debating to go to El Malpais National Monument, its a little over 5 hrs from Alamongordo, NM where the white sands are. I knew that it was such a far stretch but hey I’m on a road trip, the first few hours crept by but the scenery was amazing. I went through the Valley of Fire and i quickly realized how this area got its name. The rocks are black and look just like charcoal.
I also went past this charming house with an adorable front yard!
Yarn bomb!
there’s something like this in my home state of DE that i was just thinking about recently, creeeepy
don’t mind if i do! maybe this will be motivation for me to actually read a book
Meanwhile back on the road….
Such a beautiful sky!
The roads are long, lonely, and terrifying but the scenery cannot be matched.
I never made it to El Malpais National Monument, the visitors center was closed. It was about 2 hours out of the way but it wasn’t time wasted at all. I got well acquainted with miles of natural beauty that i used to only dream about.
Downtown Albuquerque
So im spending the night in Albuquerque, i have been anticipating this town but honestly so far its been a disappointment, but i have say its not you Albuquerque its me. Ive been in my car for a lot longer than id like to come to terms with today and i thought i peed myself my butt was sweating so much, hey maybe i did. #heartonthehighway
All that black rock in the Valley of Fire is part of a big lava flow that happened under 2,000 years ago. New Mexico is dotted with volcanoes in a form called “calderas” which instead of mountains are (or rather were) lakes of lava. Today they are essentially all just valleys.
Out of curiosity, what makes our roads terrifying? (our ghost towns are definitely creepy but I don’t think I’ve heard the roads described as terrifying)
Great to read a travel log of the state! I’m jealous of your epic road trip!
Hey thank so much for reading and commenting. The main thing that made the roads terrifying was that i was traveling alone and although there is an immense amount of natural beauty there wasn’t very many resources for miles, but that’s okay. I also got really scared driving at night in the pitch black but it was such an amazing experience, everyday i’d say to myself “I cant believe i did that!” which is a great feeling.