You know how when you hear about a place for a long time, you kind of build it up in your mind of what you think it is? But then you go there and you realize that it’s all at once both the same thing you thought it would be and very, very different?
Yeah, that how White Sands National Park was for me. I knew it was there. I knew it was full of pretty white sand dunes, but it’s just so different in person. We had learned about the sledding opportunities there before we went, but for whatever reason, we still didn’t plan ahead and yes, we were one of the fools that paid (GULP) $20/sled so the kids could spend the day sliding down the hills. After seeing the amount of fun they had sledding for HOURS, we have zero regrets.
(And those sleds are coming with us. We will find the space in the RV. Someday, somehow, we will use them again)
The sand at White Sands is so very different. We were all used to the sand at Indiana Dunes, which has a much coarser feel to it. This stuff, well, it was like sinking your feet into powdered sugar. It was like having the gentlest of foot massages all day. We didn’t realize it would be a shoe-free day, but the second we felt that sand, all the shoes and socks came off until we drove out of the park.
We all had the time of our lives. The kids were on a repeat-loop of sledding and free-fall-rolling down the hills while I ran around with my camera like a crazed fool. Brian vacillated between sledding competitions with the kids and marveling at the similarities between sand and snow avalanche patterns. even the dogs with their old, tired joints got out and romped in the sand like puppies.
So, yeah, White Sands National Park. The name doesn’t really leave anything to the imagination, but it was so much more. Think: beach in the snow with no water and no coats… I don’t know. Just go.
