Hurtz Spring

A few extra days in the itinerary allowed us to make a quick stop at White Sands National Park. This park is well known for...well..you can imagine...sands! It is the largest gypsum sand dune in the world. The area is surrounded by mountains and desert which makes for a very unique experience! We stayed on BLM land outside of Holloman Air Force base, which in itself was an experience. Upon our arrival we were amazed with a busy sky of MQ-9 reapers, helicopters and fighter jets. Before we even parked we watched 5 fighter jets take off right over our heads. That night we continued with the American patriotism by watching the election.
Our park exploration day consisted of one thing only...dune sledding and surfing. The boys insisted on renting the dune boards instead of a sled and they made a good call! We spent hours wandering around the white sands and recording videos of them jumping and sledding. Willow had some fun on her saucer sled as well! The dunes were really incredible, even after the sky clouded over in the afternoon the white glow of the sands made it feel like a sunny day!
We managed to learn a few things in the visitor center as well. The kids completed the junior ranger program and we learned that the oldest recorded human footprints in North America were discovered in the dunes. The footprints were walking alongside ice age animals dating back 23,000 years.
The kids exclaimed that this was their favorite national park stop!Read more