White Sands National Park, New Mexico and Tuscon

Think that's snow blowing in the wind over Memorial Day weekend? Try again. It's sand, and it's white year round.

Today we visited White Sands National Park, the world's largest gypsum dune fields, covering an incredible 275 square miles. Gypsum is the same stuff they make drywall from, and it's here in overabundance. Formely the site of the Permian Sea, over the last several thousand years it has evolved into bright white dunes in a large basin next to the Chihauhauan Mountains. The gympsum is whiter in winter, but at any time of year, sunglasses are required due to the bright glare. And the gympsum doesn't feel like sand at the beach; it feels like sandy talc, leaving a little residue in your hands.

For a desert landscape, you will be suprised to learn the dunes sit atop a layer of water, as the water has no natural outlet. The Apaches came here for water. You dig a hole in the sand and it fills overnight with water. Had we camped (the star gazing is fabulous apparently), we could have tried it, but we did not.

Instead, we made it a day trip, driving in a loop and stopping to both admire the unduluting dunes and the families sledding down the slopes. (Yes it was 90 degrees, but gypsum doesn't heat up like regular sand.)

We admired the tenacious plants who either grow very very fast, like the desert verbena with pretty pink flowers, or don't mind being buried a bit (yucca), or build their own pillars to perch on (sumac). The animals have adapted too.

The mice and lizards have evolved to match the light sand, though we did see one lizard that had a turquoise head and tail. This is the little white whiptail. (But can you see the lizard in the picture above? It's the common side-blotched lizard.) Lizards, ants and a few birds were out and about, but most of the animals come out at night.

Our last "hike" was the Nature Dune Trail. A prominent sign tells you to "Stay Alive" and not enter the trail if the temperature is above 85. We think it was closer to 90, but no, we ignored that sign. As we got to the top of the hill, sweating heavily, we determined the sign had some validity and turned right back around.

Day trippers should bring lots of water, slather on that sunblock, and bring a picnic. (Mid century modern picnic shelters await.)

We finished our day in Tuscon, near the University of Arizona. Appropriately, we stayed at the Graduate Hotel, which does student low budget and kitsch in style, without making you suffer like a student. Our room was decked out in squirrel/bird/snake drapes (hysterical), red plaid chairs, and an awesome Saguaro cactus floor lamp (which, apparently, you can't get on Amazon). Not to mention random photos of students from the 50's and a macrame corded lamp (not pictured). Graduate Hotels are a chain I highly recommend.

After walking around the University of Arizona campus, working hard to stay in the shade (low 90's), and admiring a fine campus, we finished our day on the rooftop bar of the Graduate Hotel. The rooftop bar has a view of the surrounding mountains, misters, and ambient music to please all generations. I picked Tattoo Girl Reisling from Washington state solely on the name, Steven had a locally flavored margarita and Benjamin had a hazy IPA. I enjoyed a tasty salad with prickly pear cactus viniagrette as the sun set.