Visiting Alamogordo and White Sands National Park, New Mexico Part 4

Since we were touring New Mexico, I had to book where we could visit White Sands National Park. I remember the very first time I came west many years ago, I expected to see a sandy desert. I was very surprised to see how much vegetation there is and never saw the big sand dunes that I expected. Needless to say White Sands was a bucket list spot for me.

I liked the horses at this gate into the rv park and the sunset made a fabulous backdrop

We booked our stay at Boot Hill RV Park in Alamogordo, NM and I am glad we decided to spend a week. There was quite a bit to see in the area from pistachio farms, vineyards, White Sands, Museums on missiles and space exploration, desert vistas and mountains; definitely a little bit of everything that New Mexico has to offer. Boot Hill RV Park was conveniently located to taste both pistachios and wine. Directly across the highway (within walking distance) was McGinns Pistachio Land. This roadside attraction boasts the world’s largest pistachio. So of course, that was our first stop on the day we checked in. We walked over and tasted both pistachios and wine, and of course took a few pictures of the largest pistachio. I have to say that the pistachio ice cream was to die for! It was better than the wine and that says a lot from me!

About a half mile down the road was another roadside attraction, Heart of the Desert. Another tourist spot know for their pistachios and wine. We stopped in there on Sunday afternoon and discovered they had entertainment on their patio. Their wines were quite good, so I enjoyed a glass while Tim had a local beer. We just chilled the afternoon away listening to the guitar player who was very knowledge and informative on music history as well. We love finding spots like this. There was another winery, D H Lescombes Winery, in town that we didn’t visit until our last day. We had a fantastic lunch there and from my perspective, it was the best wine that I had in that area. I never expected grapes to grow in the desert but there are quite a few vineyards and they say it is great temperature and weather for the growing season.

Just so you don’t think that all we did was drink wine, I have to tell you about our exploration of the area. First stop was White Sands National Park. As you drive towards the park, you can see the glistening dune fields in the distance with the mountains providing a shadowy backdrop. White Sands is the world’s largest gypsum dune field and it is ever-changing due to the strong winds in that area. The dunes slowly grow and advance across the valley and they said it will look different every time you visit. This makes it an extremely harsh environment where few plants and animals survive. There are a limited number of species that have adapted to the difficult environment. The interesting part is the lizards and rodents have evolved to a white color that camouflages them in the snow white sand. Enjoy these pictures of the park.

We also stopped at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. This was a very interesting museum covering the start of space exploration, rocket/ missile testing that happened in this area, as well as Star Wars and Star Trek exhibits. We decided to experience everything they had there so we watched the movie at the dome theater, the planetarium show and toured the museum. We didn’t realize until later in the week that there also was a museum at the Air Force base and missile testing site. We didn’t have time to fit that one in and I have a feeling it would have been another great stop.

they had a few missiles displayed as you entered the Space history museum

We also did a few drives up into the mountains, although Tim didn’t like the ride up to Cloudcroft. It was a very windy road with sharp drop offs. We only made it half way up that mountain and turned around at a scenic viewpoint. At 9,000 ft. elevation, Cloudcroft is the highest town in New Mexico.

mountain views from the scenic overlook on the way to cloudcroft. we turned around here.

We headed over to Ruidoso, another mountain town, on another day. That drive was much easier to do so both of us could enjoy it. We stopped at Grindstone Lake and Dam on our way into town. This is a manmade lake/reservoir just south of town and I have a feeling it is a popular summer stop. They had a nice beach area and the park provided watercraft rentals. It was a little bit too cool and windy to enjoy much of the outdoors that day.

the beach area was very pretty but also very windy!

We discovered that a Wednesday is not a good day to visit Ruidoso. Many of the businesses and restaurants were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday which we didn’t expect. i guess most people visit on the weekends so they are open Thursday through Monday. We were able to browse through a few gift shops and art studios and I bought a long sleeve T shirt because I didn’t dress warm enough that day. We didn’t really find a place to eat lunch but the Noisy Water Winery was open so I did a tasting. Another good spot for wine!

We had driven past the Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino on our way to the lake so we went back there for a late lunch. This casino is on the Mescalero Apache reservation and is another beautiful location in the mountains. We were able to have lunch there, and then while Tim did a little gambling, I walked around and enjoyed the scenery. This would be a great place to stay when in this area. The views were spectacular. For those who ski, they also have a ski resort on the reservation. A few weeks after we left the area, I saw that they got snow in the mountains so I am sure they will be open before too long for skiing.

a few pictures i took walking around the casino grounds

I really liked this staircase inside the inn of the mountain gods

There were many other mountain towns and historic sites to visit in that area but we ran out of time to visit any more. We will have to save that for another trip west. After Alamogordo, we headed to Deming, NM where we stayed for almost a month. I will save that for the next blog post.

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Visiting Alamogordo and White Sands National Park, New Mexico Part 4

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