What a Wonderful World (An #AtoZChallenge Post): W is for White Sands National Park

A sign near the visitor's center parking lot says "White Sands National Park"

My husband recently re-retired, and we are front-loading travel. My #AtoZChallenge posts this year will explore our travels--some pre-retirement, some post. Today's location: White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

White Sands National Park is aptly named. We took the mile-long Dune Life Nature Trail to learn more about the flora and fauna of the area, and were rewarded with finding several animal tracks in the sand.

Lines of little tracks from some unknown animal decorate the sand

While the sand dunes seem inhospitable to life, some trees defy the odds and somehow manage to find enough moisture to live.

A lone tree, with roots visible above the sand, grows in the white sand

The sand even covers the road, as this sign so helpfully tells visitors:

a sign at the side of a sandy road states, "You are now Driving on Sand"

We decided to try out the most popular activity at White Sands National Park: sledding down the dunes. The visitor's center offers sled rentals. We picked up a sled and headed to the sledding area. The video below shows my husband demonstrating how sledding should be done:

And here I am keeping things real, somersaulting off my sled at the bottom of the hill:

I head-over-heels recommend visiting White Sands National Park!

Come back tomorrow to see where in the world we'll visit next!

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street. While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others. Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...

Ten Things of Thankful: I Should Blog More Often

Tall red poppies bloom against the brick remains of an old homestead A couple of weeks ago, John and I hiked in Alpine, Utah, to see the poppy gardens near the old Lambert homestead. We knew if we waited, we would miss the peak of the flowers. One minute, flowers are blooming, and the next minute, that particular floral show is over until next year. The Ten Things of Thankful blog hop runs every week, but sometimes I miss the boat and don't get a post composed. I find, though, that those weeks that I do join in, I'm more apt to look for (and find!) the good in life--regardless of whether it was a "good" week or a "bad" week. Just as taking time to hike pays off with a beautiful view, taking the time to share ten things I'm thankful for pays off with a feeling of peace, satisfaction, and gratitude. The past three weeks have been spent at home. It's been so nice to catch up on things here. The air conditioner cools the house again, we've taken ...

Thankful Me

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