White Sands National Monument

Suffering from "motor-lag", I woke up at 5:30AM local time. Had a drink of water and headed to the White Sands. On my drive there I had a friendly little chat with a security officer, whom kindly pointed out that San Diego is the other direction... I arrived at White Sand's Loop drive minutes before it opened. Since it's a weekday, the place was essentially deserted, just 3 cars, including mine. Gate opened at 7AM.

This place is nothing like anywhere else I've ever been to. From time to time it tricks my brain into thinking that it's winter and what I'm looking at is actually snow. There wasn’t any obvious frame of reference, if I didn’t bring a GPS, it would have taken me much longer to drive out of there. For an early morning, it was surprisingly bright.

 

Dehydration: quite real and easily over looked. It was a rather brisk morning. I'd say no more than 20C. For someone who's used to the Houston summer heat and humidity, it felt quite chilly. Surprisingly, after barely half an hour, I found myself light headed. I noticed how chappy my lips were, and my mouth was dry. If you are visiting white sands, be sure to bring plenty of water and drink in regular intervals even if you don't feel thirsty.