Go West Young Man (7)

     The journey continues, but now actually not quite in a westerly direction because the destination for the day is Roswell (space alians, etc.). But a couple of stops where made on the way. The first one at The Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, though not actually a required stop on the mission trail, there is some limited history available and a nice statue of Juan Diego. The link below is from research done by a member of the faculty of Marquette University.
http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/NativeGuide/NM/W-368.pdf

The Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mesilla NM

The statue of Juan Diego with the Tilma

    The church was not open, or at least we did not find any unlocked doors, so we continued our journey now generally in an direction of North East.
    The next stop was obviously White Sands National Monument, this spot of pure white "sand" covering 275 square miles (176,000 acres) or 710 square kilometers (71,225 hectares). While I was stationed at Oro Grande back in the early part of 1967 I wanted to go there but we were not permitted to leave our base since we were training on a top secret weapon, but one could read about it in then current issues of Popular Mechanic.
     What follows below are pictures from White Sands National Monument and some links with additional information.

White Sands National Monument Park Headquarters

Park headquarters.

Our trusted Subaru Forester in the middle of the White Sands

Norma, not at the beach, but in the desert of New Mexico

No beach anywhere close, but lots of whiete sand.
Trying to keep my stomach from protruding into the picture.

A sea of White Sand all around us.

Note the wind pattern in the sand.

The obligatory photo of the Yucca siting in the sand.

This link is from the National Park Service and has links to a wealth of information about the Monument.
http://www.nps.gov/whsa/siteindex.htm
Here is another link from the NPS http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm
A link to Wikipedia's information about the park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_National_Monument
Last but not least a link to some great photographs from White Sands.
https://www.google.com/search?q=White+Sands+photos&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS388US390&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Hl05T4b2EaLo2QXn74iUAg&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=540

    We now take leave of White Sands on begin a journey up through the Sacramento Mountains http://newmexico.org/learn/geology/sacramentos.php, having gone through Alamagordo, on our way to Cloudcroft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudcroft,_New_Mexico
     Our first stop on the way up was at San Augustin Pass, elevation 5,710 feet / 1,740 meters above sea level, in New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains this is on the level of ant hills.

At San Augustin Pass, elevation 5,710 feet / 1,740 meters above sea level.

Looking on some direction, but I do not remember which, from the San Augustin Pass.

     We arrived in Cloudcroft, an nice little town, but it appears that we were not happy with the photos from Cloudcroft, because none were saved, so here are some links to additional information and links to various photos; http://www.cloudcroft.net/photos-2/, http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g46989-Cloudcroft_New_Mexico.html, https://www.google.com/search?q=cloudcroft+new+mexico&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS388US390&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NmY5T_zYMamg2AXPqpy9Bw&ved=0CGUQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=540


     It was time for something to eat and feeling a bit homesick for Texas we found a small restaurant named Texas Pit Bar B Q and here we ate. We walked around town for a bit and took photos. The weather is very pleasant, having come out of the desert below, and here it is only 79 degrees F (26 degrees F).
      Leaving Cloudcroft again we wind our way down the mountains, with beautiful vistas; valleys, canyons and lots and lots of pine trees. 
     Tired after a long day we arrive in Roswell at the La Quinta and check in for the night. We have now driven 1,149 miles / 1,850 km since we left home. More about Roswell and the alians in the next post about the journey West.