White Sands

You guessed it!  We were at White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, and Efreet and Bonnie had mistaken the white gypsum sand dunes for snow. 

Leona and Owen had laid out a picnic on the dunes....

...when Bonnie and Efreet, who had started to get rather hot, were coming back....

Owen and Peach turned to see them coming, and were rather shocked....  

"What are you silly children doing dressed up like it's the dead of winter?  

"Take off all that stuff immediately, before you get heat-stroke!  And then come and cool off."

They didn't need to be told twice. Leona offered Efreet a big slice of watermelon....

...and Bonnie helped herself to the box of popsicles in the cooler...

Bonnie and Efreet soon felt a lot better.  They had been confused, and didn't understand why they had been so warm. But now they understood.  It was white sand, and not snow.

Well, I can certainly understand their confusion!  White Sands is an amazing place, and it really does play 'mind tricks'. The dunes are blazing white in midday, and even sun glasses aren't enough to fight the glare. 

Deep inside the dunes where there's no vegetation, it really does look like hills of snow. And because they plow the roads, the piles of sand at the side of the roads only add to the effect

White Sands is one of the few National Parks where people aren't restricted from wandering wherever they want. After all, a good brisk breeze will erase all the footprints. So, many families come here to spend the day on weekends. It's like a day at the beach, combined with a day of sledding. Parents sit under beach umbrellas, or lay in the sun, while the kids go down the hills on their sleds. The Visitor centre even sells Crazy Carpets and disks for sledding. 

Huge storm clouds moved in in late afternoon, creating some very dramatic lighting.....