4 Wheels 4 Girls

Thursday, March 24, we drove to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, prepared for a day of fun.

Well, at least Dad was; I really wasn’t too excited about it. But that all changed when Jean and Dad returned from the visitor center with sleds. And guess what they said? They said we were going sledding on the sand dunes. I brightened up a bit after that.

We all went into the visitor center to get our junior ranger packets. We worked on those and then drove about eight miles into the dunes. We found a place to park where dunes surrounded us, and spotted a tall, steep dune that looked perfect for sledding. We hauled our sleds up the dune, and I realized how hard it is to walk up the sand. If I stepped up two feet, my foot would slide down one. We finally made it to the top.

Greta was the first to sled, so she would make a good path for the rest of us. Sledding was really fun for me, and I went pretty fast, but Ellie, on her first try, spun around backwards and flipped over in the sand. I thought she would chicken out and stop sledding, but surprisingly she kept sledding.

We got tons of sand in our shoes and it was really uncomfortable. We only went on our sleds a couple more times before we abandoned them and went on a long hike, barefoot. We took the compass that one of Dad’s friends gave us for our trip. I spotted a huge dune, and I was sure it was the biggest, but when I made it up to the top, I looked around and discovered I was very wrong. From the top of this one, it looked like all the others were bigger, but I also felt amazing. I spread my arms as the wind whipped my hair back. I was having an awesome time until sand got in my eyes and it stung REAL BAD. It was still fun, though.

Greta and Ana catching up to Me and Ellie on top of a huge dune

When we decided our hike was over, we tried to follow our compass back to the RV. But, we got way off. We made it back to the road we had driven in on, but the RV wasn’t there. Dad asked Ellie and Ana to be scouts, to climb the dune to our left, and see if the RV was on the other side. If the RV wasn’t there, they would come back; if it was, they were supposed to jump up and wave their arms in the air. They came back. And, I started to worry. We all walked over the dune to our right. It wasn’t there, either. So, we continued down the other side, and Ellie and Ana climbed the next dune. No RV in sight. So, we went down to the winding road and followed it back the other way. Four dunes later, Ellie climbed to the top of the next. I waited for her to come back again, but also, I somehow knew this would be when she spotted it. I stared up at her in anticipation as she peaked over the top of the dune and, suddenly, she jumped up and down and swung her arms over her head! I was so excited that I ran up the dune myself, and sprinted down the other side.

We made it back to the visitor center. We finished up our junior ranger packets and turned them in. We had a great time at White Sands National Monument. 🙂

Family, dunes, and the surrounding mountains.