It was the day Homer almost died. Well, he wanted us to think he was dying.

We explored White Sands National Monument this morning and decided to take the whole family on a 5-mile hike around the blindingly bright dunes. We arrived later than planned and were fortunate to have a bit of a breeze to counter the hot sun. At the heart of the dunes, it’s very difficult to orient yourself. The 275 square miles of dunes stretch seemingly endlessly in all directions, swallowing up any kind of landmark. We carefully followed the orange trail markers up and down and around the dunes. We found a soft breezy solitude shortly after leaving the trailhead, punctuated occasionally by jets flying practice runs from nearby Holloman AFB. After about a mile of obnoxiously strong pulling on his leash, Homer engaged in a very pathetic and very funny canine version of “Stop, drop, and roll.” He stopped dead in his tracks, threw himself dramatically on the sand, and somehow managed to start rolling down a dune while still connected to his harness and leash. We coaxed him to walk a bit farther, gave both pooches plenty of water, and had another good laugh when he added a little sand angel action to his rolling. Homer loves to roll in any kind of ground covering, but he was so enthusiastic about the gypsum that he decided to cover every inch of his face with the stuff. And with his new coat of sandy white eyeliner and lipstick, he insisted on being carried. I’m almost embarrassed (nope – too much of a proud dog owner) to admit that we purchased a special doggy backpack for this very purpose, but we didn’t have it with us on our hike today. Nic fashioned a comfy seat for his highness in his backpack, and we walked on. Homer made a startlingly fast recovery when he saw Luna tearing up the dunes off leash a few short minutes later, and I don’t know where he got the extra energy to sprint after not being able to walk. I doubt he’ll suffer any lasting trauma from today’s exertion, since he is now happily back to acting like a cat and jumping from counter to couch to table to cooler.

Doggy bag

Desert beauty

Just a short distance down the highway, we set up camp (for free!) on BLM land. A huge view of the Organ Mountains fills up our windows on one side. We can roam freely through the desert plants surrounding us. It’s finally warm enough to throw open the windows and enjoy the breeze into the evening. We knew the setting sun would turn the mountains to gold, so we made sure to be soaking up every moment of the sun-kissed hour when it arrived. Shadows deepening, the mountains took on new dimensions. Previously unseen texture emerged. The stony cliffs glowed and then darkened gently with the advancing dusk. We shifted our view west to the twinkling lights of Las Cruces. We are thankful to have no plans and this great view tomorrow.

Love these blooming cacti!

The friendly cows wandering our campground

She’s pretty

Yucca

An afternoon moment, complete with lots of messy details for you to examine

Perfect campsite views!