Day 33 - Ruidoso, NM (Day 1)

We heard the rain start at 5am.  Our first thought was ... oh, oh.  It stopped soon after and we were able to get connected in sunshine and head for Ruidoso.

The Route:
We drove 125 miles on US-70.  We crossed San Agustin Pass outside of Las Cruces, dropped down into the White Sands Missile Range, stopped at White Sands National Monument, had lunch in Alamogordo, passed Tularosa and Mescalero, and arrived at Ruidoso in the rain.

Observations:
Much of the trip seemed like a do-over.  We visited Alamogordo and the White Sands on the 2009 Southwest Trip.  Dick passed through Ruidoso and visited Dave & Michelle Witchey in Alamogordo many years ago when he moved to San Diego.

Clouds hang low over the Organ Mountains
as we leave Las Cruces

Missile Range ... the missile range sits in a long and wide basin.

Descending San Agustin Pass into
White Sands Missile Range

This may be a launch site

White Sands ...
It's interesting that you can drive for miles across the missile range and get no glimpse of white sands.  Then, they seem to appear from nowhere.

Approaching the
White Sands National Monument entrance

We stopped at the Information Center and watched the introductory video.

The Dunes Drive was affected by a missile launch and by the weather.  The entrance was closed before we arrived because of a missile launch.  Fortunately, it had reopened by the time we finished watching the video.  We could only drive in 5 miles because of flooding.

After driving in for about 2 miles,
the scene takes on the winter look.

They have to plow regularly

We're stopped at this point.
Any more viewing is done by foot.

Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation ...
US-70 climbs a pass between the Black and Pajarita Mountains and passes through the reservation.  Clouds darkened as we climbed higher.  It started to rain lightly.

These views were interesting as we passed by Mescalero.

The Campground:
We're camped at Twin Spruce RV Park on US-70 just west of Ruidoso.  It's nothing fancy, just really nice.  We're now in the mountains surrounded by trees and lots of greenery.  The rain stopped about an hour after we arrived.

Site #37

We watched our first Ohio State football game.  The Buckeyes beat Cal 52-34.  Go Bucks!