So very beautiful!!!

Yesterday morning our day began at White Sands National Park in New Mexico which is located close to an Air Force base and an Army missile range. If they are testing missiles, the road into the park is closed. They weren't firing anything yesterday. Our first stop was the visitor center where we got out junior ranger books and badges and purchased a magnet and a t-shirt (for Nadia). I also rented a sled and purchased some wax for the sled. The plan for the day included a hike in the park, but we opted to give the kids more time to sled down sand dunes. The first part of the road is paved; the rest of the road in the park is packed sand. We stopped at two different locations in the park for the kids to sled down some sand dunes. Ian said he liked White Sands as much as the Badlands, and the Badlands has been his favorite National Park for the last almost 4 years. Thankfully, it wasn't as hot when we were at White Sands as it was the previous day. 

After we left White Sands, we drove over four hours across New Mexico and into Arizona to visit Chiricahua National Monument. As Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time, we gained one hour as we drove. We passed Fort Bowie National Historic Site. In my earlier itineraries, I had us stopping at that site as well, but somewhere along the way I eliminated that one from our plans as there doesn't look like there's much to see, and getting to the visitor center involves driving on a dirt road and then hiking for 1.5 miles each way from the parking lot. Chiricahua is absolutely stunning. If I were to rank my top ten National Park sites, I would absolutely put it in the top ten and most likely in the top five. I think my top five (in no particular order) would be Olympic, Bryce Canyon, Mt. Rainier, Chiricahua, and Big Cypress. Others that would be in my top ten would include Kenai Fjords, Redwoods, Carlsbad, and Crater Lake. We stopped at the visitor center for junior ranger badges and books and purchased a magnet, t-shirt (for me), baseball cap (for Paul), and cactus candy (Oliver bought). I was already impressed as we drove along Bonita Canyon Drive, but then I was in awe as we hiked three trails that together form a 3.3-mile loop. It took us a little less than two hours to hike that trail partially because I stopped and took pictures many times. I could have spent an entire day hiking in that park. Thankfully it was "only" in the 80's, and there was some shade which meant the experience was much better than at Guadalupe Mountains where it was about 100 degrees out. The pictures won't do it justice but let me say if you are ever in Arizona, I highly recommend a stop at Chiricahua! I liked it better than the Grand Canyon or Petrified Forest, which are the two National Parks in Arizona. I think this one should also be a National Park. Arizona has asked for that change, but they were told it's too small. That doesn't make sense to me as it's not a tiny park, and the Gateway Arch in Missouri is a MUCH smaller site, and it's a "National Park." Anyhow I give this park 5 out of 5 possible stars. The pictures don't do it justice. 

We had dinner and spent the night in Willcox, Arizona. We ate at a Pizza Hut, which was more expensive than the other pizza place we ate at on the trip but much cheaper than most sit-down restaurants. We bought some food for lunch today at Safeway. The prices at the grocery store were alarming! We spent the night at Rose's Motel. I picked it because it was a reasonable price and also had a room with three queen size beds. Nadia has slept on a couch every other night on the trip. The downside was this one is the only one on the trip that doesn't include a free breakfast. We went to McDonald's for breakfast. Today and tomorrow, we'll be in Arizona (Tuscon and Phoenix), and we begin flying back to Maryland early on Wednesday morning and lose three hours while we fly.