We made a trip to the Sunspot Observatory yesterday, and most of the snow we saw a few days earlier was gone.  Although we did notice that it had snowed again in Cloudcroft since we were up there last.

According to Wikipedia:
"The Sunspot Solar Observatory (SSO) is an astronomical observatory designed for the study of the Sun, located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU) and the National Solar Observatory (NSO). Access to the telescopes and grounds are open to the public on guided tours."

The Sunspot Solar Observatory is located in Sunspot, New Mexico, and is part of the Lincoln National Forest on the western edge of the Sacramento Mountains. The ~250 acres (100 ha) area is located on National Forest Service lands, managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Lincoln National Forest, and the Sacramento Ranger District. Established by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) via a Memorandum of Agreement with the USFS in 1950, the facility was transferred to NSF in 1976. NSF and the USFS executed a land use agreement (1980) to formalize this transfer and the continued use of the land for the NSO. It was later known as the Sacramento Peak Observatory, and as one site of the National Solar Observatory (NSO). In 2018, all scientific research and public outreach at the facility was taken over by the Sunspot Solar Observatory and AURA remain the operator of infrastructure on the site, including maintenance."

The Observatory also afforded a wonderful scenic viewing area of Alamogordo and the White Sands beyond.  The view was truly spectacular.

One of my goals this season was to learn and edit videos because there are so many places we visit that photos just don't do justice.  This is a continual work in progress as I learn Imovie editing, so please be patient with me.

Below is a short 13 second video - my first - of this panoramic view.  Let me know if you like it!

We all piled in the truck today and headed to White Sands National Monument.  We had originally planned to go to the Space Museum today, but the day was absolutely perfect.  The sun was shining bright and temps were in the 70s.  It was just too beautiful a day to spend it inside, so we decided to spend it outside.

White Sands National Monument was formed when the Permian Sea retreated millions of years ago and left behind deep layers of gypsum.  For thousands of years in shallow lakes, wind and sun have separated the water from the gypsum and formed selenite crystals.  Wind and water break down the crystals making them smaller and smaller until they are sand.  Steady, strong southwest sands keep gypsum sand moving, piling it up and pushing dunes into various shapes and sized.

The dunes were so large that at times it seemed we were at the beach.  Luna had a blast, running through the sand.  When we got back to the truck, she collapsed on the sand.  Chacho tried to keep up with her at the beginning, but gave up halfway through and went back to a leisurely stroll.   Sorry for all the pictures, but it's truly an oasis of basis among the desert plains.

Just a little one, but I had to go check it out.  We hadn't been to a carnival since we were last in Germany.  The biggest change?  The music.  It's all hip hop instead of carny music.  But still fun to walk around, eat and see the rides.

On a whim, we decided to go for a drive after dinner to Sunspot, the location of the National Solar Observatory.  We knew that the Observatory would be already closed, but the thought of an evening drive through the Sacramento Mountains was too strong to ignore.

To get to Sunspot, we had to first drive through Cloudcroft again, and go even higher, to 9200 ft above sea level.  When we went through Cloudcroft a few days ago, I was excited to see little patches of snow, where the sun had not melted it.  

Imagine my surprise, when we left Cloudcroft, we ran into snow everywhere!  We even took Luna out for her first snow walk.  Yep, that's Dave, in shorts and flip flops, playing in the snow.

Even better than the snow were the herds of elk and deer that we saw everywhere.  

The snow vistas were incredible

 We visited a part of Cloudcroft we missed the other day and saw the moon rise over the treetops ...

We saw Sierra Blanca, the highest mountain in this area at over 11,000 ft.  The rain we had yesterday gave Sierra Blanca a new dusting of snow.

Coming back down the mountain during dusk gave us some beautiful sunset pictures.

As we got back into Alamogordo, we saw the carnival lit up.  We hope to see it this weekend!

It pays to mix it up and get out at different times of the day!

We took a road trip through the Lincoln National Forest outside Alamogordo, and drove through Cloudcroft.  Cloudcroft sits inside the Sacramento Mountains at an altitude of 8668 ft above sea level. 

Driving up to Cloudcroft was very scenic.  We went from desert landscape to towering Ponderosa pines in the space of fifteen minutes.  And off in the distance, we saw the White Sands, glistening in the horizon.

We drove a huge loop, lasting over three hours, and during parts of the ride, we didn't see another soul for over an hour.  Going up and down in altitude and seeing the different vistas was fun.

​I also had my first pistachio!  Pretty good!

We had a fun and amusing morning at the International UFO museum this morning.  There were numerous newspaper articles about the crash landing and the "government cover up".  We even watched a bit of the movie, "Roswell".

Dave got his tin foil hat, finally.  Do I believe in UFOs?  Who knows what's out there?

I spent a little time this morning, wandering the streets of downtown Roswell.  There are still a few kitschy stores, advertising the alien invasion, that are fun to look at.  Even the streetlights have an alien face to match the theme.  I love the unusual.

Welcome to Roswell!

Home of much more than alien forklore.  We took a drive through Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge yesterday.  Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in two separate sections in central Chaves County, New Mexico, United States, a few miles northeast of the city of Roswell. Both sections lie on the banks of the Pecos River.  It's home to hundreds of species of birds, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians.  It was also home to a roadrunner that I finally got a picture of!

Today, we went to Bottomless Lake State Park.  Bottomless Lakes State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of New Mexico, located along the Pecos River, about 15 miles southeast of Roswell. Established in 1933, it was the first state park in New Mexico. It takes its name from nine small, deep lakes located along the eastern escarpment of the Pecos River valley.

So how did Bottomless Lake get its name?  When cowboys were exploring the Wild West, they came across nine lakes in New Mexico. In an attempt to get to know the land, they cut giant pieces of rope to try to measure how deep these bodies of water were. No luck. They tied several long pieces of rope together and they still couldn’t reach the bottom. They couldn’t even see the bottom.  

Local legends tell of objects going missing in the lakes, only to wash up later in the Carlsbad Caverns or Gulf of Mexico. Others warn of strong underwater currents that suck up swimmers and divers, never to be seen again. There are some who tell stories about a giant turtle monster who patrols the bottom of the lake.

I'm not sure if these legends are true at all, but the scenery was beautiful!

We took a drive through downtown Ft. Stockton today, as well as historic Ft. Stockton.

While driving through Ft. Stockton yesterday evening, we decided to stop for dinner.  K-Bob's attracted our attention with its signs, so we stopped there.

​It wasn't until we went in that we realized that K-Bob's was for kebabs.  This restaurant is a chain that goes through TX and CO.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their version of a salad bar - their salad wagon.

We both ordered steak, potatoes and corn on the cob.  the corn was delicious as was the steak.  Although, I have to admit that my steak was not cooked to my order and they didn't get the grilled onions.  But the steak was still great.

They also have Texas sized portions on their menu.