Summer Road Trip 2013: White Sands National Monument to Saguaro National Park Day 1

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I got the call from my mother asking if I'd tag along with my brother and niece. They were going road tripping but had not done anything of the sort before. Having been on plenty of trips my mother thought it be good if I joined them. So I mustered up all my courage and sleepiness and took the plunge. First I had to make it through West Texas though. And boy is it the most BORING DRIVE EVER!!!

Once in El Paso I headed over to my brother's place and slept for the night. I was determined to wake up early and take off at the first rays of light. But my brother is notoriously late all the time. So we didn't get going until about 10am (which is pretty late in my book!) We picked up my niece soon after and crossed into New Mexico. Once we crossed the state line it finally felt like we were on our way. Our first stop, White Sands national Monument, is a favorite of mine. My brother had only ever been there at night for Full Moon Tours and he had never experienced the blinding light of the white sand during the day. We hiked the dunes and tried convincing my niece to roll down one of them. No such luck. She was astonished at the whiteness all over. We spotted a white lizard as well! It was perfectly hidden in the sand.

We spent some time at the visitors center where I taught my niece how to cheaply souvenir hunt her way through a gift shop. She chose pins instead of magnets as her collection choice. I was proud. Pins are much better to showcase.

We left sunny New Mexico and headed into Arizona, which was strangely rainy for some reason. It was cloudy and ugly and we just wanted some sun. I had heard that Saguaro National Park would provide us some great vistas. But the weather wouldn't comply!

Still, driving through different types of cacti was very informational. I think my three favorite cacti are barrel cactus, ocotillo, and saguaro. I wanted to run up to one and hug barrel cactus. But that would probably hurt. Would it be worth it though? "Hey, how come you look horrible?" "Oh, I hugged a cactus." *Sigh* that would totally be a good bro story.

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