Hi.
We have spent the past couple of days with "Uncle Ken" in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We had a great time visiting with him and going to the White Sands and the Space Museum.
The White Sands are incredible...miles-upon-miles of white sand (looks almost like snow from a distance); and the sand is soft, almost like talcum powder. The Alamogordo area has been an instrumental site in the development of weapons (first A-bomb test called the "Trinity" project took place at the White Sands); as well as space-related projects. The White Sands Space Harbor is an emergency landing site for the Shuttle.
Our visit with Uncle Ken was great. He has been a fixture in Alamogordo for decades and he has to be the youngest 95-year old person I have ever met. Our wish is to be as "young" as him when we are 95 years old!
We then drove north to Belen, New Mexico...my father's birthplace. He grew-up in Belen until he was 17 (and moved with the whole family to Richmond, California). He worked at the railroad station as the person who had to wake the train engineers and caboose-men to tell them their train had arrived and it was time to get to the train. He worked out of the "Harvey House" (see photo), which is now a national historic site. He would wake the men sleeping at the Harvey House, or run to their homes locally to wake them. It was great to visit Belen.
We arrived at our campground inside the Grand Canyon National Park late on Tuesday. Boy is it cold (predicted low of 23 degrees F tonight)! There are even some small patches of snow on the ground in our campsite.
Take care.
Don & Sandi
Sounds like your trip continues to be amazing - everyone peeking in on your blog has to be green with envy - except for those aliens you met! I was in White Sands too - though my memories are not quite as found as yours. Me, and several hundred other guys, marched across WS in July, as part of my wonderful Basic Camp experience at beautiful Fort Bliss(irony at its finest!), Texas.
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