2024 Snowbird Trip
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Dust Storm in NM
WeatherBug warned us of high winds creating a dust storm today. It started about 9:30 this morning. It looked foggy out and the mountains were no longer visible as we pulled out of the winery parking lot. Thankfully we didn’t have far to travel as Alamogordo is just down the road from Tularosa. We stopped…
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The Museum of Space History
A cold, blustery day is a great day to go to a science museum. This museum sits up on the edge of Alamogordo with a great view of the city from its tall windows. It’s a really neat design, and Tony immediately thought it looked like a space hanger like we have seen at Kennedy…
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Rain and Snow and Hail and Wind
For an afternoon hike, we followed the Indian Wells trail behind the science history museum. A trailhead sign said it climbs up to an overlook spot above the museum. This overlook is almost a mile in distance, not the half-mile advertised. From there, the hike really meanders across many dry and some deep washes and…
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Another weird weather day
Today we had mixes of rain, snow and hail and wind just like yesterday. There were small patches of this weather all over RADAR, and it just kept coming. When we finally had some sunshine, we drove a short distance to Hemmerly Desert Foothills Park to walk that paved trail, then head up to Goat…
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Perfect Weather for White Sands
Driving through White Sands National Park on the 8-mile paved then sand road, feels like driving through snow. The scene is so white, and the sand drifts onto the pavement and gets plowed off just like snow. We had sunshine and cool temperatures (55-60) which was perfect for hiking in the dunes. We drove to…
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White Sands, Day Two
Wow, we got two perfect weather days back-to-back for hiking in the sand dunes at White Sands National Park. We took advantage of this for a second day of fun. One thing we noticed on our drive into the park today was the snow that fell two and three days ago on Sierra Blanca is…
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Three Rivers Petroglyphs
On our last day in the Tularosa Basin area, I must mention the trains and jets. Many trains with double-stacked cargo boxes go through this area every day. We hear the whistles while in Alamogordo. With Halloman Air Force Base just outside of Alamogordo, we hear fighter jet engines and see F-16s flying formations overhead.…
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Roswell, the UFO Museum
So a biology teacher (retired) and a software engineer walk into a UFO museum and get pretty much what they expected, some fun and silliness, but also some unexpected NASA displays and a very large library collection. First there was a display about the Roswell incident in 1947 in which the US Army picked up…
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Bitter Lake and Red Barn RV Park
A very small and inviting Red Barn RV Park is on the eastern edge of Roswell. The bathrooms are great, the ice-cream treats are delicious and I found some good authors in the book exchange. Our hostess, Lee, is very helpful and welcoming. This is a great spot for our two-night stay. Bitter Lake National…
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Museums in Lubbock, Texas
What do you do when it’s cold and windy out? You go visit a couple of museums and take really cold and noisy walks. In Lubbock, we stayed at an RV park in the city. It was nice and I was able to use the laundry facilities rather than finding a laundromat. Traffic noise is…