We left Las Cruces and headed northeast on Highway 70 for about 19 miles to the entrance of the White Sands Missile Range. After checking our licenses, registration, and proof of insurance they came in and checked the motor home and then made us open every storage bay to check those. We walked around the Missile Park which was a collection of missiles used by the United States military dating back to the 1950s. The park was old and most of the displays were in poor shape but they have a planned project to refinish all the missiles to their original condition. We went through the small museum where we looked at the displays and watched a couple of short videos. Overall the museum and missile park were pretty much a disappointment and we were glad we didn’t drive out of our way to see it. As we continued east on the 70 we decided to stop at White Sands National Monument. The park covers 275 square miles of snow white dunes of crystallized gypsum. It looks like giant snow banks and is pretty impressive to see. Our next stop of the day was Ruidoso Downs, NM where we went to the horse races. I actually won on two races so after all was said and done I ended the day up by 2 or 3 dollars. Between Ruidoso and Roswell we passed by a field with several deer and lots of wild turkeys. We filled up the motor home in Roswell and turned onto Highway 285-S towards Carlsbad Caverns hoping to make it there in time for the evening bat flight. By the time we arrived the bat flight was over and we checked into the White City “Resort.” The place is awful and there were millions of bugs everywhere but at least it is close to Carlsbad Caverns for our tour in the morning. We made dinner “at home” this evening.
