Starting: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Destination: TBD Travel Day: 3 Total (ish) Time in Car: 20 Hours
Decision Time
Two days of travel. Twenty hours in a car. A dog in the back seat farting. The plan was to only have one “fun” stop on this road trip, and that destination was the Grand Canyon. By the end of day two, we started to wonder if we’d make the 10 am drop-off in LA, so we contemplated adding a day. Then we figured if we added a day, why not make an extra stop?
Abbey and I settled into our fancy hotel room for the night, still assuming we’d drive on toward the Grand Canyon. The room was set up as if there would be a group of people meeting for a week-long conference. It was spacious and had a desk that reached from one side of the room to the kitchen on the other side. Abbey put Polo’s kennel down to set it up.
“By the way, if you smell something, tell me. You might think it’s a fart, but it could be…something else.” Abbey glared at the dog, who refused to use the bathroom outside unless he was desperate. He was utterly out of his element, and it was starting to show.
I’ll blame the dog, but it was definitely me who whined. Abbey, unfortunately, had Covid a few months ago, so her sense of smell was still off. Every dog, wet-food fart went unnoticed by her throughout the entire trip—lucky her.
Abbey began doing something on her phone as we got comfortable in our beds. “My parents told me about White Sands in New Mexico. It looks like it would be beautiful.”
I was on the verge of passing out, but I liked the idea of not rushing to LA. “I don’t mind paying for the extra day so we can go see it.”
Abbey stayed quiet, considering the potential of another stop. I began to slip into unconsciousness while she was thinking. Suddenly, I was awoken by the overwhelming scent of a dog releasing some digested wet dog food.
“Abbey…”
In the morning, we packed the car again with our luggage, changed out the ice in the cooler, walked the dog in case he wanted to do something, and then we were driving again. We both agreed that an extra stop would be fun and wasn’t too far out of the way. Abbey called to add a day to the rental car, and then we were setting our sights toward White Sands, New Mexico.
Car Time
From the straight desert roads of the Great Planes to the straight-ish roads of the Basin Range Province, it’s a whole lot of nothin’.
However, the beauty that travels through the thirsty land is worth admiration. The expansive land of desert may seem boring and monotonous, which it definitely can be, but it’s also vast with a dangerous beauty.
I don’t live in New Mexico, so I kept reminding myself that I don’t get to see these landscapes often. Sure, land is land, dirt is dirt, but its not the same. We drove over one “mountain” and within fifteen minutes we were in a valley again. Where I’m from, you don’t see straight, flat roads for hours.
There were a handful of times we saw dust devils (tornadoes) in the distance. Nothing huge, but definitely a noticeable bit of wind magic as the dirt was swirled around.
As time dragged on, we stopped at Route 66 gas station to stretch our legs. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of a tiny dust storm. The dirt rose up to attack us. Abbey took cover in the back seat with the dog as they returned from the short walk. It was over as quickly as it came, so Abbey hurried back to the driver’s seat. By the time she got there, I was laughing as more dust billowed around us. I could see the wind throwing her hair around her face, and her clothes comically blew in one direction. She tried to open the door, but that meant fighting against the wind. It was a mission just to get in the car. And as a best friend does, I laughed my ass off.
Along the way, we became surrounded by flat lands that suddenly met a drop or a broken mesa. We could see the road far in front of us and made bets on how long it would take us to get to a certain point. Most of the time, it wasn’t nearly as far as we thought.
As we approached the road towards White Sands, Abbey wanted to get gas. We were around the halfway mark, and I didn’t think we needed it. However, Abbey wanted to make sure we didn’t have to worry about needing it.
When we pulled out to head for our sandy destination, it was strangely comical as Abbey pointed out a tumbleweed passing us to cross the road. I felt placed in an animated story of the roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. These were moment of unreal events. These things don’t come up in everyday life in North Carolina.
The one long road to White Sands seemed to be too much for Abbey. It was basically a straight line of nothing and no one. It was maddening for her, and she was itching to see or do something else. In those moments, I tried to remember to look around. To take in the sights. Though it was hard because it was the same thing for two and half hours.
We also didn’t see any gas stations in 155 miles, at least none that seemed to work. So, I appreciated Abbey for getting gas. I honestly don’t know that we would’ve made it if we waited.
White Sands, NM
The actual white sand wasn’t visible, but the entrance was in view! The park typically costs $20 per car, but when we slowed down to the ticket booth, the man waved us through. We leisurely drove on the winding road and passed a couple of short white dunes with some grass growing through them. But the tanned desert was still visible all around us.
“There better be more after that long drive,” Abbey grumbled.
“I bet there is. The GPS has us going pretty far in. We’re barely at the beginning.”
A couple of minutes in, and suddenly, we were surrounded by a warm snowstorm. Dunes rose above our car, and we couldn’t see anything beyond them. As we drove, the wind was heavy against the light sand, carrying it across the road. The sand gave shape to the wind, delicately shadowing its way from one dune to the next.
We found a nice deserted area to stop at and climbed out of the car. Abbey hooked Polo up with his harness and leash, and then we were ready to explore up the sandy hills. The sand was sturdy at the beginning, making walking an adventure as our feet unexpectedly find soft ground to fall into. I may have lost my balance a couple of times. The wind didn’t help.
Once we were at the top of a dune, all you could see was rolling hills of sand. The whole area was a romantic dream. A soft blue hue covered the land while the sun painted the sky with yellows and oranges. Our footprints we left behind barely stayed visible. It wasn’t long before the shallow prints were erased with ever-moving sands.
Honestly, it was enchanting.
However, as a side note, it’d be nice if people bagged their pets “droppings.” Not that Polo didn’t take the opportunity to brand the place of beauty with his own poop. Poor boy hunched over and walked around as if he needed to make sure no one was going to come near us while he “did his business.” Abbey looked up from gathering her pup’s left-behinds in a bag and made eye contact with the camera of my phone. We busted out laughing after I was caught recording Polo really marking their arrival to White Sands. Wind, dogs, and doggy bags aren’t the most magical of moments on trips like this, but they are hilarious.
We moved around, breathing heavily in the 4300’ elevation range. Though noticeably breathing harder, it didn’t stop me from smiling and laughing as we tried to make our way around the area. I loved watching Polo’s ears flap in the wind. He was quite a curious creature as we battled the wind and lowering temperature. Eventually, though, he became a little anxious, so we put him in the car with windows cracked. (The weather was safe enough for the very short time we would be gone.)
Before we left the car for a second time, Abbey and I took our shoes off. The sand easily escaped into them, so walking around with bare feet seemed better. And more fun.
When we were closer to the car, the ground was cold. But as we ventured to a couple of the dunes, the nice exfoliating feeling and falling below the surface kept the toes a little warmer. I laughed as I played with the sand brushing past my feet.
We spent a little more time outside, getting fabulous photos of the darkening blue dunes set against the descending sun. At one point, the sun was low enough that a slight mountain silhouetted in front of it. The picture I have of this scene kind of makes me think of Tatooine in Star Wars (without the double suns). An expanse of not a whole lot paired with the beauty of the day’s end.
Night was edging closer, so we went back to the car. The blue-white sand was so fine, it seemed to fall away from my feet—no need to brush them off. I quickly reapplied my socks and shoes to drive us around the dunes before the park closed.
As we drove around, it was fun to watch the sand wash across the road and see all the people taking pictures. Women were dressed very prettily as they took Insta worthy photos. Abbey said this did seem like a perfect backdrop for pictures. She wished she had dressed up for it. We may or may not have spent some time talking about the outfits that would look great with the sandy land. (My top pick was a sari-inspired red dress.)
If you know me, you may be aware of the many stories of getting lost while driving. Well, I now have another tale to add. The roads were white, the dunes were white, and there weren’t any lights. I was so close to telling Abbey that we might be camping in the car that night. At one point, a ranger came around to tell everyone the park was closing.
Luckily, the ranger, who was very handsome, gave me directions to the exit. Unluckily, he told me, so I still found navigation challenging. I’m a firm believer in the skills of the GPS. Thomas, my GPS voice, talked me through the area until we finally found the dunes slowly retreating behind us and the tanned desert ahead of us.
The gift shops were closed, so I’m sad to say I didn’t get any souvenirs from this area. (My personal souvenir of choice is a fridge magnet.) But the pictures are captivating, funny, and worthy of holding my memories.
