Ginger: To Saguaro National Park May 12

We start the day with a light breakfast at the motel before heading back to White Sands. One of the things they say you can do at the park is use plastic saucer sleds to slide down the dunes. The motel has some we can borrow. We drive back to the park and park in the picnic area where there are some big dunes. I'm very excited and am looking forward to reliving sledding memories from childhood. We're the only ones there. I climb to the top, plop down on my saucer. Nothing happens. Okay, I need to push off a bit to get started. Hmmmm. This is hard work to "slide" down the hill. I'll try it again. Maybe it needs to be packed down a bit more. Hmmmmm. Not any better. Maybe I'm just to heavy and that's the problem.

Nick and I walk along a "trail" towards an area where there is hike in primative camping. We're way past the time in our lives when we would do that. Climbing up the dunes is quite hard. Take a step forward and slide back down about 1/2 a step. (But the saucers don't slide.....) By the time we get back to the car, other people are there trying to slide down the dunes. Even the little kids aren't having any luck. I don't feel so bad now. One woman is stuck in the middle of the hill and is posed as if she is zooming down the hill while someone takes her picture. False advertising on the sledding front but it really is beautiful.

We have a long drive ahead of us today so head back to the Visitor's center. Have to take the obligatory picture in front of the National Park sign and I have a couple of questions for the rangers. How often do they plow and grade the roads? It's someone's 0 hour a week job to plow and grade! The dunes are always moving. They can move like 40' a year! Are there animals that have evolved to survive in the white sand? There is a white lizard that is only found here. Also a white praying mantis. Didn't see any of them. Maybe because their camouflage is working really well.

Off to Tuscon and Saguro National Park. We stop in Las Cruces for lunch. A Bite of Belgium got really good reviews on Yelp so that's where we decide to go. There are lots of locals there and the menu is extensive. I have a lamb sandwich with caramelized onions. Nick has a pork belly eggs benedict. We were both a little disappointed. I think our expectations were probably too high. On the road again.

We listen to The Warriors Apprentice by Lois McNaster Bujole. It helped all those miles to slide by.

In Tuscon, we're staying in a Best Western. (we don't do the "No Chains" for hotels - just restaurants. But what is nice about this Best Western is that when we checked in, she told us that happy hour is from 5;00 to 6:30 and that there are 2 free drinks of wine or beer for each of us!. Well, that's a nice way to relax after a day of driving! I have a beer and then we get two glasses of wine to take back to our room for later.

We ask about a good place to watch the sunset. The parking lot at a city park outside of town. Sun sets at 7:12. Sounds like we watch the sunset and then come back into town for dinner. We find the place and there are already quite a few cars parked there and people all looking West. Another sunset without any clouds but the dust in the air still makes it good.