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    Visiting the Majestic White Sands National Monument

    Published: Nov 27, 2018 by meagpoirier · This post may contain affiliate links

    Ben and I tend to gravitate toward unique and quiet places in our bus travels. We love landscapes that feel a bit other-worldly -- mars-like rock formations, inactive cinder cone volcanos with fossil shaped caves to climb around, white sands as far as the eye can see, you name it.

    It's no surprise that White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, New Mexico was at the top of our destination list for this winter cross-country trip in our bus house.

    Sometimes There's no Substitute for Just Going There

    We've seen pictures of White Sands National Monument but much like our experience hiking the Grand Canyon rim to rim, you REALLY can't accurately measure how spectacular a place is until you go there and soak it in yourself.

    White Sands was easy to get to with our bus, no issues. The roads are in good condition and there is plenty of parking areas throughout the monument.

    It's also close enough to gas stations, major roads, and camping so no worries there. You're not in the middle of nowhere but it feels like you are in the park. PERFECT, if you as us!

    Pros and Cons of Bus Travel

    Traveling in a bus conversion tiny home has its perks in that we ALWAYS have everything we need with us. Hungry? No problem. Tired? No problem. We're essentially traveling in our entire home.

    However...

    There is always more planning and adaptation involved because you might arrive to a location you've been dying to see and find you just can't find parking or make it up a certain winding dirt road. Plan B, C, or D are often needed. 🙂 It's all a part of the adventure!

    Eventually you learn to flow with it and find resources that help guide you to AMAZING places nonetheless.

    White Sands National Monument highlights:

    • Open daily (except Christmas)
    • Operating hours follow the sun, it seems. Closes around sunset.
    • $5 admission per person
    • Bus-Friendly (plenty of parking, roads were fine)
    • Dog-Friendly
    • Free DRY (no services) camping for tents, RV or buses nearby, about 8 minutes away.

    How was our visit to White Sands in the Bus?!

    A highlight we will never forget.

    We did what we do best, ran around and jumped a lot and tested how fast we could climb things, you know... typical Meag + Ben. Moose had a BLAST too.

    We created a video (at the bottom of this post) of our visit for everyone!

    If you know us personally, you know we can't take ourselves too seriously, so... you'll see some touches of that shine in the video. 🙂

    The fine gypsum sand had the consistency of shortbread dough in some areas with more moisture. SO NEAT!

    Enjoy our Video!

    What do we use to shoot our video?

    We keep it simple with our iPhone X plus a few handy tools like the JOBY Gorilla Pod Stand and the DJI Osmo Mobile 2 stabilizer.

    Looking for more recommendations, gift ideas, our favorite things from our bus build? Check out our Amazon Storefront.

    We earn a small commission for Amazon affiliate sales at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting our writing & videos!

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