Remember that wind I mentioned on the way to Kartchner Caverns? That same wind, I do believe, blew harder and harder so we blew off (ha ha) setting up the tent and all piled into the car to sleep. By morning, I was in back with Juju and Maya, snug as three bugs could possibly be, and we woke to calm beauty.
So as to not deny the girls of any learning opportunities, we got ourselves together and went down to the visitors center to learn about the minerals and gems that can be found in the park.
Rockhounds are allowed to take up to 15 pounds of minerals out of the park. Juju and Maya were able to find jasper and perlite, but no geodes or thunder eggs. We spent all morning hiking and hunting and enjoying the beauty. 
Maya would like us all to know and for me to remember that she got a first hand experience with how tough desert plants are...
she was stuck in the tush by a prickly pear on the way down from a perlite outcropping, and stepped on the nastiest thorn that went through her shoe, into her foot and grabbed her sock!After a brief stop at an uber-rockhound's geode shop, we moved on to Las Cruces for some bead shopping and had the best raw kale salad ever at a local food co-op. Then on we went to White Sands National Monument. On the way, we drove through the White Sands Missile Range. War became the topic of discussion for the next half hour - hard to avoid the tough discussions in a small car.
White Sands National Monument was spectacular! The dunes are created by gypsum deposits. Care for details? See http://www.nps.gov/whsa/naturescience/index.htmDriving on the roads through the dunes felt like driving on snowpacked roads, just less slippery.
Juju had to write about the geology of the dunes later on, but she and Maya both got to just enjoy them, too!
a perfect place to get deep with nature...
...and to run in the wind
Rockhound State Park: http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/rock_hound/state_park.html
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