*DAY 5 - City of Rocks, NM to Oliver Lee Park, NM

 Day 5

We were sad to leave City of Rocks but we said goodbye and headed out to Las Cruces to see the famous Road Runner!

Unfortunately, when we arrived we couldn't find it anywhere - found out he was burned down last year

by a guy that thought it was evil.

so bummed...

But off we go to White Sands, NM!

 The kids had a blast running up and down the sand dunes.  They were pure white soft powder!

 

 

Then we left to find our campsite at Oliver Lee Park.  This park is above the White Sands desert on a rise near some cliffs.  It has quite the scene of the valley below!

Oliver Lee State Park was quite boring compared to the City of Rocks but we made due by setting up little pools for the kids out of the buckets we store our fruit in.

Ahhh

We put our feet in while Tim lounged in his "pool" all was good and well with the world....

Mom planned on serving hot dogs for dinner

Noooooo!

Hot Dogs means disaster in the camp!

On the last Slice of America serving hot dogs only meant something would go terribly wrong.  It then became the

"Hot Dog Theory"

So... all was calm relaxing in the "pools".  Then suddenly a loud beeping noise alarmed everyone!  We search the RV frantically for the reason for the alarm and where it was coming from when suddenly we heard an announcement.  "WARNING, WARNING A SAND STORM IS APPROACHING".  We realized it was coming from the emergency radio.  Everyone looked at each other and thought the weather seemed fine - no wind whatsoever.

Hmmm

This is what it looked like at the time down on the valley floor

Then as we looked toward the horizon and saw a huge cloud rolling toward us.  Scary Sight!

Everyone jumped into action!  Throwing everything from the tent to the RV.  George tried to stake down the tent but the ground was rock - he instead tied it to the picnic table.  George ordered everyone into the park's bathroom and shut the door.  Cathy and Luke were bummed that they couldn't stay outside and check it out.

Suddenly, the wind started to blown and swirl around the bathroom.  Louder and Louder!

We peeked outside and it was orange and thick with sand.

Sand and wind started to come through the vents and from under the door. And we had to hold the door closed by the vents....no handle on the inside of the door!

Luke, determined to prove the "Hot Dog Theory" wrong, skewered a hot dog and lit a lighter on it.  Suddenly the Fire Alarm Lights in the bathroom began flashing!  So everyone tried to fan the cooking hot dog and get rid of the smoke before the fire sprinklers would come on.  All was fine in a few minutes but that just proved the theory right once again.  Hot Dogs do equal Disaster.

As the sand part of the storm died down we went out to save the tent from blowing away.  The wind was still blowing gales!  Cathy, George and Luke climbed into the tent (that now only had air mattresses in it) to hold down the tent with their weight.  Each took a corner while the rest of the gang went into the RV to sleep.

That was a very long miserable night for those in the tent!  Lucy, the motorhome, just rocked everyone to sleep!

In the morning we checked out the damage.  Not a grain of sand left - it all blew away.