Driving west on US 70/380 between Roswell and Picacho, New Mexico (33°22'46.2"N 104°45'32.3"W). I think we were headed to Capitan, but decided to go to White Sands National Park instead, so with this photo we haven’t quite reached the point where we diverted.
Perhaps we should have gone to Capitan: Our Roswell host pulled in to the White Sands National Park Visitors Center with a flat tire. As a result, our time in the park became limited as we waited for a service truck to come.
Did I change the tire? In a word, no. It was hot. It wasn’t my car and I didn’t figure out jack placement before Lorraine committed to the service call. In the end, my efforts would have been for naught, anyway: the doughnut spare was low on air and I would have had no way to inflate it at the Visitors Center.
Lorraine had to pay for the service call, but the doughnut spare got us to Alamagordo where a tire shop patched-and-plugged the nail hole at no charge.
Although our time at White Sands NP was short, what an amazingly unique place. And yes, we saw people sledding down the dunes on checked-out saucers!
Retired economics professor (“dismal scientist”). Married 40+ years to the love of my life; we have two grown daughters, both married, two granddaughters and a...
