Adventure Wednesday #2

For my second Adventure Wednesday, I traveled a few miles past Alamogordo (fat Alamo?!) to The White sands National Monument. This is a fascinating place, with a completely otherworldly feel to it. Pictures do not do it justice. The sand is gypsum, rather than silica, which accounts for the whiteness, and also for the coolness of the sand, even on a sunny day. Lot's of people have disc sleds and go sledding on the dunes. I didn't.

I don't know what this purple flower is, but note the lizard to the left...