After passing through more desert (oddly sprinkled with some groves of Pecan and Pistachio trees) you arrive at White Sands National Monument. From the Visitor Center, the view reminded me of the tallest sand dune on the East Coast, North Carolina’s Jockey’s Ridge, only with mountains in the background instead of a sound or ocean. But when I drove through the auto loop, it became apparent that this place was Jockey’s Ridge on steroids. And instead of the tan sands I am accustomed to, these sands are snow white.