Day Sixteen

We got up early so we could have breakfast at the hotel before leaving. I took the fresh, warm cinnamon buns to go…yum! When we walked out of the hotel the sky was so beautiful. We got to White Sands National Park at 6:35am and waited for the gate to open at 7am. Another amazing change of landscape and to suddenly be in these crazy sand dunes was kind of wild! From the park hand out “Like a mirage, dazzling white sand dunes shimmer in the tucked-away Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico. They shift and settle over the Chihuahuan Desert, covering 275 square miles – the largest gypsum dune field in the world. White Sands National Park preserves more than half of this oasis, its shallow water supply, and the plants and animals living here”. “White Sands National Monument was established on January 18, 1933, by President Herbert Hoover to preserve, “the white sands and additional features of scenic, scientific, and educational interest.” It’s incredibly difficult to climb up the deep, soft sand but once you get to the top of the dune it’s packed hard enough to walk on. Incredible views all around. We saw 6 or 7 more trains. Our first 2 charges of the day were quick and painless and the 3rd one was at our first specific Rivian charger, much to Bill’s excitement. We crossed into Arizona and a different time zone as they don’t do daylight savings here, so we’re on the same time as CA. We actually had to go through a US Border Patrol Checkpoint, when asked if we were both US citizen’s Bill said Yes and I had to say actually I’m not and that I have a green card, the agent was like well that’s almost as good! Finally cactus started to appear across the landscape, I’d been waiting to see those!

We got to the hotel in Buckeye, AZ at 5pm and were greeted by Bill’s brother Gil, who had ridden out from San Diego on his Indian Challenger motorcycle. It was so great to see him, we went out for a delicious dinner at ‘The Vic Bar & Kitchen’ aptly named! It was the restaurant at this quite fancy golf club. We asked some folks to take our photo on the way out and one of the guys insisted that he take our photo with the view in the background, very accommodating indeed. Gear Guard Gary got to get out and play today in the sand, with the Rivian chargers, with a giant succulent and on a motorcycle 🙂 We had a relaxing swim in the pool at the hotel which felt really good as it’s still 100 degrees at 8:30pm…zoiks! After 2 long days of driving we have a quick 2 hour drive to get to Sedona, AZ tomorrow.

Stats for the nerds

Alamogordo, NM to Buckeye, AZ
535.2 mi
8 hr 54 min
2.03 mi/kWh
Total Energy 264.1 kWh

Total for the trip so far:
3,491.6 mi
64 hr 3 min
2.04 mi/kWh
Total Energy 1,716.5 kWh