Like A Prayer

“Life is a mystery . . . It’s like a little prayer . . . I wanna take you there” – Madonna

Wow, what a day Day 9 has been! Since the the area is finally getting some much needed rain we were forced to improvise a bit, but it sure did turn into an interesting day!

After sleeping in a bit and breakfast at the hotel we headed for our first destination of the day – Pistachioland. We learned of the existance of the world’s largest pistachio thanks to a suggestion from Ranger Mike and decided that we’d do our best to work it in to the trip if possible. We arrived during a break in the rain and took the opportunity to grab a couple selfies with the giant nut. Ellie was disappointed to learn that it was not a real nut (as was I when I first looked into it). We headed inside and were busy sampling as many varieties of pistachio as we could when an announcement came over the speakers warning us there were only 5 minutes left to purchase tickets for the next tour. Tour!?!? For $2/adult and $1/kid we were instantly in.

We headed outside and climbed into the pistachiomobile. Our tour guide provided narration full of interesting tidbits as we rode first past rows of grapes (for the wine produced on-site) and then the eponymous pistachio trees the site is known for. We even made a brief stop so we could get out and pose for some pistachio tree selfies. As all good things must come to an end the tour soon brought us back to the visitor center where we learned that we could exchange our tour tickets for a pistachio cookie. This may have just been a clever way to prevent people from freeloading by taking a second tour, but since we had other destinations today we took the cookie and headed out.

The day’s second stop was White Sands National Monument. We had been planning on sledding down the dunes the park is known for, but the heavy overnight rains dampened our excitement for rolling around in sand and we instead settled for a hike over and around them instead. White Sands is one of the most otherworldly parks that I’ve been to. After climbing over the first dune we were surounded by a sea of white sand that looked unlike any other place we have ever visited. I also spotted a bleached earless lizard, one of the most unusual and unique lizards I’ve ever seen. They’ve evolved a white color to help blend in with the white sands they make their home.

Generally neither Molly or I have much urge to drink upon entering a national park (notable exception Yosemite and their $1 bottles of beer). Upon entering White Sands, however, we were met with a series of signs warning that alcohol was prohibited in the monument from February 1st through May 31st. Since today is June 16th, not within the range of the ban, we quickly decided that we ought to take advantage of our fortuitous timing to Deegan a pint of ice cold Coors Lite as we walked through the dunes.

Stop three of the day is one that we normally wouldn’t have even considered, but given their generous support for the investigative journalism program, Whatever Happened to Pizza at Mcdonald’s, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. First, if you haven’t yet begun listening to that IJP head to your favorite podcast app, listen to the entire show from the beginning, then continue reading.

Great, now that we’re on the same page you can understand why we jumped at the opportunity to stop at the Las Cruces, NM location of Grandy’s. As the only Grandy’s location we’ll pass this trip we felt we had no option but to stop for some of their delicious homestyle food. Ellie won the Grandy’s experience by opting for the double chicken fried chicken meal with fries and potatoes. The rest of us went with the 4 piece hand breaded chiken tender meal with coleslaw and fries. Everything was delicious and my only regret is that I don’t know when I will next have the opportunity to support this fine establishment. We also picked up a couple of Grandy’s famous “sin-a-min” rolls which Mr. Thompson has assured us that Jesus Ben David himself would be likely to enjoy if he had the opportunity. We’re saving them for an afternoon snack, but I’m sure they’ll live up to their reputation. Thank you Grandy’s for supporting the Pizza at McD’s IJP!

We’ve been debating all day whether to camp at Chiricahua NM tonight as we’ve planned or to find a nearby hotel. The forecast is for a continued chance of storms through midnight tonight. While at Grandy’s we made the decision to risk our luck with the rain and camp as planned. This will allow us to get a much earlier start for a big hike at Chiricahua first thing in the morning. It also means that we likely won’t have much in the way of internet service tonight, so this may be the only post you get today. If everyone else isn’t able to post tonight rest assured that you’ll get their takes on the day tomorrow!