A Snapshot and The Scoop: White Sand, As Far As You Can See

Mounds of white stretched as far as I could see, looking like a blanket of snow lay across the valley. The morning sun was shining brightly, promising to bring a hot summer's day to the desert. The white sand was pleasantly cool under my bear feet as I made a short trek from my car onto the dunes, eager to duck down below the front crest and feel like I was the only person on the planet. White Sands National Monument in New Mexico preserves the largest gypsum dune field in the states, and for good reason. The dunes aren't incredibly tall, but the sparkling white sands are amazing to see. I didn't get to spend much time among this geological wonder, but did drive the whole road through a small part of the dune field, and got my toes into the sand as soon as I found a parking lot that didn't have any cars in it. Some day, I want to backpack through these dunes, spend a night among them and witness a sunrise while nestled between two crests.

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you'd spend the night tucked away from it all.

On The Lookout For Dinosaurs

Nervous. We arrived late and put up our tent by the light from my car's headlights. It was pitch black under the trees, with the sounds of the bayou pressing in on us. I was with a few of the interns from Tiger Creek, taking a camping trip to Caddo Lake State Park on the Texas-Louisianna border. One of the girls had never camped before, and because I think it's a shame if someone hasn't experienced the great outdoors in that way, I promised I'd take her camping before her intership was up. I ended up taking all of the summer interns to Caddo Lake in two groups, one group in July and the other in August. The first time we went to Caddo was because I wanted to check it out and try canoeing; the second time was to camp and do some more canoeing. Confession: Both times I went, I wanted to see alligators!

Our July trip was short and sweet. We arrived at Caddo around dawn and did a little bit of hiking, then rented a couple of canoes and set off for a watery adventure. Now, I've explained before that I don't like boats. Like, at all. So it was a huge step for me that I even wanted to get into a canoe, and have that canoe floating on the surface of a bayou. I was pretty apprehensive about getting into the boat. Oh, and did I mention that the bayou and connected lake, the only natural lake in Texas, is known alligator habitat? There are signs all over the place warning against swimming.

Canoeing was actually fantastic. We kept close to the shorline, watching the cypress roots carefully for alligators. We really, really wanted to see one! Not so much right under our canoes, but from a safe distance. I'm sure we did paddle over plenty of them and never knew it. From the lake, the July group and I explored the nearby wildlife refuge and enjoyed our lunch. It was an abandoned military base, and honestly it was a little creepy. We didn't stick around too long before heading home.

The August camping trip was quite the experience. Camping right next to the bayou definitely made us aware of all movement outside of our little circle of lantern light. We were brave enough to go looking for alligators, hoping we'd get lucky at night and catch one or two in the beam of our flashlights. We stood on a floating dock, listening to the night sounds surrounding us, staring up at the stars and keeping an eye out for gators. We went to bed and actually slept very well before getting up and doing some canoeing of our own. I had brought Callie with me, and she was a rockstar in the canoe! She just watched the shore pass by like the rest of us, eventually laying down and napping. We headed home after that, with me hoping that the next time I visit I might get lucky enough to see some of those relatives of dinosaurs. Bring on the gators!

A Snapshot and the Scoop: A Beautiful Place To Pitch A Tent

I recently spent a week camping at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. Alone. It was absolutely amazing! I camped right against the forest, and was the only person on my loop in the campground. The camp host made her rounds every afternoon, and stopped to check on me a few times. In our chats, she asked me if I had met the campground resident. When I looked confused, she explained that there was a black bear that had made his home around the campground, who was being tracked by biologists to make sure he didn't get into trouble. So far, he'd left everybody alone, and they'd only seen him a few times. With a friendly reminder to make sure I left no food out, the camp host went on her way and left me to cook my dinner. You'd better believe I cleaned up every scrap of food and disposed of it in the bear-proof dumpster away from my camp site. I never had the pleasure of meeting the resident bear, and honestly, I'm ok with that. It really was a gorgeous campsite!

Leave me a comment below and tell me about a favorite campsite you've stayed at.