Travel plans in 2020 did not hold up very well, and one trip for my wife and I that was a casualty was New Mexico. We finally got around to making new plans for the spring of 2022, and a prime target of interest was White Sands National Park.

In the spring, the park does not open until 7:00, which was after sunrise. We were going to stay in the area for almost a week, and I did want to go in early at least once. They have a program where you can submit a request for an early entry permit, which I did in January to leave lots of time. Almost a month went by and I still had not heard anything back. I tried making calls to the park, but no one would answer. I eventually sent a request for assistance to my congresswoman, and that paid off in early March when I got a call from the park Superintendent, who put me in touch with the ranger that handled the permits.

When we got to the park area lodging, I went into the park over several successive days, and found lots of great sand dunes to shoot. I found a place that I wanted to go for sunrise, and finalized my permit with the ranger. That morning, I went in early and got to my location. There were a few clouds on the horizon, and this was my favorite shot.