The desert within the desert (and giveaway #2)

Once we had taken care of finding a rental house and filling out all of the appropriate paperwork, my mom and I had a whole day in front of us with nothing to do.  I recalled Captain Husband mentioning that the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico was within an afternoon's drive of El Paso, so away we went.  Driving through mile after mile of desolate desert landscapes was a bit unnerving at times (note to self: always fill up the gas tank before heading off on a jaunt across the desert)--we also had to go through a U.S. Border Patrol Interior Checkpoint, which caught me completely off guard, especially with how nonchalant the patrol officer was about the whole thing: "Are you both Americans?"  Us: "Yup."  Him: "Okay then."  Our destination was just a few more miles down the road; we paid the nominal entrance fee and drove into the monument, where we were greeted by seemingly endless vistas of glistening white sand and sapphire blue skies.

It's almost hard to describe just how impressive the place was--believe me, my photos do not do the monument justice (also, have you ever tried to meter off of so much white?  My camera was losing its mind).  My mom and I parked the car and climbed up one of the dunes to get a better look and it was like being lost in a snowstorm--in fact, I had a hard time convincing my brain that I was looking at piles of sand, not snow, although the heat certainly helped.  We wandered around the dunes a bit, taking photo after photo, and then we drove back to the visitor center to refill our water bottles before heading back to El Paso; I'm kicking myself for not taking any photos of the visitor center as it is a gorgeous example of adobe architecture and it was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, too.  I'll be sure to take some the next time I'm out that way--I definitely see this becoming a favorite family destination once the three of us have settled in El Paso.

All this talk of deserts has made me thirsty--hello segue!

Today's giveaway is a 24-ounce Revive & Refresh water bottle by Aladdin; I have the same one and I love it.  It's dishwasher safe and leak resistant with a two-way lid, plus its ergonomic design fits perfectly in my hand (as well as in my car's cup holder).  I've had mine for a few weeks and it's managed to hold up to Sammy's daily beatings without leaking or spilling once, which is something of a minor victory.

Okay, so here's the nitty gritty on how to enter:

Mandatory entry: You must be a follower of my blog. Just leave me a comment telling me you are.

{Optional entries--please leave a separate comment for each entry}
1. Answer this question: How much water do you drink in any given day?
2. Like my blog on Facebook.
3. Tweet, Facebook or blog about this giveaway.

This giveaway will end Sunday, July 31st at 11:59 PM EST and the winner will be contacted via email, so please make sure that I have a way of contacting you.  Good luck everyone!
This giveaway is open to all of my readers and is sponsored by L to the third (me!); no monetary compensation was given.