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| Believe it or Not... |
Mention Roswell New Mexico and you think of Aliens but there
is more to this town. It’s a farming, dairy and ranching community. The former
Walker Air Force base here is now an industrial incubator for economic growth,
and the International Air Center hosts hundreds of aircraft in various states
of repair. It is home to the
International Law Enforcement Agency and the largest Mozzarella Cheese
Processing plant in the world, (remember this next time you call Domino’s or
Pizza Hut.) But we’re not here for the cheese… unless seeking out cheesy alien
tchotskies qualifies.
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| UFO Museum |
The “Roswell Incident” was unsuccessfully covered up for almost
30 years. The UFO Museum here is
dedicated to presenting all of the available information regarding the incident
and other documented UFO phenomenon.
They have some pretty compelling evidence, but only strive to present
the facts as known and let you decide what to believe. We spend a whole day
exploring the museum and all of the Alien themed shops in downtown.
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| Bottomless Lake |
About fourteen miles southeast of town are the bottomless lakes. (They are really about ninety feet deep but seemed bottomless to the
cowboys with a short rope who named them.) This was New Mexico’s first state
park comprised of nine small, deep lakes surrounded by cliffs. There are rumors
that items lost in these lakes have shown up in Carlsbad Caverns some eighty
miles to the south and also in the Gulf of Mexico. We spend the afternoon
hiking and taking photos but we don’t try to prove the theory of traveling
objects.
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| Carlsbad Caverns |
After getting our “Alien Fix” we head south to
Carlsbad. The Caverns open at 8:30 AM
and we are some of the first of the day to start hiking in from the natural
entrance. It takes all of the morning to
explore the self-guided portions of the caverns. After Lunch we take a ranger guided tour of
the King’s palace. These caverns are
enormous and grand and should be on everyone’s bucket list.
Well that’s about it for New Mexico this time through. Next, it’s Texas Y’all…
Howdy, y'all! When you said you you were heading for Texas I couldn't help but chime in (having spent a fair amount of time there and making every effort to find something to love)...
ReplyDeleteIf you get to Austin: well, I confess I actually love Austin. Ladybird Lake, 6th Street, food trucks... It actually reminds me a lot of the things I love about Sacramento, too. For food, I recommend two stops: South Congress Cafe for breakfast/brunch and Red's Porch for dinner. SoCo Cafe has so much amazing food, but it's their carrot cake French toast that made me fall in love. Red's Porch is a fun spot for an evening meal, great fried chicken and comfort food in general. Wish I could join you!
Houston: it's about to overtake Chicago as the third largest city in the US! There's a lot of good food (Barney's is a fun local chain and you'll see the Papa's/Papacito's/etc. family of restaurants everywhere), but the one stand-out recommendation is a very non-traditonal hot dog place called Happy Fatz. It's not a hot dog stand, they're gourmet specialty dogs and they're slathered with amazing things. The Clucker is their breakfast dog topped with bacon, eggs, hash browns, and other good stuff.
Amarillo: Well... It's Amarillo. The closest major cities are Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, so that tells you you're in the middle of nowhere. But Amarillo IS home to the second largest canyon in the country (after the Grand Canyon) if you're looming for sights. Oh, and there's Cadillac Ranch, a slew of quirky street signs, a 72oz steak just off the 40, and the American Quarter Horse Association (if you like that sorta thing). For food, there's Burger Bar downtown or you can just make a cafe pit stop at the 815. Or maybe you'll just keep driving...
Glad you two are having fun on the open road. You popped into my head and I had to say hello!
Rob
Yo Rob! Great to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteWe got to Austin, Houston & Galveston before the last big storm was due... Then we raced along the gulf in front of the storm.... In FL now... But will be back in the lone star state again...