Southwest Vacation - Day 2

Up early in Roswell, New Mexico to check out the UFO Museum and learn more about the "Roswell Incident of 1947."  Mark has been reading "Witness to Roswell" which was factual account of the incident from eyewitnesses.

While Mark was eating his Fruit Loops at the hotel, an older man struck up a conversation saying he was in town for his class reunion.  He graduated from Roswell High in 1944.  He asked us if we were going to the museum and we told him yes.  Although he left Roswell in '44, a lot of his family and classmates were around in 1947 and were eyewitnesses to the encounter and told how the Army took great strides to cover up the incident.  The man started naming names that Mark was familiar with from the book he was reading.  This was one of the most interesting encounters of our trip.

Once you enter the museum you follow the Roswell Incident Timeline of exhibits.  There were affidavits, photographs, maps, newspaper copies and a mock up of a Roswell radio station where you can hear the actual radio news broadcast.  They also show an older movie "Roswell:  UFO Cover Up" which is supposed to be an accurate portrayal of the "incident."  It was really interesting to see all the old newspaper articles that were initially printed and affidavits from eyewitnesses.  Then how all the news changed once the Army was involved and stated there was no UFO or aliens, that it was simply a "weather balloon." 

You'll need to research for yourself to form your own opinion as to whether the UFO was real or not, but as for us...we believe.

The whole town thrives on the hoopla surrounding UFOs and aliens.  As can be seen in this collage of scenes from downtown.


Even the restaurants get in on the action - Farley's with their spaceship logo, McDonalds with their building shaped like a space ship and Arbys welcoming Aliens to dine with them.

The saying on this t-shirt pretty much sums it up!

From there we headed west toward Alamogordo, New Mexico, about a 3 hour drive along the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway.  We stopped in at the Billy the Kid Visitor Center. 

In legend, Billy the Kid has been described as a vicious and ruthless killer, an outlaw who died at the age of 21, but not before raising havoc on the New Mexico territory.  It's been said he took the lives of 21 men, the first being at age 12.  He was a rebel without a cause, who killed without reason, other than to see his victims kick.   

Our next road side stop was to see the "World's Largest Pistachio".  Mark's brother, Brett LOVES pistachios so we thought we'd send him a picture and pick up a couple of samples.  When we went inside, we found lots of different flavors of pistachios:  garlic, red chile, green chile, habanero and lemon-lime.  They also make their own wine and had a tasting station, lots of souvenirs and what nots.  A great stop.

As we were getting in the car, I noticed on the other side of the store a grove of trees...they were pistachio trees!  I didn't know pistachios grew on trees!  So that was pretty cool.

Pistachio Tree

Our intended destination in Alamogordo was the White Sands National Monument.  We arrived about an hour before sunset and were excited to see they offered a sunset stroll.  When you stand out in the midst of the dunes you see nothing but a desert of gypsum, you feel like your on the moon.

Unlike ocean sand, the White Sands are comprised of gypsum.  Gypsum is rarely found in the form of sand because it is water-soluble. Normally, rain would dissolve the gypsum and carry it to the sea. Since the Tularosa Basin has no outlet to the sea, rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding San Andreas and Sacramento Mountains is trapped within the basin, and the rain either sinks into the ground or forms shallow pools which subsequently dry out and leave gypsum in a crystalline form, called selenite, on the surface.  Weathering and erosion eventually break the crystals into sand-size grains that are carried away by the prevailing winds from the southwest, forming white dunes. The dunes constantly change shape and slowly move downwind about 20 feet per year.  Unlike dunes made of quartz-based sand crystals, the gypsum does not readily convert the sun's energy into heat and thus can be walked upon safely with bare feet, even in the hottest summer months.

Sunset - I almost missed it because the battery on the camera went dead just as the sun was setting so I had to run back to the car and get the second camera.  Thanks to the nice couple from Memphis for taking this shot for us.

Dinner at Margo's Mexican restaurant and then to the hotel to rest up for Day 3.