The plan was to get to Roswell, New Mexico that night...to check out the aliens! First of all we saw the cane fields where it is obvious they would hide...
turns out they don't hide at all...and use all the modern day conveniences that we do....
fuel..
a bit of KFC....
shop at Walmart, just like us....
and even do their own research...
Stu caught up with a couple of mates in the street....
and while I found it all a bit alien,
Stu did a tour of the "research centre".....coming out with a few conspiracy theories of his own....
I was probably more interested in getting down to White Sands National Monument, than being in Roswell, so we made our way down there...about a 2 1/2 hr drive.
What a beautiful place this was.
The Visitor Centre was a gorgeous adobe building....
The $80 we spent on a National Parks pass when we arrived back in the US was a very sound investment. It allows you the freedom to drop into any US National Park. This park had the added bonus of being right next to a missile range, which sometimes forces the park to close down.
Fortunately for us, this day wasn't one of those days!
It was a really unique place...quite different to Sand Dunes NP in Colorado.
and was well set up for people to sandboard down, with plenty of shelters provided.
Stu managed a "sand angel"....
which looked like it belonged in the Roswell UFO Research Centre!!
We climbed up and down a few dunes...but it was really hot.
A gorgeous place that I wished we could have stayed at longer, but we had to get to Albuquerque that night, which was a 6 hr drive away.
We had organised another couch-surf in Albuquerque, with a couple called Chris and Jaimie. Turns out they would be in Colorado that weekend, but still said we could stay at their place. We couldn't believe it. We arrived at their new town house, in Albuquerque, to find the air con going, a remote to use their garage, a key to access the swimming pool, password for wifi, a bottle of wine, and a beautiful home with everything we could possible need...and they had never met us. We couldn't believe it. It was fantastic!
with great views....
but the best part for Stu was that we were across the road from the Albuquerque Studios, where they film Breaking Bad!!
and the best part for me was driving past this groovy rattlesnake every day!
We went into Old Town Albuquerque to have a look, and it was very reminiscent of Sante Fe (capital) that we visited last year....very touristy, but great buildings, colours......
Stu went inside the church and there was some sort of service going on...it looked like a wedding, but if it was...only the bride turned up!
and I'm not sure what these guys were thinking in their "doof doof" car, but every few feet it bottomed out and hit the ground.....but it didn't stop them and they did numerous bog laps around the street!
We also went and looked at some petroglyphs, but the heat and the threat of rattlesnakes made us turn around and head for the air-conditioned car!
That evening we spent at the house....chilling, before our next big day on the road. The plan was to get to Oklahoma....so we qualified for a number plate and then head up to Colorado....so we drove a bit of Route 66 in New Mexico.....
but it was sad to see some of the small towns dying as the highway bypassed them....
We left New Mexico and briefly crossed into...
up to...
back into....
before finally returning to our favourite state....
and making a quick detour in Sand Dunes National Park after the sun had gone down....
We spent the night in Alamosa where we heard of the very sad news of the passing of a teacher from Maidens Park PS. Elaine was a wonderful lady. Stu appreciated her professionalism, honesty and absolute dedication to her job and I really enjoyed our weekly chats...especially our Kimberley connection. A very, very sad day.
No comments:
Post a Comment