On the hunt for Aliens

Sunday, November 3 & Monday, November 4
Sunday we packed up and headed south toward Roswell on Hwy 285. The scenery changed quite quickly from the pretty high country around Albuquerque and Tijeras to the lower and scrubbier Chihuahuan desert country.

The hills around Tijeras

Sites are very close together at Hidden Valley RV Resort. (We are in the middle) This is an RPI Resort so it only cost us $10/night (plus $3 more for 50 amp)

We turned south on Hwy 285  from I 40 at Clines Corners.

Almost immediately the terrain changes. Still hilly but not much vegetation.

The road seems to go on forever. Good road and not much traffic.

Vaughn has seen better days.

South of Vaughn we found these two guys arguing across the highway.

The figures are huge. Higher than a hydro pole. Very cute.

The desert looking southeast toward the Capitan Mountains. This is the area where the 'spacecraft' crashed in 1947, bringing fame (and fortune) to Roswell.

Everything in Roswell is alien and space related.

Friendly folks here!

We arrived in Roswell pretty early and had no real plans for the remainder of the day. We planned on staying at Walmart and really couldn't drag the trailer around town so we stayed put and gave Walmart some of our time......and money.

Monday morning we headed downtown, trailer in tow, hoping for a good parking spot. Luckily we arrived early enough and we had no problem finding a 52 foot parking spot on the street.

The main reason for stopping in Roswell was to visit the UFO Museum. Of course it is all based on the mysterious circumstances around the discovery of some debris in the desert in July, 1947. The government made quite a mess of covering up the discovery and since that day many folks have been convinced that we have been (and still are) visited by extraterrestrials. The museum has many displays and news clippings that hope to convince you of the validity of the claim that UFO's are real. At the end they leave it to the individual to make up their own mind.

Even the McDonalds is shaped like a flying saucer.

Lots of shops downtown catering to the UFO watcher/believer.

Come on now.....even the trees are shaped like spacecraft!

The world famous UFO Museum in the heart of Roswell.

The Rancher that started it all. He found wreckage in his pasture.

Did a UFO crash in his pasture?

Did they look like this??

Did we save one from certain death???

Are they preserved in a secret laboratory by the Government????

The displays let you draw your own conclusions.

They present the facts, as they know it.

Hoax, mistaken facts, cover up?

UFO and spacemen stories have been around for thousands of years. This is a replica of a tomb lid from 1500 years ago.

It seems to describe some alien visitations.

Native Americans have stories and legends about this as well.

What happened in the desert on July 2, 1947?

Even Star Wars got into the act.

The gift shop was loaded with goodies.

Everything looks like a UFO today!

An interesting place to spend a couple of hours.

Y'all come back now!

So, are we convinced? Let's just say 'The truth is out there', and leave it at that!


We headed further south on Hwy 285 through the town of Artesia and onward to Brantley State Park.

Lots of oil and gas activity around Artesia.

Oil/gas plant in Artesia.

Site 6. Lots of room and shade too! Includes power and water for $14/night. Good deal!

This Road Runner was just down the street. The first one we've seen this year.

Brantley Lake is full of water. It's a dry area so I'm sure they retain as much as possible.

Trail to the Lake.

Odd shaped patterns on the crust.

Brantley Lake. Actually a reservoir on the Pecos River.

The control structure

Very strange texture to the stone.

They have some huge wasps here. makes sitting outside a bit of an adventure.

Brantley Lake State Park advertise their sunsets as 'spectacular'.....

......I agree!

Tomorrow, Tuesday we head to Carlsbad Caves.

....and that was Our View From Here!