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| This is the Airplane "Boneyard" at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Next time, we want to visit the whole Pima Air and Space Museum here. |
Each time we return from Tucson, we try to find a new route home to somewhere we haven't been before. This time we headed east to Las Cruces, White Sands and Alamogordo to Ruidoso, NM. We spent the afternoon exploring the mountains in the area-lost, but happy! Then we explored the little town, which reminded us of Estes Park here in Colorado.
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| Sierra Blanca |
We took the Billy the Kid National Scenic Byway through Ruidoso Downs and Ruidoso to Capitan, Lincoln and Hondo to Roswell.
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| This was outside the Interpretive Center at the Hubbard Museum of the American West, where there are all the major horse breeds represented in these sculptures. |
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| This is a major horse racing venue and casino: Ruidoso Downs. The track hosts both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing. |
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| A major fire, the Little Bear fire, devastated this area in 2012, burning over 44,000 acres and destroying 242 homes. |
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| Capitan is the home of Smokey the Bear! |
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| Look who kind of likes Smokey! |
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| In 1950 the Los Tablos blaze in nearby Lincoln National Forest grew large in a 70 mph wind. Fire crews brought a badly singed bear into the fire camp. After recovering in Santa Fe, he was flown to Washington, D.C. where he was kept at the National Zoo until his death in 1976. We must have seen him at the zoo back in the day, when we lived in DC and visited the zoo quite often. His body is buried in a small park here in Capitan. |
We drove through Lincoln, a darling town now, but once infamous for corruption and lawlessness. In the mid 1800s, two former soldiers from nearby Fort Stanton created a successful mercantile and brewery in town. A wealthy rancher and an attorney decided to open another store to compete with
the established store in town. Thus began the competition that led to the Lincoln County War. Most famous of the participants of that war was Billy the Kid, who was working for the newcomer merchants. His boss was shot and killed in 1878 beginning the 5 month long war. Billy was convicted of killing the sheriff and a deputy, along with 5 of his buddies. He still was known for stealing livestock and thumbing his nose at the law. When Pat Garrett finally captured him in 1880, he stood trial for the murder of the sheriff and was found guilty. He was scheduled to hang but escaped from the second floor of the courthouse jail in 1881, killing the two deputies who guarded him. Garrett eventually tracked him down and shot and killed him. Many say that at that moment, law and order finally took root in the Old West.
Next on the docket was a visit to Roswell, to please my Sci Fi-loving husband. The drive is dusty and flat through scrub bush-dotted plains. We had a very nice lunch at a winery and then took off for a few hours of the International UFO Museum and Research Center. The Center was created to inform the public about what has become known as "The Roswell Incident." It endeavors to be the leading information source in history, science and research about UFO events worldwide.
The Roswell Incident recounts a series of events that took place on July 4, 1947. The story goes that a rancher heard a loud noise and two nuns saw what they thought was an airplane crash. The rancher discovered debris on his property the next day and took some of it to the Sheriff. They then contacted an Army Intelligence Officer who came to investigate. There are stories of the Roswell Army Airfield ordering a number of child-size caskets and keeping people away from the scene. The AIO took some of the debris to Ft. Worth, where he presented the debris to a General there. When the AIO is told to step out of the room and then returns, the debris has been replaced with weather balloon material. He is held by the military and told to modify his story to that of a crashed weather balloon. The nurse drew a picture of what she saw-a big eyed alien-for the mortician in town, then supposedly disappeared. A few days later, a pilot supposedly flew the bodies and debris to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. There are all kinds of stories of a "Hanger 18" at Wright Patt, where the bodies and debris were kept secretly. If nothing else, this is all an interesting story that was a fascinating exercise for an old sci fi buff like Jim.
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| This is the picture of the flying saucer allegedly seen in Roswell. |
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| The Palenque Astronaut carving comes from the lid of a Mayan tomb. It portrays what they say is an astronaut sitting at the controls of a space ship. |
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| Rock art depicting alien creatures |
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| Jim, his alien friends and their space ship |
Much more to my taste was our next stop, Santa Fe. On our way into town, we stopped by Jackalope for a little shopping.
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| Lunch at The Shed |
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| I bought one of those spiral, journey of life necklaces and earrings from this nice man at the plaza. |
