Spring Break breakdown - 6

Deer observation, Roswell reconnaissance

Friday, March 20: It was time for us to start heading back to Texas. Before we loaded up the truck, we were graced with the presence of several deer, which wandered down the hill behind the house, scrounging for pinon nuts and other food. The deer in the Alto Lakes area, while not tame, are certainly used to the presence of people and will closely approach houses and cars, providing many opportunities for observation and photography. The dozen or so which visited us on Friday morning hung around for about half an hour.

Alto Lakes doe

Miss C, C, and I headed out around lunch time. L and M stayed behind an extra day and rode back home with Mom. We'd rendezvous with them at the Clyde Dairy Queen the next day. First stop for my half of the group? The International UFO Museum and Research Center in nearby Roswell. We've been driving through Roswell for years, but had never visited the museum before. It was time to see what all the hype was about.

Roswell's downtown are is crowded with tributes to the area's UFO connection.

Inspired by the purported UFO crash near Corona, NM in 1947, and the subsequent analysis of "UFO debris" (and allegedly, even alien bodies) in Roswell, the UFO museum presents a multitude of displays and "evidence", encouraging believers and skeptics alike to decide for themselves for themselves if the reports were true.

Summer of 1947: NM alien activity at its peak

Alien autopsy diorama

Exhibits run from factual and informative to humorous and comical to just plain weird. Nothing we saw helped confirm the presence of UFOs or aliens to US... then again, we didn't have time to conduct our own research in the museum's "research library" since closing time was approaching. I do believe that intelligent life has evolved somewhere else in the universe... but has it ever visited Earth? Call me a skeptic.

One of many displays implying (playfully... right?) a gummint cover-up

Alien hunters, don't leave home without one of these...

The museum's most, umm, unusual exhibit was this sculpture of a horse plastered with newspaper clippings about the Roswell Incident. WTF?

He prefers Dr. Pepper? Not an alien...

So, was it worth the $5.00 admission charge (per person)? Well, it was interesting to read a few of the news clippings and some of the affadavits from people connected with the incident. Beyond that, it was about what I expected it to be... mildly entertaining, with more hype than substance. I suppose it was worth visiting once...

Coming next... Saturday morning train watching in Midland.

WSC

np: Gurf Morlix - "Your sister"

Spring Break breakdown - 3

Spring skiing

Tuesday, March 17 - time for some skiing at Ruidoso's Ski Apache. L was ready to tear it up; M attempted to do the same but quickly decided he'd do better if he took another beginner lesson. After lunch, Mom, Miss C, and C arrived and invited M on a gondola ride to the top of the mountain.

Heading up the mountain, hoping it's still ski-able...

"Let's do this."

Part of our happy group, ready for a ride on the Ski Apache gondola.

Heading toward the summit.

Enjoying the 70-degree weather in our short sleeves (and I in shorts), L and I had a great afternoon skiing the few runs that were actually open. We were lucky though; Ski Apache closed for the season just five days after our visit.

L says: "What's up, people?"

This seems more like water skiing...

A great day on the slopes!

That night, we went to dinner and treated M to an early celebration for his 8th birthday.

At Alto Lakes, they do things a bit differently (birthday candles in key-lime cheesecake) but M didn't care...

Tear it up, duuuuuuuude... and happy 8th birthday.

Coming next... El Camino Real and the Albuquerque Rail Runners...

WSC

np: Anthrax - "Got the time"

Spring Break breakdown - 2

March 16: tire swings and snow tubes

Monday was a relaxed day around the house. I fixed up the tire swing and then we took the kids snow-tubing in the afternoon.

Pine trees and clear skies

Wasn't there a Kimya Dawson song about this...

L catches air on the snow tube

M - Superman impersonation

Coming next: a day at Ski Apache.

WSC

np: R.E.M. "Sitting still"

two days in Ruidoso

November 5 and 6 around Ruidoso, NM...

Lincoln National Forest, on the drive to the Monjeau forest fire lookout tower

Climbing the steps to Monjeau Tower, which M. and I visited back in March

Looking east from Monjeau Tower

Enjoying a moment with Miss C. It was cold & windy!

A young fawn in someone's front yard at Alto.

Package Liquors, downtown Ruidoso.

Coming soon... Lake Valley ghost town and Hatch chile peppers. Stay tuned!

WSC

np: Johnny Cash - "No earthly good"

Hiking to Monjeau

On Saturday March 22, M joined me for a hike in the Lincoln National Forest. We decided to walk to the Monjeau lookout tower, a National Forest tower where forest rangers watch for fires. Normally you can drive right to it -- and we had driven there a few years ago -- but this time the road was still closed for the winter so we had to walk. The distance was about 2 1/2 miles from the point where the road was closed, a round-trip distance of 5 miles. It was a beautiful day and we got a nice workout.

hiking uphill

We found a lizard that kind of looked like a horned frog -- I didn't know they had those in New Mexico.

almost there - climbing the steps to the tower

Monjeau Lookout Tower - Lincoln National Forest, NM

M really wanted to go up into the tower...

We had to settle for this view instead.

Did I mention we were above the snow line?

Hiking back to the truck. This is one of those pictures that makes me realize M isn't a little kid anymore -- in fact, he had his 7th birthday during our trip.

Later, back at the house, M played on a tire swing I set up.

Stay tuned... I still have more New Mexico photos coming up next time...

WSC

np: KLLI-FM - "Big Dick Hunter's Wild-Ass Circus"