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.

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np: Gurf Morlix - "Your sister"

New Mexico highways, El Paso streets

Time to wrap up the New Mexico trip, considering it's been about 30 days since it ended. Here are a few scenes taken along New Mexico highways, and on the streets of El Paso. Enjoy...

Sims Auto Salvage - Roswell, NM

US Post Office / Bowser Company rooftop ad - Picacho, NM

UFO Museum - Roswell, NM

Golden West Flour - Texico, NM

Marcas del Prestigio - near the international bridge in El Paso

The border town of El Paso is one of my favorite cities anywhere... I'd move there tomorrow if I could. Full of friendly people, the city is blessed with captivating mountain and desert scenery, and what I consider to be a near-perfect climate. Scenic highlights include a picturesque downtown skyline and the UTEP campus perched atop a hillside -- complete with the Sun Bowl football stadium. Recessed into a natural depression in the side of a mountain, the Sun Bowl is one of the coolest settings anywhere for a football game.

And then there is Mexico. Larger than its sister city on the north bank of the river, Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican side is home to over one million people, with more arriving every day, hoping to find a better life in this huge city on Mexico's northern border. Drive west along I-10 at night and see if you don't feel the energy of this thriving metropolis as you look down on millions of sparkling lights lining both sides of the Rio Grande. West of downtown El Paso in the daytime, you can look right across the river into Mexico at boulevards, mercados, barren soccer fields... and farther west, at the shantytowns lining the hillsides outside of Juarez -- an eyeful of poverty and the contrast between America and Mexico that must be seen to be believed.

And you don't even have to cross the river to appreciate the rich Mexican heritage and culture of the borderland region ... flip through your radio dial and get an earful of that conjunto music blaring from the stations on the Mexican side. Drive around the city -- on the American side -- and count the number of signs that are in displayed in both English and Spanish... or sometimes, Spanish only. There are plenty of places that leave you feeling as though maybe you crossed the river without realizing it! One particularly colorful part of town is the retail district (illustrated in the photos shown here) located south of downtown near the El Paso del Norte international bridge. Consisting largely of businesses like shoe shops, lingerie shops and run-down second-hand clothing stores, it's clear that the average customer patronizing these shops isn't coming from the American side. Grab some lunch at a nearby tacqueria -- along with a Mexican bottled Coke -- and enjoy the show!

Ropa Usada - El Paso, TX

Zapatos / Baratos and street vendor - El Paso

alley - El Paso, TX

Black Jack Grocery - El Paso

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np: Tom Russell - "Tonight we ride"