Hanging with the Aliens

Location: Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM

What a difference a day makes! After an early morning run and breakfast in Winnie we headed for the spa area. We were the ONLY people there. Wowza. We had so much fun going from pool to pool sampling the different temperatures and water minerals (Soda, Lithium, Iron, Arsenic, etc.) and stretching our limbs. We even got in some laps in the Kiva pool. The shower and bathroom areas are equally luxurious. I had fun using ALL their products (locally crafted body washes, shampoo, conditioners, and desert rain & desert sage lotions). Yes, I am not taking any of this for granted since the rest of the trip we will most likely be showering in cinder block houses with navy nozzles that may or may not have hot water. Feast or famine...

We reluctantly pulled out of Ojo Caliente Spa mid-morning and headed for Santa Fe. Before we left Ned tried to make a phone call. Debi why isn't my call going through??? What can possibly be wrong?

After a drive through Santa Fe we headed for Southern New Mexico. Of course we had to stop at Cline's Corners. This wacky place is at the junction of Highways 40 and 285 and has been around since 1934. If you're passing through it's definitely worth a traveler's pit stop. It has a really expansive coffee shop, fudge counter (dad you know you want it!) and gift shop along with some of the best tchotches ever. Any cowboy or Southwestern themed item - they got it. Minerals and rocks - they got it. Shot glasses, snow globes, magnets from every state, MinneTonka shoes, boots, blankets and hats. Oh and did I mention toys of every kind, 50's memorabilia, Route 66 everything, and some things I didn't even understand - like the squeezable boob? Oh yeah, as we get closer to Roswell things just get weirder.

Once in Roswell what else is there to do but take in an alien exhibit? I had read about one of the weirder ones and figured we had to go. So, Spacewalk Exhibit here we come. The Spacewalk is wedged in the side of a funky little gift shop and and built by two comic book artists. It cost us $2 each, but we decided to pay the big bucks and take a walk through time. And so began our eerie spacewalk through the "machine" that shows Roswell's past and future. According to the creators, Roswell is the "epicenter of the future". "Moody, spacey music played as we groped our way past glowing dioramas of the first atomic explosion, the arrival of Roswell's aliens, and a September 1953 broadcast of I Love Lucy from Akron, Ohio. Of course we had a hoot snapping silly pictures of us pretending like we were being abducted or terrified from aliens.

One diorama showed a flying saucer landing on July 5, 1947 which is EXACTLY 4 years to the date before Ned was born. My question is....how long exactly does it take an alien to hatch? Mmmm...ever notice that Ned has an awfully big head? And is it just me or do they really have the same mannerisms? (Just sayin').

 

 

The Spacewalk followed 1953 with a vast leap of time (necessitated by lack of space according to the creator) onto the deck of a galactic cruiser, thousands of years in the future. Two steps away is another vista of a city in the far distant future. It might be Roswell, but also could just be a piece of "art" that the artist didn't know what to do with. We finally exited the spacewalk at the back end of the gift shop and had just as much fun looking at all the weird plastic green glo alien heads, tshirts, antenna headbands and bumper stickers. I couldn't resist and did end up buying a certain son a can of Alien Pate, with the tagline, "It tastes like chicken!"

Tonight we're camped just outside of Roswell at a very bleak desert campground, called Bottomless Lakes. The last time we camped here we were just about the only people in this God forsaken place, except for all the convicts that were picking up the garbage and cleaning the restrooms. This time we are here on a Friday night and all 30 sites are occupied. We toyed with the idea of swimming in the Bottomless Lake, but a thunderstorm just opened up. We decided it was much too fun to just sit back and enjoy the people watching (one of the campsites has about 20 girls ranging in age from about 8 to 13 who are a constant source of amusement) and the magical rainbow that popped up - then disappeared within minutes. It's a warm 80 degrees and the showers actually helped cool things down a bit.

psst - I'm definitely keeping an eye on Ned to see if he starts acting like it's a homecoming or he's bonding with some of the other aliens er "campers".

Help, help, help!!!

 

 

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