We headed over to the International UFO Museum and Research Center in downtown Roswell after breakfast. This is really the big deal in Roswell, and had been closed the previous night when we got into town. Honestly, I was really disappointed in that place. I mean, I knew it was going to be cheesy, but it was just so simple, it looked like a high school senor project. It wasn’t very clean, things were broken, it was all one big room and it was a lot of the same information over and over and over and over and over. And over. The most exciting part was when I found the X-Files posters on the wall of the museum.
Made me wish I had brought the first season with me. We left Roswell, and I wasn’t all that sad to go. It was great for about twelve hours, but other than that, not a lot to do.
Toto wanted to go to White Sands National Monument which is located near Alamogordo, NM. So we had to head south, and there were no freeways. So we were on this piddly little highway up in some mountains somewhere. It was interesting. While driving through these mountains, Josh yells “I saw an armadillo!” I snorted and asked “You saw an armadillo?” He says “Yes! Turn around!” Toto turned the car around and we went armadillo hunting! Well, Josh’s armadillo turned out to be a rusty metal can up in a draw on top of a rock. Good job Josh. On our way we went.
We got down to White Sands and I took one look and knew it was going to be one of those things that Josh and I just had to bear with Toto on. The visitor center was all dated and it looked like it was going to be super boring. We were so wrong. The white sand comes from gypsum crystals drying out and disintegrating. The wind then blows the sand into dunes and as the sand rolls around it scratches the particles around it and that’s how it turns white. It was pretty cool. We drove out into the park on the driving loop they have. It was hot. I think it got up to 105 degrees while we were out there, but since we were in the car most of the time that was alright. When we got to the end of the road, there was a huge parking lot so we got out of the car and started hiking around on the dunes. Toto was snapping pictures all over the place like usual so Josh and I were just being us and dorking around. We got to the top of a tallish dune, and looked down. It was probably twenty five feet tall, so I turned to Josh and said, “Dude, roll down it.” I thought he would argue, but he didn’t. He rolled down the dune, and then just laid there, giving Toto a great photo opp.
We knew it would take him a few minutes to hike back up since sand is a pain in the tush to climb, so we just kept walking. A few minutes later, as Toto and I stood at the top of another dune, I saw Josh pop his head up near where we had been earlier. His head popped up, then disappeared again.
He did this a few times, Toto got a picture, and then he disappeared. I figured he was attempting to be stealthy and sneak up on us (Mr. Army-Man), so I went in search of him. It took me about two minutes to find him. He had climbed back down the dune halfway, and traversed the side of it so that he was directly north of where we were standing. Then he had climbed back up a bit. Had we stayed where we had been, we would not have been able to see him, but since I had walked due north he had gradually come into view. He was just laying there on the side of the dune on his stomach. He had his head turned east and was just lying still. Toto snapped a picture, and at the “click” of the camera, Josh suddenly looked up at us, then put this head back down and with his hand flung sand on the top of his hat.
I laughed, and the process repeated until I was doubled over laughing at the idiotic hilarity. When he thought I was least expecting it (in reality I had been suspecting something like this would happen the whole time) he jumped up and charged up the hill towards me. “If I had to roll down the hill you have to too!” He said as he tackled me to the ground and tried to push me down the side of the dune.
I dug my feet and hands into the sand and he was unsuccessful at forcing me anywhere. There really is no way to explain the goofing we did there. Josh and I, when we are getting along, are the goofiest people I know.
The closest freeway to White Sands is out of Las Cruces, NM which is only twenty miles north of the Texas border. Directly below that is the city of El Paso, and across the Rio Grande from that is Mexico. As we were driving North on I-25 out of Las Cruces, we see a flashing sign that says something like “All vehicles must exit when flashing.” We exchanged confused sounds and then the next sign said “Border Patrol”. Me, being a North West native and being no where near US borders (except that of the Pacific Ocean) have never had a reason to be anywhere near a Border Patrol station so I asked Toto, “Why is there Border Patrol up here?” Then I realized that we were only 25 miles from Mexico. It was way less hassle than we thought. We thought they would at least want to see identification. And if for some reason they felt the need to search our car, we were afraid they might have issues with the illegal fireworks we have stuffed under all our seats. But all the guy did was ask us how far we were traveling, “Home to Oregon.” Toto replied, then he asked us if we were US Citizens, “Yes we are” Toto answered. And we were waived through. I was a little disappointed. I would have at least liked it if he could have asked to see our ID’s. Pooh. So much for homeland security.
The original plan Toto wanted to achieve yesterday was to get to Flagstaff, AZ by the evening. We made it to Albuquerque, NM. I have been calling it “I’ll-be-quirky”. Because Toto detoured us down to White Sands we were three or four hours behind. She thought we could drive to Gallup, NM last night, but I vetoed that idea. As we got to the hotel she warned us that she was waking us up early the next morning, none of this getting up at nine stuff, we were going to be out the door by nine. When we arrived at the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised by the room. While it wasn’t a brand new building, it was updated enough to make it habitable. They didn’t have queen beds though. Not wanting a repeat of the night we spent in Little Rock and being made fun of, I asked about getting a cot in there for Josh. The gal informed me that they didn’t have cots. Right as I was about to be visibly disappointed she said “But there is a sofa bed in the sofa in your room.” We had landed a suite with a living room, kitchenette (without a stove), and two beds. So each of us had our own bed. It was glorious. Even though we got to the hotel at 10:30pm, it was midnight before any of us got to sleep. Unpacking and showering and blogging (of course) can be time consuming!
Playlist
Gary Allen
Good Charlotte
Roy Orbison
No comments:
Post a Comment