Roadtrip Southwest - Day 4

 

*The X-Files theme music*

Somewhere on the road. Heading into New Mexico, if memory serves...

After a night at the Roswell Inn (which is pretty basic, but is a perfectly suitable

place to crash before resuming your southwest roadtrip) I repacked the

rental car and took a look around.

Caffeinated at the Stellar Coffee Co.

I got a coconut iced latte drink. 

Pretty tasty.

The main drag embraces the UFO.

The rest of the town seems to tolerate it..

If something hadn't have happened here 

(or was alleged to have happened here)

you'd never notice this sleepy little New Mexico town.

There is a UFO convention in July.

Some remnants remain.

The UFO Museum is fun.
It looks into the Roswell crash incident, the Majestic papers, gives you

a simulation of a UFO crash (that's pretty wild) and you can learn about many

other unusual alien pop culture and conspiracy bits and bobs.

The street lights have alien eyes.

The McDonald's is shaped like a UFO.

And is surrounded by little grey visitors to help you

order your fast food.

These fellows greet you upon entry.

One of the mailboxes is R2-D2-ized.

I do recommoned the Roswell Museum.

It doesn't have anything to do with the aliens and UFOs,

but is a combination art museum and regional history museum.

The art installations are wonderful, but you'll also find a

reconstruction of Robert Goddard's rocket workshop,

plus several of his rockets.

These moved, as if locked in battle.

These are inflatables!

With a couple accompaning short films with the

inflatables in action.

I have a soft spot for modern art, and the work here is delightful.

I particularly liked this guy's work. Fritz Scholder.

Hopefully I can track down a print someday.

In the Visitor Center I found the perfect alien glasses!

After a few hours taking in all the town of Roswell could offer me

on a hot morning in August, I started up the car and turned West once again.

I stopped midway to White Sands at this wonderful place.

It's a cave attraction.

I didn't have time to see the cave, but I was stopped by all the great yard art.

The hands caught my eye and made me stop.

Aren't they great!?

What a neat find at the side of the highway.

At last I reached White Sands National Park,

my second national park on this trip.

(Have I mentioned how much I adore national parks?)

At the visitor center, I learned a bit about the White Sands' white sands 

before driving into the dunes to see it for myself.

Stunning, isn't it?

The largest deposit of gypsum sands.

All piled up, like a white snowy desert.

With some hardy plants grown in.

Most of the sands are taken by the government as a missile test range.

And there are signs all around the area reminding you of that fact.

Some days, the park is closed due to missile tests.

But a small portion of the sands are set aside as a national park for

people to see and enjoy.

I walked the short trails and the boardwalk and took some time to play on the dunes.

Some people had sleds and rode them down the sand.

It really felt, at some spots, like driving through snow.

But hot and sandy instead. 

Side note: David Bowie filmed a movie at White Sands.

The alien planet scenes of the film "The Man Who Fell to Earth" was shot

in the dunes of White Sands. 🌈✨

Then it was back in the car for the drive to Truth or Consequences.

I thought I'd be a bit late to my hotel, and I was a bit late, but

fortunately wasn't so late as to miss the check in time for what

turned out to be a spa.

And yes, I realized it said spa when I reserved it, but I didn't 

really think too much about what that might mean. I was just looking for a good

location to stop overnight before looping back into Phoenix.

Anyway. I get checked in and am told that guests get to use the hot springs

tubs as part of their visit. It was late, but not too late to get a soak in,

so I found my room, unloaded the car, gathered a few things and returned to the tubs.

Fill er up!

It is a cement tub, like the Japanese baths.

The PVC pipe brings in hot mineral springs water.

I let it fill to about halfway, then turned it off and stepped inside.

Truthfully, I am not really a hot tub nut. This was pleasant though.

The water was hot, but not scalding, and it stayed hot.

Probably due to the cement tub, which held in the heat.

I relaxed in the healing mineral water for about 20 minutes.

Hot springs are all around this area, apparently.

Truth or Consequences was originally called Hot Springs, 

but there were many similarly named towns in the area.

In 1950, T or C took its name from a radio show, as

part of a publicity scheme.

According to the museum (see Day 5), the intention was

to rename it later, but they never did and the town is now known

as Truth or Consequences.

After my soak, I drained the tub and headed back to my room.

The Wi-Fi worked, so I was able to plan for Day 5 and get

some relaxation in before getting some sleep.

As you can see, Front Seat Shark needed some time to unplug too.