Roswell - 23 August 2003
I left for Albuquerque from the Oakland airport on 22 August 2003 around 10 in the morning. The
plane was about 15 minutes late but I'd chosen a flight that made no stops. Finished reading
Striking the Balance by Harry Tuttle and listened to "Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis. It
was a moderately uneventful flight other than the normal idiot in front leaning his chair into my
lap and a strange person tapping out the beat on the back of my seat to a song I couldn't hear. I
arrived in Albuquerque about 1:30 PM and left the car rental place about 2:15 PM with Jeff Beck on
the CD player. It was a clear day although thunderstorms were off-and-on in the forecasts. I took
40E. I restrained myself from stopping at three or four giant fireworks stores with advertisements
for aerials and shells displayed prominently in billboards along the highway. At around Clines
Corner (where I didn't stop for their advertised Roadkill Apparel) I headed south on 285 and
changed to the Utah Saints CD.
I arrived in Roswell after 3 or 4 hours, checked in to a Days Inn and asked how long it would
take to drive to Carlsbad Caverns and when I could see the bats flying out of the cave. The two
young women at the desk assured me it wouldn't take over 45 minutes to 1 hour and 8PM would be just
right. I should have checked the map and checked when the sunset was for that day. It took between
1.5 to 2 hours to get there, the bats had flown and I got to drive out of the park with 100's of
people at very slow speeds. On the way there I encountered a ten or fifteen minutes dust storm, 3
WalMart trucks which didn't want me to pass and very bad signs pointing the way to the caverns.
Punjabi MC on the CD player, although quite marvelous once, got irritating the second time with my
increasingly irritated mood. Needless to say, I decided not to return the next day.
On the way down I drove through the wonderful town of Artesia. It was a small town that
sprouted dozens of oil refining stacks. It did not smell good. It did not look good. There were
heaps of scrap metal next to the rail road track. There was a big Halliburton sign in the middle of
town. I would not advise visiting Artesia.
On the way back to Roswell, it continued lightning. It would have been a marvelous show had my
mood been better. Rain started intermittently pouring on the way back. The restaurant at which I
had thought about eating dinner was closed. I wound up at an Applebee's with an appetizer and a
young crowd of people out on dates. I returned to the Days Inn.
The next day my cell phone stopped working appropriately. When I returned home my VCR died.
Upon later reflection one might consider the extra time going and coming from Carlsbad and the
problems with electronics during and later (residual effects, no doubt) and come up with the
possibility of alien abduction. Obviously it is time for some hynoptic regression sessions.
However, I must admit to not feeling any possible, um, probing after effects.
The next day was better. It started off questionably when I went to an IHOP for breakfast and
was told there was a ten minute wait. I didn't. I went back to the "Nuthin Fancy" restaurant, was
immediately seated and served in record time. There weren't many people there.
I checked out at 9 from the motel and proceeded to downtown Roswell. One thing that puzzles me
about the Roswell TV show is that I have no recollection of them ever mentioning the New Mexico
Military Institute which has a number of buildings and many cadets out in formation when I passed.
My first stop was the International UFO Museum and Research Center. I got out of the car and
decided I had to take a picture of the street lamps that I had noticed the night before.
Roswell certainly takes advantage of its UFO reputation. To the right are some of the sights
along the main street of Roswell. The Walmart had a big UFO on its front facade. A jewelry store
was advertising Unidentified Flashing Objects and car lots had a giant alien balloon.
I was entertained to find the Crash Down Diner but a bit disappointed that the Roswell TV show
didn't reflect reality. Amazing? I have a feeling the Diner came into being after the TV show but I
didn't ask. It had a walkthrough to the Starchild shop next door. I think the same family owned both.
The Earth Station store had a number of UFO/alien dioramas that I thought were entertaining.
However I wasn't willing to pay the $80 to $100 price. Besides which I was certain they'd get
destroyed on the way back.
