Aliens in Roswell

New Mexico – Monday, October 7

I needed to walk 10.2 miles today to finish off my New Mexico walking, and Tula and I started off our day with a 3 mile walk on the Cielo Grande Rec Area trail. And then on the other side of town, I found the Spring River Rec trail, and covered another 3 1/2 miles. There had apparently been some kind of chalk art contest, and there were some pretty imaginative drawings to look at. The path also went through an industrial area, and there seemed to be a big livestock auction going on – I could hear cattle mooing, and saw lots of big cattle trucks, and could hear an auctioneer’s voice. The trail got a little more scenic, and ended up in a small zoo – I didn’t see many animals in the cages though except for an owl, some kind of steer a few goats and a peacock. Then I walked in downtown Roswell, and so many businesses had alien inflatables, or sculptures or statues that I got a little tired of it – I just don’t really like aliens! Nearly all of the aliens are green (why?) but there were a few pink ones too. Roswell also has an alien museum and research building too – I guess there people out there who are really interested in all the possibilities!

I finally left Roswell, and took a good look at the map to figure out where I wanted to enter Texas. I decided I would head for Pecos because it’s such a Texan name, so I drove south to get out of New Mexico. On the way I stopped in the town of Artesia, where I found a big park and Tula and I walked the last of the New Mexico miles. This was oil country, and the smell of oil was heavy in the air. I expect people just get used to it. There was some kind of refinery or power plant at one end of the park, and it’s amazing how many lights come on when it gets dark.

And then I was done with New Mexico. I walked all 56 miles, and made 7 donations – the Hope Garden in Gallup, the Southwest Indian Foundation, Diaper Depot, Assistance Dogs of the West, Thanksgiving for All – Roadrunner Food Bank, the New Mexico State Veterans Home and Festival de la Familia.

I headed south into Texas – smelling oil and seeing oil rig lights and natural gas lights in places throughout the desert. There were even some constantly burning flames. Lots of big oil trucks were out and about even though it was late, and I got the last room at the Motel 6 in Pecos – with oil workers in town, rooms are scarce and I was happy I had called ahead. When I checked in, the front desk clerk told me she had just started checking another guest in when my reservation came through from the 800 number, so my reservation pre-empted the one she was working on. Towns are few and far between in west Texas, so I’m glad I was able to stay in Pecos.