Day 11 - Are we alone?

After a shaky night of sandstorms, power outages and rattly windows - we woke up safe and sound, packed the car up and set off for the Carlsbad Caverns just up the road. I must admit it was Steph that persuaded me that we should check this place out - and we were not disappointed. We jumped in the small lift and it descended/plummeted 800 or so feet into the caverns. The moment you step out of the lift and into the first cavern your jaw just hits the floor - it is like something from a fairytale or an enchanted and mythical place you can only dream about. You feel like you are on a movie set - the cavern is colossal and the internal landscape is just awe inspiring. A few pics are below but they really do not do it justice. Still here they are!

I particularly liked this stalagmite - I call it "The Booby" ;o)

The drive up to the cavern and the view point from the visitors centre is pretty amazing too.....

The road getting there is about 8 miles and loops and snakes pretty much all the way....

After dribbling uncontrollably in the cavern at the scenery we set off towards Roswell (still in New Mexico). It took a few hours and when we arrived, headed straight to the UFO museum and research center. When entering the building, it looks like an old derelict cinema and the internal displays appear to have been put together by a bunch of gibbering, confused 12 year old kids - however, we firmly put our tongues in cheeks and had a snoop around. Turns out the place, whether you believe in the story or not - has pretty much everything in there from the days/weeks around the original incident other then the spacecraft wreckage and the little green men themselves! It was quite fun, but I get a feeling the town might wish all the hubbub would just go away now so they could get on with other things. Judging by the number of people who were there though -that wont be for a long, long time.

Unfortunately the crash site and Area 51 (Which is a lot further up north past Las Vegas) are accessible to no-one other than Army peeps - so all you get is a picture of the dude who found the original Roswell crash site (which contained remnants of a weather balloon if the army are to be believed)

Whilst we did not see anything alien (Steph's budding southern accent excluded) on the way out of Roswell and heading towards south west New Mexico we did start to see some strange cloud formations........Spooky!

We were heading towards Arizona to Tombstone and Tucson - but at about an 8 hour drive we were never going to make it. The few hours we drove though we witnessed some spectacular landscapes with backdrops a post card would not be ashamed of. We drove through sand dunes, past snow capped mountains and broad, as far as the eye can see, desert landscapes - until tomorrow.