Random Photos from Road Trips

[Rick Quinn]

After you finish touring the first two National Parks (Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns), Scenic Side Trip #1 takes you north along the storied Pecos River (as in, "There's no law west of Dodge, and no God west of the Pecos.")


Brantley Lake, an impoundment of the Pecos River, north of Carlsbad.

76 miles later, you'll come to the intersection of two highways, US 285 (the road you've been driving on), and US 380/70 (the road you're about to be driving on). The intersection is right smack in the middle of Roswell, the town that enjoys world-wide fame for something that never actually happened: one of the earliest known examples of a conspiracy theory widely promoted by the media. What's known for sure is that SOMETHING crashed in the desert outside Roswell back in 1947, and whatever it was, the military took over the crash site, guarding it with tight security, while insisting that it was nothing but a "weather balloon." Some local folk insisted that the crash involved a flying saucer piloted by alien beings, and that's the version that spread like crazy. Years later, the Air Force finally released the real story, about a super secret high altitude balloon that was spying on the Russians--but there are plenty of folks who still believe in flying saucers. If you're ever driving this route, look to your left when you hit the intersection, and you'll see:



Inside the museum, they have all sorts of wacky stuff:



Being honest, I'm not sure I'd go out of my way for it, but if you're passing through Roswell, it's totally worth the stop!

Rick