As we headed east on US 380, the grass around the Pinyon and other fir trees shows signs of some rain. We are surrounded by gently rolling tree covered hills and mountains in the distance and groups of yellow flowers that from the car look like miniature brown eyed Susans. It is truly beautiful country – too sparsely populated for Peggy, but beautiful nonetheless. We passed ranches, irrigated fields and oil wells – true southwest country.

The monsoon rains passed us by today and the sun was very intense especially while both sides of the road came to a complete stop because of a multi vehicle accident about 1/4 mile further up the road. Peggy was standing in the shade of a tractor trailer while we were stopped.

After about 30 minutes, we were able to continue on our first stop of the day – Roswell. Since we were pretty heat soaked, we stopped at a Denny’s for a chocolate shake before continuing onto the International UFO Museum and Research Center. While I don’t believe that aliens have actually landed on earth, it is an interesting and fun place. After our tour and photo ops at the museum, we continued on our way to Carlsbad.

We are staying at a very nice Comfort Inn. In addition to the sleeping area, it has a comfortable couch and computer work area. As with even the smaller motels there is refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker along with a free hot breakfast!

It is truly a small world. We were chatting with a couple at our hotel who are from the same county as us in Virginia. They did not drive here from Virginia though. Tomorrow we will follow in their footsteps and tour Carlsbad Caverns. Stay tuned for our cavern adventures.