
Southwest USA
Retirement Trip
September 2019
29 Days – 6,500 Miles – 19 States
7 National Parks – Several State Parks
6,000+ Photos
1 Trillion Insects Squished by Windshield
From 108 Degrees to Snow
282 Feet Below Sea Level to 12,000+ Feet
Bison, Elk, Prairie Dogs, Lizards, Wild Horses
Elvis, Aliens, John Wayne Westerns
Walking In The Footsteps of Forrest Gump
And More!


After a good night’s sleep at Cannon AFB, it was time to head southwest to the alien capital of the world, Roswell, New Mexico.
It is famous for being the location of an alleged UFO crash in 1947 that was hidden by the US government. To this day,
there are many people who still believe the crash actually happened and that we still have the UFO evidence hidden away.
Lesser known is the fact that Roswell was the center of Robert Goddard’s rocket experiments in the 1930s.


as we headed to Roswell.



I’m glad we stopped, as it turned out to be a memorial to Dr Robert Goddard, one of the pioneers of rocket flight.




The inscription around the tower reads:
As I looked toward the fields to the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility
of ascending to Mars, and how it would look on a small scale, if sent up from the meadow at my feet. Robert H. Goddard, 1927.
To read more about this man who ushered in the space age: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard
Next, we continued a few blocks south into downtown Roswell.









One of the displays shows a tomb-lid from 400-600AD with Alien/UFO references. Hmmm…
After picking up a few souvenirs at the gift shop, it was time to rejoin civilization and continue westward.

the “Cattle King of the Pecos”. (See next photo)


(Warning – go VERY easy on the yellow sauce! Just a drop brought tears to my eyes.)

Occasionally, we would see a small herd of cattle grazing in the distance.


Such famous western people as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid frequented this town.


For more information on Lincoln NM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_New_Mexico

Known as the Valley of Fires, it is a lava flow from appx 5,000 years ago. The proper name is Carrizozo Malpais.
It extends about 40 miles north and south, and is just a few miles wide.


Notice the black volcanic soil.



For more information on Valley of Fires and Carrizoz Malpais: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizozo_Malpais

Just a few miles south of here, in 1945, Robert Oppenheimer and the members of the Manhattan Project detonated the world’s first nuclear bomb.
Just a month later, the US used atomic bombs on Japan to end WWII.

For more information on this historic site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)


No black helicopters today. Whew!

However, we discovered the road is dirt/clay, and there were thunderstorms and heavy rain off in the distance.
Not wanting to be stuck in mud 30 miles from the highway, we passed.


We checked into our hotel and drove down the street to a family steak house for another nice meal. Then, it was time to rest for tomorrow’s drive across the border into Arizona and our first National Park of this trip.
See you then!
Mileage Today: 287 Miles
Trip Total: 1,994 Miles