From Roswell to Alamogordo…

 

We were up and on the road, shortly after 8:00 leaving all the Aliens behind in Roswell, and heading for the wild West of New Mexico… The landscaped changed as we headed toward the mountains of the west… 

You can see us heading into higher mountain ranges as we proceed west in the 1st pic tonight… we ended up climbing to a peak of about 6,500 feet today.

The hills got bigger and bigger…

Our first stop was a side trip to the Town of Lincoln.  It is an old west Town, that is actually very small, but was made very BIG, by non other than Billy the Kid.  He grew up in this area, and was held captive in the Town’s Court House, when he made his famous escape, killing his two guards on the way out!   The building below said it was the Court House, but I am not sure if it is the one or not… they do re-enactment's here of the big day!

We were sort of expecting to stay longer in Lincoln this morning, but we decided not to and carry on… there was just not much to see. Hey, not everything can be great!

Check below as we carry on through the town of Capital, and all the pine trees growing in the mountains… it was beautiful.

Below is the route we followed… a fantastic drive and we got to see a lot of New Mexico…

 

We got set up in our new Campground, and decided we had lots of time to go and visit the New Mexico Space Museum.  It was on our list of to do’s…  so we did.  We also got to take in a great IMAX Film, “Everest”, a great film of a climb to the top of Mount Everest!  A must see for sure!

There is 4 great floors of exhibits, starting off with the Space Shuttle and U.S. Space Program…

Check out the fancy box they used to collect and carry moon rock samples with.

Well, here is your sample of moon rock below… we have seen lots of these in our trips out!

You have to eat in outer space, and this is what you get!

Oh, out of order, but we did see our first road runner of this trip! He was in the parking lot, trying to get in the Museum!

It was a great Museum, well laid out, and spacious.

I got to try my skill at landing the Space Shuttle, it was a bit of a trick, but I did land it.  In 1982, the Space Shuttle Columbia, actually landed just outside of Town, on the White Sands Missile Range… prompting Pres. Regan to rename it as a “Space Port”!

Here is my landing…

This is the back pack that the Moon Walkers used while running around out on the moon, it could keep them out there for 7 hours!  Also provided heat and power for them, as well of course, some oxygen.

If you were picked to stay on the 1st. Skylab, you got to go to the bathroom is this thing below… just don’t ask me how???

There was a big history of the satellites in space…

It is only 30 miles north of here, to the Trinity Site, that is where they let the very 1st Atomic Bomb go.  This is a replica of the marker that is on the site today!  Sure glad I was not here when that went off!

A lot of testing has gone on in this area at the White Sands Range… the Patriot Missiles were tested here, as well as rockets used to fly men to the moon!

There was a great display of meteorites here, and this one below actually fell in Argentina.

Overall a great day again, with lots to see…

We have more on the agenda for this area!  Stay tuned.

Till tomorrow…