Day 40

---

October 22, 2009
“The truth is out there”… what a day we’ve had. We began it with a tour of the UFO museum and research center…really! It was fantastic!!! It gave the whole story of Roswell, what happened, who lied, and who covered it up! They had letters and sworn affidavits, pictures, movies. You could not leave this place without realizing “The truth is out there”!
From Roswell we headed to Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico…wow. I have never seen anything like it in my life…and probably never will. Visitors get in an elevator and descend 750 feet into caverns. I know the pictures won’t do it justice…there were huge caverns or “rooms” the size of cathedrals. There was every size and shape stalactite and stalagmite (Bill told me those words!). We all thought it looked like a sci-fi movie set! You aren’t allowed to touch the walls at all and they ask you to speak very quietly…it felt like we were in church and some of the formations looked like people, at an altar…it was amazing. There was just one thing…halfway through the 1.25 mile walk, Donna and I felt short of breath. I don’t know if, for me, it was knowing how far from fresh air we were or if I was really not getting enough oxygen, but we panicked…quietly of course, in a lady like way. Donna took off like a bat out of…in this case; a cave and I followed her. The walkway took us up steep (albeit short) hills and down the other side…that didn’t help. We were so relieved to arrive at the exit/gift shop!!! We were still 750 feet underground but it was flat, open ground. We weren’t really happy until we were breathing fresh air. But we wouldn’t have missed the experience…it was awesome!
Travelling on, we arrived in Pecos Texas at about 7pm…we lost another hour. On route to Pecos, we travelled through miles and miles of terrain covered in scrub brush and cacti…it was oddly beautiful…at our first turn we almost collided with 4 mule deer right on the side of the road…they were lovely creatures.
And finally…Donna, Bill and John had a dream come true when they (and me) had dinner at a truck stop (Some of you may remember that was on my list of don’ts!)! It was ok… (I stayed away from any meat products) but the night is young and we’ll see how everyone feels in the morning…I don’t want to wish anyone harm…but…
Today’s Road Lesson: The hills have eyes…

---