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Published: April 29th 2009
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Friday 24th April 2009 Arrived in Dallas, via Amsterdam and we didn't have to queue anywhere not even at immigration where we are usually in a long line of passengers for at least an hour. The procedure now is to take prints of four fingers and thumb on each hand, George was OK but the officer was not happy with my left hand. He took me into a room and took my documents and passport and I had to wait while they checked something,
were they checking with Interpol??? after a few minutes they returned my papers and passport and I was free to go. We arrived at the Holiday Inn 16 hours after we left Scawby. Texas, the lone star state, is very windy, we walked across the road to Denny's for something to eat and then we were asleep soon after 6pm which was midnight to us and we had been up for 20hours.
Saturday 25th After a good American breakfast we took the hotel shuttle back to Dallas/Fort Worth airport and picked up our Chevrolet Impala. We drove out of Dallas through Abilene and then into a small place called Sweetwater where we stayed the night it
New Mexico
The Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation is very warm but still very windy. The big news story is that a swine flu epidemic is spreading fast from Mexico.
Sunday 26th We were awake very early again this morning as the time difference does take some getting used to, we had breakfast about 6am and we were on our way by 7.30am. We left a still very windy Texas behind and arrived in New Mexico which is in mountain time so we had to put our watches back another hour, we are now 7hours behind UK time. Arrived in Roswell which is a much bigger place than we thought it would be, after checking into a motel we went to have a look at the Roswell UFO Museum, we are very sceptical about the whole UFO incidence. A TV crew was there making a documentary and we spent quite some time talking to the curator, who knew his stuff but sadly he failed to convince us that a small green alien crashed in Roswell New Mexico in July 1947. I took some photos in the museum but I can't put them on my blog due to copyright laws, they will just have to go in my
Lincoln National Forest
Starting to climb and it's getting colder own album. We had a very good meal in the Mexican Restaurant next door to the motel, it is a really lovely evening. We have a look at the map and plan to go to Albuquerque tomorrow to experience some of the lovely scenic drives.
Monday 27th Change of plan due to the weather, instead of heading north to Albuquerque, decide to travel south west. Dallas is on tornado watch, high winds are causing problems all over Texas and believe it or not Denver is in the grip of a snowstorm!! The TV news is full of the swine flu epidemic that is rapidly spreading from Mexico and the news programmes are full of advice with lots of pictures of people going around wearing masks. George is suffering with toothache so we plan to call at a pharmacy to ask for advice this morning. Heading west we drive through the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation which is mountainous and very scenic, we see some blue birds that I later identify as 'scrub jays'. We climb 9000 feet to the pretty mountain village of Cloudcroft, there is a lovely blue sky and the sun is shining but it is very cold
Cloudcroft Village
9000 feet in the sky and it's difficult to breathe up there and as we find it difficult to breathe we don't stay long. Drive through the Alamogordo Mountains and on to the White Sands National Monument. This is a vast desert used by the military including the Trinity Site which is where the first atomic bomb was detonated in July 1945, we watch a video in the visitors centre, the Tularosa Basin is one of the great natural wonders of the world with its wave-like dunes of gypsum sand and some animals have evolved to blend into the glistening white sand. Drive through Las Cruces, where we see a roadrunner, which is the national bird of New Mexico, I must try to get a photo; and on to Deming for the night.
Tuesday 28th A tornado has caused a lot of damage in Dallas and the swine flu epidemic is still spreading fast here in the USA but thankfully George is not suffering with toothache anymore!
We crossed the Continental Divide in New Mexico,
"the land of enchantment" lives up to it's name, it has really enchanted us. We are now in Arizona but we will soon be back in New Mexico as there are still a few
Alamogordo
New Mexico places we want to see, including the 'Four Corners'. We drive to the Cochise Stronghold, where Apache Chief Cochise hid from the cavalry. It is not hard to see why he chose this area, it is in the foothills of the Dragoon mountains, we walked around for a while and took some photos, it is beautiful but we had to watch out for rattlesnakes!! We visited the town of Tombstone, which is a living legend it is the site of the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. The historic buildings have been preserved, in its heyday it was bigger than San Francisco and more than $37 million worth of silver was extracted from the mines. It is very hot and we have a a beer and a margarita at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, we were welcomed by an Englishman, who knew straightaway that we were English. He looked like a local and said he had been in the States for a very long time and he used to be Tommy Steele's drummer. Planning to stay here for a couple of nights and hope to visit the Kartchner Caverns tomorrow.
George
Alamogordo NM
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Amy
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Big Nose Kate
I must know, does "Big nose Kate" exist? Is she alive today? Does she have a big nose? Details parents please! Glad to hear Dad's tooth is not hurting anymore. Have you got an exciting car to drive around in? Did the curator bloke say how he knew it was a "green" alien? Missing you both, Love Amy and Sparky xxx