June 21, 2007

June 21, 2007

Alien Hunting

As soon as we hit the New Mexico border last night, talk of aliens and UFOs filled the Winnebago. Every light and every noise was a UFO, every person an alien. We joked about the whole idea and completely underestimated what we would actually find in Roswell, New Mexico.
The extreme heat of the desert sidelined dear Helen during the afternoon hours of the 21st. The bago needed several breaks even in the cooler, mid-west states to prevent overheating. The desert here has proven to be much worse. The decision was made to avoid the heat of the day. We would burn our time touring the town, hunting for aliens.
Every business in the city exploited the idea of Roswell being a UFO hotspot. The Wal-Mart we stayed at last night had aliens painted on the front of the building, welcoming us into the store. An Arby’s sign flashed “Aliens Welcome.” Main Street held a wide variety of alien museums and research centers. Most everything we saw was just a tourist trap. T-shirts, mugs, key chains, and posters were everywhere. Not satisfied with just scratching the surface, we did some investigative reporting with our video camera. Acting like huge alien enthusiasts we went around asking peoples opinions on what they thought was real. Not getting the reactions we hoped for, we dug deeper. We wanted the people you would find on the discovery channel late at night talking about their own abduction story. We went to the Roswell Alien Museum and Research Center for more answers. There was an admissions price of five dollars. Not having much spare cash we sent in Special reporters Luke and Ian to investigate (Ian because he passed as 15 and got the kids price.) They took the camera in with them and looked long and hard for evidence of life from space. None of it added up, so we gave up.
After a couple of hours in the town welcome center, using the internet to update the website and electric to charge all the batteries, we continued out west. The goal for tonight is Tucson, Arizona. It would be an all night trek but the prize, real showers. Micah’s aunt Robyn who lives in Tucson is willing to put us up for a few nights, in a real house, with running water and electricity. We may even get a few home cooked meals out of the deal. We have been looking forward to Tucson for a long time now. It may take all night, maybe into tomorrow morning, to get there, but the destination is just to appealing to wait any longer.
The heat proved to be too much even during our late evening departure. A few miles out of Roswell we had to take a break and let the engine cool. With no exits for miles ahead or behind us we pulled over next to a couple of semis on a small turn off. The small rest stop was just two picnic tables under a small triangle roof and a trash can. We quickly took out the stove and a few cans of beef stew. We cooked in the small piece of shade next to the trash can. To pass time we got the water balloon launcher out. We had little water, and no balloons, so we shot desert rocks instead. We shot for distance, for height, at cacti, and at jack rabbits. It was actually a lot of fun trying to hit stuff, miss, and watch the dust kick up where the rock skipped through the desert. Sometimes we would shoot one big rock, or a bunch of smaller ones. We didn’t catch any game on our water balloon launcher excursion, but that was probably a good thing. The sun was setting, the food was gone, and so we packed up and hit the road again.

One major obstacle still in our way, the mountains. The mountains have worried us since the moment we started planning the trip. We are aiming for the very southernmost point of the Rockies, where it isn’t so mountainous. We’ve been banking on Helen making it through this difficult stretch since we left, because if not, we don’t make it to Cali.
As we approach the mountains we watch a rain storm pass miles ahead of us. Straight above us, a mild blue-orange sky, far ahead we see the sheets of rain drop out of the sky and over the silhouetted hills beyond. Afraid that the bad weather ahead is a sign, we continue down the road. It is late Thursday night and there is no traffic on the roads. The first wave of hills behind us, the larger mountains begin to appear. There is a little bit of stress and worry in the front cabin right now. We’ll see where we end up in the morning, Tucson … or maybe somewhere short of there.

Winnebago Guys, from the desk of Aaron Tubergen
The mountains of New Mexico
1,870 miles from