Lisa & Bud Gould's Travel Blog

We are in Roswell, New Mexico, got here around noon and have been busy since then. Started at the Roswell Visitors Center where we almost got abducted by aliens. Then we went to the UFO Museum and Research Center to see all of their history and 'evidence' to support the 1947 crash of an alien spacecraft. Very interesting exhibits. Then we went a little outside of town to visit the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Not much wildlife,but a very nice ride thru the sanctuary. Then it got real close to cocktail hour, so we made a quick stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a couple things. Then back downtown to the Pecos Flavors Winery to sip some Alien Pale Ale, actually it was pretty good.

We are in a new Comfort Suite and a storm wiped out their wi-fi system last week. They said they would connect our room to a port, but, it did not happen. So, this will not get on the blog for awhile. I'll try to post everything tomorrow night, if we get back to civilization. ... We got lucky, the tech came back and got the right wire for our room and we have Internet Access about 8 PM local...

Tomorrow we move on to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks.

This morning we drove to beautiful downtown Santa Fe, capitol of NM. Not a bad town, parts of it are run down and other areas are very well maintained. We (mostly Lisa) did some shopping, wandering around, visited an Indian Cultural Museum which seemed only about 5% set up (we got in free because I'm a veteran), and other touristy things. Also had to spend some time chaseing off beggars that were around all the shops and parks in town. You would think the police should do that, but, the police seem more interested in enforcing parking laws. We did stop at a National Park between Grants and Santa Fe, but, never did get the name of the place. Was mostly formed by volcanic rocks.
So, tomorrow we head for Roswell to see where those little green men came from. After that, Carlsbad Caverns, then who know where? Somewhere between Carlsbad and Corpus Christi.

After a great night's sleep, we headed for Montzuma's Castle, then a few miles further to Montezuma's Well, both were short visits but very interesting. Next we went through the Navajo Reservation to the Hopi Reservation. We never made it to the'Cultural Center', all we found was many very small groups of 3 to 7 houses (buildings?) a half mile or so from the main state highway. They were all on private property so we did not go to any of these 'villages'. After about 50 miles of very bad looking environment, we headed for I-40 and made a visit to the Petrified Forest NM and the Painted Desert NM. A pretty nice 30 mile drive with a dozen or so stops. After that, we headed east looking for a place to stay. That got us into NM where we lost one of our hours and it was just about sunset when we stopped in Gallup, New Mexico. Will post some pictures to the Picassa site later.

Last night we stayed in a Day's Inn in Flagstaff, AZ. Not a bad room, but, no refer and microwave which we really like to have. They made up for it with a breakfast that had real meat and a great shower. So, not so bright and early, we had breakfast, got the van gassed up, and headed the 33 miles or so to Sedona. The drive thru the red rock mountains and canyons is breathtaking. The drive is a little slow if you want to remain on the roadway and requires quite a bit of second gear driving. We arrived in Sedona at about noon (we thought) and found a public parking lot a block from all the shops and action. One of the first things I wanted to do was find a map of Arizona and New Mexico. While talking to a lady in a visitor's center, the subject of what time it was came up. I looked at my watch and said it was about noon. No, the lady said, it's only about 11. She was right of course. We had left the Mountain Time Zone in Utah and entered the Pacific Time Zone in Arizona. Wow, we get an extra hour free! (We know that nothing is free, and are prepared to lose this time as we travel east). So Lisa hit the shops and galleries while I tried to find shadey places to wait for her and took lots of pictures around the town. Also some people watching. Later we had lunch, drove around town a little, then up to the airport which sits about 800 feet above the town and took more pictures. Time to find a hotel for the night, so we drove south out of Sedona town and started looking. Found a resort that would give us a room for $20 if we sat for a 90 minute tour and sales presentation. We said OK, spent about 2 hours with some sales people, and got a spectular room - complete with clothes washer and dryer, whirlpool in a huge bathroom, very large living/dining room w/queen sleeper/sofa, large bedroom with queen bed, large kitchen, and lots of other goodies like two flat screen TV's (but analog TV), and gas fireplace. We will be spoiled for the rest of this trip! We took a lot of pictures today and will post them later.
I'm going to try to arrange for a visit and tour of the Hopi Indian Reservation which is east and north of Flagstaff tomorrow. First we will visit Montezuma Castle, which is neither a castle nor was it built by Montezuma, but, are the best preserved cliff dweller ruins in the US. There are a couple other sites near here we may visit if we can find them.
We will probably get into New Mexico tomorrow night. After that we are thinking of the Petrified Forest, Roswell, and then Carlsbad Caverns all in New Mexico. We need to be in Corpus Christi by next Sunday afternoon, as I will be working the next five days or so after that.

We traveled to southern Utah and drove thru Zion NP then into Arizona along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Very scenic views all the way. We took a few pictures and posted them on the Picassa site. The photos just don't do justice to the real thing.

Tomorrow we go to Sedona AZ for some sight seeing in the red rock country and then some shopping.