May 4 – 10, 2021
Leaving Oklahoma City, we hopped on I-40 headed west toward Amarillo, Texas. We then turned south on I-27 and stopped for the night at The Silos at Canyon RV Park in Canyon, Texas. This was a small remote 12 site campground. With no major highways nearby it was very quiet. Bill really enjoyed watching the sunrise the next morning while having his coffee.
That morning we headed southwest on US 60 and US 70 until turning south on US 285. After skirting Roswell, we finally landed at our base camp for this region.
Carlsbad KOA Holiday
Although positioned in a somewhat remote area, the Carlsbad KOA Holiday was centrally located for taking in the sights – about an hour south of Roswell, 45 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns National Park and 50 minutes from Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Area.
Carlsbad Caverns
We decided to tackle Carlsbad Caverns on our first full day here. As many of the national parks are now requiring reservations, we signed up for a 12:30 p.m. entrance time online through recreation.gov. Upon arrival, we went to the Visitor’s Center to get tickets (the reservation is not a ticket). With my NPS Senior Pass, our two tickets were free. As we had limited time before our entrance time, we bypassed the exhibits and viewed the introductory movie instead. After the movie, we made our way to the Natural Entrance where the park ranger explained what lay ahead of us – a 1.25 mile paved walkway (with switchbacks) that descends 750 feet.
If the Natural Entrance looks familiar this is where visitors gather from mid-spring to late fall to watch hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats fly out in a swirling column for their nightly feeding. We passed on that opportunity.
The walkway is dimly lit, often wet and slippery, and can be steep – sometimes as much as a 20% grade. We could have taken the elevator directly to the Big Room but we would have missed so much including an appreciation for how large and deep the cave actually is. Needless to say we took our time. Fortunately, the walkway was not crowded and we could step aside and let other folks pass. Here are a few of the sights we passed on the way down.
It took us about 2 hours to reach the bottom. After a brief stop at the underground rest area, we started our hike around the Big Room. The full hike is 1.25 miles but we opted to take the shortcut which bypasses a mile of the loop. As you might imagine, the Big Room is massive. It covers 8.2 acres and is the largest natural limestone chamber in the Western Hemisphere. In places, the cave roof rises more than 200 feet above the trail. Below is a slideshow of just some of the sights.
At the conclusion of our circuit through the Big Room, we returned to the rest area for the elevator ride back to the Visitor’s Center. Luckily no one was waiting for the elevator. We stopped in the gift shop before heading to the truck.
If you are curious about the layout of the cavern, click here for a map.
Roswell
Our next adventure was confronting aliens and UFO’s at the International UFO Museum in Roswell.
The International UFO Museum & Research Center at Roswell, New Mexico was organized to inform the public about what has come to be known as “The Roswell Incident.” The Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to the collection and preservation of materials and information in written, audio and visual formats that are related to the 1947 Roswell Incident and other unexplained phenomena related to UFO research. The Museum endeavors to be the leading information source in history, science and research about UFO events worldwide. The International UFO Museum’s constituents are committed to gathering and disbursing to all interested parties in the most qualified and up-to-date information available.
International UFO Museum
The Roswell Incident
In July 1947, something happened northwest of Roswell during a severe thunderstorm. Was it a flying saucer? Was it a weather balloon? What happened?
The debris recovered by rancher WW Mack Brazel was gathered by the military from the Roswell Army Air Field under the direction of base intelligence officer Major Jesse Marcel. On July 8, 1947, public information officer Lt. Walter Haut issued a press release under orders from base commander Col. William Blanchard, which said basically that we have in our possession a flying saucer. The next day another press release was issued, this time from Gen. Roger Ramey, stating it was a weather balloon. That was the start of the best known and well-documented UFO coverup.
Once it became public, the event known as The Roswell Incident – the crash of an alleged flying saucer, the recovery of debris and bodies and the ensuing cover up by the military – was of such magnitude and so shrouded in mystery that, 70 years later, there are still more questions than answers. Books have been written and TV documentaries have been filmed. Witnesses have come forward. Skeptics have issued rebuttals to the Incident, and the debate continues.
UFO Story
Displays within the Museum
Whether you believe or not, the museum makes a good case for a UFO crash landing and subsequent cover-up. “The truth is out there.”
Alien encounters make one hungry so we stopped for lunch at La Gran Victoria.
Sitting Bull Falls
For our final adventure, we drove to Sitting Bull Falls, an oasis in the desert. The Falls were about 45 minutes away with a long drive on twisty road.
Sitting Bull Falls is a series of waterfalls located in a canyon in the Lincoln National Forest. The falls are fed by springs located in the canyon above. The water flows through a series of streams and pools until reaching the falls where it drops 150 feet into the canyon below. Most of the water disappears into the gravel or cracks in the rocks and either reappears in springs further down the canyon or joins the Pecos Valley underground water supply.
Sitting Bull Falls
Wow, we’ve been busy! Where do we go from here?
