We had a long drive today, over 300 miles from Deming to
Roswell. On the way we passed the White Sands Missile Base (the missile testing
area is enormous). As we were on one of the highways that goes into Mexico, we
had to pass through an immigration check point where we had to produce our
passports and our visas were checked. There were 8-10 cameras pointed at the
van from all different angles – we thought perhaps there were infra-red cameras
to check for smuggled people J
We stopped for lunch and a walk at White Sands National
Monument- very pretty! The sand is very unusual, it’s made of gypsum and is
stark white. The animals that live in the dunes have adapted their colours and
many are white or cream. As the Missile testing range encompasses the park it
is closed several times a week for testing.
We took a detour off the highway to visit Capitan and the Smokey
Bear Historical Park. Smokey Bear was real – he was a little tiny bear cub
found during a fire, badly burned and clinging to a tree. He was rescued and nursed
back to health and became the mascot for fire prevention. When he died at the
ripe old age of 26, he was buried at Capitan.
We also drove through the historic district of Lincoln where
Billy the Kid famously escaped from the courthouse while waiting trial.
On to Roswell, where we are camped up at a great RV Park.
The owners are very nice and helpful.
No comments:
Post a Comment