No shade trees to be found and I can't put the awning out because of high winds
However the lake is ice cold and refreshing:
The place was jammed with people when we arrived on Sunday before Memorial Day:
Lea Lake near the campground:
A hike along the trails winds past six more lakes. Here I was able to climb to the top:
The landscape is desert but the desert holds life that has specialized in the waterless environment:
Hiking and biking are great here. I bet snorkeling would be awesome also; the fish looked like they could be in an aquarium.
On Memorial Day we took a trip into Roswell, which is famous for the UFO that crashed there in 1947 and the alien bodies that were swiftly snatched up by the Air Force and taken to Area 51. The city of Roswell has capitalized on the event, as alien and UFO motifs are everywhere.
You have to check out the International UFO Museum while in Roswell. Here you will find the historical accounts of the events of 1947 and the start of the UFO phenomenon.
The likenesses of the alien bodies recovered in Roswell:
Take me to your leader!
The actual prop of "Gort" from the 1951 movie, "The Day The Earth Stood Still"
More props, from the 1994 movie "Roswell"
You could spend several hours here if you wanted to read all of the displays. An hour or so was enough for me and then we went to the very cheesy Area 51 Alien Zone. Basically a tourist trap. You can look around the store and if you want to see more aliens you pay $3 to go into the back room for the really cheesy stuff:
My long lost brother?:
Another long lost relative. I do this quite regularly:
Set 'em up Joe
Look out above!
There were many more scenes involving aliens but I think you get the gist of it.
Finally it was time to leave Roswell on Thursday, May 31, and not a day too soon. The temps during the day were already in triple digits and the weekend forecast was to be 107 degrees!
Our next stop was Albuquerque New Mexico about a four hour drive north on US Route 285. There is only one town between Roswell and Interstate 40 east of Albuquerque, Vaughn, a stretch of over 200 miles so you better fill up before leaving Roswell. As I was driving monotonous mile after monotonous mile, about 18 miles to go to hit the interstate, I heard a loud pop! and saw smoke in my passenger side mirror then I felt the trailer lurch to the right. I knew immediately what had happened: a blown tire on the trailer. Now I pull onto the shoulder to inspect the damage. I can't believe the damage! The tire is shredded but that is the least of my worries.
The shredded tire has ripped apart the assembly of lines, cables, and wires underneath the slide and tore off the black plastic fender skirt. I have no idea what will function or not. I do know the propane line to the interior has been ripped out so I immediately shut the gas off.
Luckily I had just purchased Good Sam Club roadside assistance when we were in Texas. I also have Allstate roadside assistance which we all know about from my blog post last year in Nebraska.
After getting bounced around during two different attempts at calling I finally got help and Wagon Wheel Towing would be on the scene in as little as an hour and a half the customer representative said, maybe less if I was lucky. Lucky? Me? no way. Ninety minutes later they arrived:
The young man got me back on the road lickitey split but now I had to assess the damage once we got to our campground. I knew the slide worked because I tested it, but other than that I didn't know what other damage was done.
We finally pulled into Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post about 6 PM:
Once I set up at our site I realized the refrigerator was not working either on electric or propane. I had tried to seal off the end of the propane hose but I could still smell gas. When I had checked in the woman working the desk said that Camping World, which happened to be right next door, opened at 8 AM and if I got there when they opened I might get in. Nothing we can do at this point but go and drown our sorrows. I ask Doreen to look for a restaurant nearby so we can eat dinner. Where do we go? Why Buffalo Wild Wings of course. As I am getting a shower I start to laugh hysterically. Doreen asks what is so funny? I said, think about this: Today is May 31, and after sustaining significant damage to the trailer we are going out to eat and drink at Buffalo Wild Wings. This is exactly what happened last year. The exact same date and exact same restaurant after the roof damage. This can't get any crazier!
The next morning we were at Camping World at 7:15 with my damaged trailer, Doreen, and the cat.
At 8 AM I got Josh, the body shop manager to look at the damage. He asked if I had and an insurance claim submitted, because if I did he had three guys ready to start the work. I stated I did not, and he suggested I call my provider asap and he could get the trailer in, and started. We would have to pay out of pocket to get back on the road or we could wait until the insurance adjuster arrived and approved the work. I didn't hesitate and said to get it started.
I cannot praise Josh enough; he delivered big time. I was very skeptical he could get me in and out in one day. I even unloaded clothes and the cat's food and litter box because I was certain we would be staying at a motel that night. We found our way to the customer lounge and hung there until lunch time. We left to get a bite to eat, cat in tow in her carrier.
We decided to not let the day go to waste and got some sightseeing in at the Petroglyph National Monument nearby:
The monument preserves an ancient people's rock drawings on the mountain.
As Doreen and the cat waited in the truck I climbed to the top of the mesa.
The views were amazing.
No one knows the meaning of the drawings or what they represent. It is said the Pueblos know but they are forbidden to speak of it.
My personal belief is they were drawing aliens!
Okay, so now we were going back to Camping World to see what the status was. As we pulled into the parking lot Josh came up to us and said he sent the estimate off to Allstate and he gave me a copy. He did not have some items in stock but it would not effect the road worthiness of the trailer. I also got two new tires for the driver side. I did not want to go through this again.
We waited the rest of the day in the lounge and the hours slowly passed by until I heard my name over the PA system. It was 5:15 and the employees were going out to their cars to go home and Josh presented me with the final bill: $3509.50. What an expensive flat tire! Josh went over the bill with me: the propane line had to be rebuilt, the undercarriage had to be patched with galvanized steel, the outrigger had to be replaced. All told there were almost 22 man hours of labor. By now all of his workers were gone so he had to bring the trailer out of the shop. He dropped it in the parking lot and I proceeded to hook up. Uh-oh a new problem- my electric tongue jack will not work; no power.
I check all the fuses and they are fine. Josh is heading to his vehicle and Doreen calls him over while I am freaking out! We have to use the hand crank to get hooked up. As we go back to the campground I have to vent and express my frustration as it seems there is a new problem at every turn. At this point I want to jump on a plane and go home! I get back to the campground and I set up the portable satellite dish and that will not work! I have to call Dish Network to figure out the problem. After much setting, resetting and button mashing the signal finally is received. Hooray!
The next day I am back at Camping World to investigate my options. The service department is only open for drop offs and pick ups so I talk to the guy at the parts desk. Could be a loose wire but there is no way to open the head he says. I then price new jacks: $269. I just dropped three grand here, I am not spending $269 on this jack. I go back to the trailer and look online. I can get one for $159. For now I will hand crank and see how that goes.
Now it is our last day in Albuquerque and the weather forecast is not looking too good. Our first destination is the Sandia Tramway. The county's longest tram at 2.7 miles.
The base station:
The ride up the mountain:
Amazing views at the top:
Ski lifts on the other side of the mountain:
The ride is 15 minutes each way with a top speed of 13.5 mph. Once at the top you can spend as much time on the peak as you like. Time to go back down.
Our car approaches:
Nearing the half-way mark of the ride down. The red car is going up as we are going down. Each car acts as a counterweight to each other.
Back on the ground and headed to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.
Anything nuclear related is covered here, from the Madame Curie to modern nuclear power plants. I of course was most interested in the military applications and the various delivery methods we have developed to send a warhead to it's target.
Little Boy (bottom) was used on Hiroshima and Fat Boy (top) was used on Nagasaki:
Trident ICBM:
Just as we entered the museum the weather turned ugly. There were several aircraft outside but the thunder storm kept me inside after one shot:
I think it is a B-29 Superfortress similar to the ones that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.
The plan was to go to Old Town Albuquerque after the museum, but the skies opened up just as we pulled into the parking lot so we scratched that and just went to dinner at a local Italian eatery.
That is it from New Mexico. I don't know if I was enchanted but I do know that I will never, ever travel on May 31 again. Our next stop is Arizona.
Good and Bad, But Always an Adventure!!
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