More driving!

Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21 have been big driving days.  I have discovered the last two days that we are taking almost the same trip that we did when we came home from our last reunion in 2014 (dumb me for not checking my trip journals). So, I have been looking for new places to visit.

Friday we headed for Roswell NM (never stopped there). It is a prosperous looking town which trades on its UFO history and emphasizes its space industry. We discovered the Roswell Museum and Art Center which is well worth the trip (and it is free). The museum has had a long history of sponsoring artists in residence. There were several galleries featuring the work of these artists during its fifty year history of existence. The art works were all very diverse and interesting – from collages, sculptures, oil painting, pastels, lithographs; some realistic – others quite modern. They also had a room of paintings by Peter Hurd and his wife Irene Wyeth (daughter of N.C. Wyeth).

Then we did a circle scenic drive through Lincoln County to see how things looked in the 1800’s when Billy the Kid was rampaging through. It was also interesting learning about him. He was a typical cowboy drifter who got caught up in the Lincoln County War and turned to a life of crime (short though it was) after killing a man or two at that time. The war was started by two factions who wanted to control the trade in Lincoln and started shooting at each other. It took the US Army to finally bring some peace and by then most of the protagonists were dead, so nobody really won! I guess the “good old days” maybe weren’t all that good.

On Saturday we started to head for White Sands before I remembered we had also been there! So, we went through Alamogordo and Las Cruces and then north to Silver City NM. The route was through the mountains and over 8000 foot Embry Pass. It was a strenuous and beautiful drive and we are happy to be quiet for the rest of the night!