Alien Land

It's really no wonder that aliens landed in Roswell, New Mexico. They probably looked out the window of their spacecraft and thought, "Oh great, we're home. Land here." That, or they didn't have enough fuel to make it to Odessa, TX. Either way, they clearly thought it was Mars.

The two hour ride from the barren little town of Carlsbad, NM to Roswell, NM was horrible, but I was happy to be closer to leaving the state. If it weren't for shops in Roswell selling alien t-shirts and souveniers, it would just be another sad little broken down town along the highway. What I didn't know, was that the next four and a half hours to Albuquerque were going to be worse.

For the majority of the ride, this is what we saw:

Do you see it? You're probably thinking, "I don't see anything." EXACTLY. There was NOTHING. I have never in my life seen so many miles of nothing. Although, that's sort of a lie since I have been to West Texas.

After driving for about two and a half hours from Roswell, we came across this little town called Vaughn. I cannot bring my mind to the point of understanding WHY anyone would choose to live there. From what I saw, there was NOTHING for two and a half hours North or South of them and looking at the map, I couldn't imagine what could be to the East or West. The town itself was pathetic. Every single business that I could see had a sign that looked like it had been there for 150 years and there was not one single sign of life. No life. No movement. No people. Nothing.

At one point during the drive, I talked to my Aunt Ronni. She asked me if I was a little cranky. How can I not be? I've been in the ugliest place on earth since Friday, it's been somewhere between 107 to 116 degrees and I have not seen anything pleasing to my eye. She told me I was like my Aunt Joya, who couldn't even work in a place that wasn't visually appealing to her. I am exactly that way...and I cannot WAIT to get out of this state.

I have four and a half MORE hours in New Mexico and then we'll be in Colorado. By that time it should be dark and I won't have to see any more desert until we get to Utah. I've heard Utah is beautiful, but I'm not betting too much on it. My mood will be shattered until I see some greenery.

To wrap up my thoughts on New Mexico, I have to say it was best said by Ed. As we were driving into New Mexico on Saturday, he said:

"If people can live here, they can live on Mars."

They do.