» Travel

Day Eleven – Roswell and Home

Cactus Kate — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:59:21 +0000

That’s right, we’re home! It was a long and wonderful vacation, but home is nice, too.

Thursday, we got up, had breakfast, and visited the Roswell UFO Museum. It was interesting, and well put together, but I think it’s hard to base a museum on unsubstantiated evidence and ‘facts’. Most of the information was eyewitness accounts, blurry photos, and artists’ impressions. Rich brought up a very good point – why is it that now, in this digital media-filled age when everyone has a cell phone with a camera, are there fewer photos of UFOs and similar phenomenon than ever?

Here are some photos from the museum:

The drive home was long, but not too long. We ran into a little ugly weather just outside Moab, but overall, it was fine. Here are some pictures of the lovely weather just outside Shiprock, New Mexico.

Thank you all for following us on our trip, and double thank you for all of you who commented!

The truth is out there (with big plastic-looking bug eyes).

Day Ten – To Roswell

Cactus Kate — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:22:31 +0000

We’re in Roswell this evening. Today was a long day on the road – all the way from Corpus Christi. We didn’t really stop anywhere except a few places for food, since it was such a long drive. Here are a few photos I took from the car.

This is a photo of the main street in Pecos, a statue that’s on a corner in some town between Pecos and Roswell, and a refinery just outside Roswell. I wish I could remember where the statue was, but I really don’t.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. If we have the chance to stop anywhere tomorrow, I will certainly post some then.

Thanks for reading & commenting!

Day Nine – Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Cactus Kate — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:44:20 +0000

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. YEA!! Today, I got to see whuppin’ cranes (Whooping Cranes), which are super rare. You can really only see them in only a few places in the country, and even then, only at a certain time of the year. I am so happy to have seen them! There were 11 of them, in 3 different places in the reserve. I also got to see Snow Geese, Roseate Spoonbills, Black Vultures (lots of these), and Common Moorhens. These are all new to my lifelist. I also saw MANY birds that I have already seen, and several I am fairly sure I haven’t seen, but need to identify for sure. I feel like today was a BONANZA of birding! Here are some photos:

Here are some Ruddy Turnstones, a Willet (biting at something in the surf, and a Common Moorhen

And these, my friends, are a Black Vulture, and some Whooping Cranes.

Rich and I went on a month-long road trip in 1999. I am sure I have mentioned it before. We were in Texas during that time, and I glimpsed my first armadillo. Ever since, I have been on a mission to take a decent photo of said armadillo. Armadillos are really interesting animals. They look like little greyish pink articulated footballs. I got a BUNCH of photos of one this time, but Rich was on the right side of the car, and took better photos of one than I. Here are a couple of Rich’s photos.

Today was really great, and I am very grateful to Rich for being patient with my silly animal interests (even though he is sitting here right now watching Monster Bug Wars, and acting very interested…).

Tomorrow, I think we’re starting our trip home. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed, but really…that may be the only thing I am looking forward to. I really am a proponent of ‘endless summer’. That’s my secret dream…chasing summer all over the western hemisphere. Well, I guess it’s not a secret any more.

Thanks for visiting and commenting!