The Roswell Experience

From Carlsbad the logical route seemed to be to go north to Artesia and then turn west to towards Alamogordo and the White Sands National Monument; but, after a further check of the map and seeing that Roswell, New Mexico was a short 40 miles away, I couldn't pass up going there.

Roswell is the famed site of the mysterious UFO crash in 1947.  So much has been written of what happen and the (supposed - you be the judge) government cover-up that we will probably never know the truth about just what or didn't happen that June (or July - the incident was reported the federal government on the 8th of July 1947, but may have actually occurred in late June).

One thing, however, is certain - it didn't happen in Roswell.  The actual crash site about 45 miles southeast of Roswell on a ranch near Corona.  Roswell is where the Roswell Army Air Field base was located; and, hence, where the investigation was carried out.

The International UFO Museum and Research Center, is located on Main Street, and contains a number of newspaper accounts, reporting's and photographs related to the incident and, although, it is pretty much mandatory to visit the center - unless you're a true "UFO Nut" searching for every tiny tidbit of information - it is not all that interesting.  

A city of Roswell, 45,293 (2000 census) is much larger than I had supposed.  It also the location for the New Mexico Military Institute (a high school through junior college academy for aspiring cadets) and the home of Mine That Bird, the (50-1 shot) winner of the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

I spent more time in Roswell than intended; the result of mechanical difficulties in the front forks on my Harley.  The cause of the problem was another sheared off bolt (remember the saddle-bag incident?).  The photograph was just what we saw when we took off the front cover exposing the forks - had the spring also sheared, it would have meant total disaster!  
To my good fortune, Erin and Debbie McGonagle, the owners of Trailer village RV Park were I was staying, were bikers; and also to my good fortune, Erin was mechanic who collects and rebuilds antic motorcycles.

Not only do Erin and Debbie run a top-notch (with great pricing) RV Park, but they are really great people.  Erin took me (twice) to the local Harley dealer, spent half a day making the necessary repairs (with the aid of his friend Perry) and they refused to accept anything in payment for their efforts - accepting only a handshake as payment in full.