It was 8 am when Edith got out of the bed because she could feel the Lil’ Home rocking a bit. She looked out the window, saw that the winds were blowing hard. It looks like a "BAD HAIR" day. However, the sky was beautiful.
Few RVs have left the campground, so there are plenty spaces available. We do like here and will want to come and stay here for few days another time when we come by Roswell another time.
We dillydallied for a while this morning because most places in Roswell do not open until 9 am or 10 am, so we stayed home a while to drink coffee and check emails. Edith spent time checking through photos she took yesterday, deleting the ones not worth keeping. She backed up all pictures to the external hard drive. Erwin walked around the campground to check out RVs, travel trailers, etc.
On way to Roswell, NM from Bottomless Lake State Park Campground on Hwy 380 there was a sign for Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge (10 miles from Roswell), so we turned right and followed the sign for several miles until we came to the refuge headquarters and visitor center. The refuge was established in 1937.
While Roswell, NM claimed to have been visited by aliens the wildlife refuge has welcomed so many migratory birds, such as American White Pelicans, Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes and waterfowl. There are sinkholes, seeps, lakes, etc.. There are 3 areas along the Pecos River, but only the southern part of the refuge is closed to public access. The refuge as 9,620 acres of native grasses, sand dunes and brushy bottomlands.
The interpretive exhibit was very well informed and has stuffed birds and animals. The volunteers were very friendly and helpful. We were given a map for the auto loop drive. The volunteer did caution us that we may not see many shorebirds because most of them had left last week. Also, the strong winds may be the problem.
We followed the auto loop, drove slowly to be sure we did not miss anything. Nothing for a couple miles until we finally saw Northern Shovelers and Stilts. There was a pair of Mallards. Erwin took a short hike at Oxbow Trail while Edith stayed inside the Jeep because she did not want to inhale too much dust. Erwin came back and said "I didn't see any wildlife".
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| Stilt |
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| Northern Shovelers |
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| Very dusty! |
We left Bitter Lake to go to Roswell to spend the afternoon sightseeing.
Before we began sightseeing in the town we had lunch at Peppers Grill & Bar (ranked #5 out of 104 Restaurants in Roswell by TripAdvisor.com) at 500 North Main Street. The cuisine is American and Mexican. Interesting atmosphere and the bar is separated from the dining area. They have an outdoor seating, but since it was very windy nobody dined there. We had California Burger and we split it between us. French fries came with it. The burger was very tasty! If anyone of you are planning on visiting Roswell, NM be sure to dine at Peppers.
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| Llamas |
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| At Domino's Pizza |
After parking the Jeep by the Visitor’s Center we walked up to see the 150% lifesize bronze statue of John S. Chisum, the cattle king of the Pecos. During mid 1870’s he was a prominent cattleman, produced over 80,000 longhorn steers in his herd.
The Chaves County courthouse (built in 1911) is across the street from the statue, so we went to check it out. There is a security checkpoint. Edith was allowed to carry the backpack, but was advised that she cannot take pictures if we go up to the 2nd floor. The courthouse was closed for 2 years due to extensive repairs after a 5 foot long piece of plaster fell from the interior dome and was reopened just recently.
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| A photographer will get in any position just to get a great shot |
In the back of the courthouse is another bronze statue of Patrick Flyod Jarvis Garrett (1850-1908). He was a lawman and was well known for killing Billy the Kid. He was a tall fellow at 6'5", and was murdered.
We checked out International UFO museum at 114 North Main St. The admission for Seniors & Military is $3. There are displays about the Roswell incident that happened in 1947. There are photographs and exhibits. Did the UFO crash ever happen? No one knows because apparently the government covered up the whole thing. The guy, named Mac Brazel, was a rancher who discovered the debris. He was coecered to modify his story and he was silent about it until his death.
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| Replica of Mayan carving depicting a man blasting off in a spaceship |
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| Oh, look! Edith was abducted by an alien! |
We walked up and down the Main street for several blocks. Too many stores selling alien and UFO things! Even the bakery shop had aliens dressed up as bakers.
We checked out the winery store, sampled Pistachio Rose, did not like the taste.
We stopped by some interesting places before going back to Bottomless Lake State Park campground.
The sunset was spectacular. It is our last night camping here. We will want to camp here again if and when we do come visit Roswell again.
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