2016-07-02: Being Attacked by Alien Birds in Roswell, New Mexico

Hello and Welcome Back to AwayWeGo's Geocaching Adventure Blog. Today's adventure had us going up into New Mexico and was supposed to be deep into the earth at Carlsbad Caverns. However we forgot that it was a holiday weekend and it was very busy! So we decided to skip it for another day and continue up the road to Roswell, NM to see if we can find some extraterrestrials.

Our first Geocaching stop was near the town of Malaga at a New Mexico historical marker. (GC2AXZ6) The marker was to highlight the travels of Don Antonio de Espejo, leader of the third expedition to explore New Mexico, who passed near the spot on his return to Mexico City in 1583. After learning of the martyrdom of two Franciscan friars from an earlier expedition, he explored the Pueblo country and then followed the Pecos River Valley south.

Soon we arrived in the galactic rest stop of Roswell, NM only to find a packed downtown area due to the annual UFO Festival! Just not going to be our day. The line for the UFO Museum was out the door and down the block. I looked at the phone and found a nearby cache away from the activities that would also give us a moment to park and figure out what to do.

Arriving at our next Geocache (GC3A0KF) at the James Phelps White House. Built in 1912 and lived in by the family until 1972, the house was donated to the Historical Society of Southeast New Mexico in 1976. Now it is a museum.

Today the museum was closed, but we pulled in to find a car parked there with two ladies inside, probably in their 60's, and looking at us rather inquisitively. Were they also Geocaching? I parked about 5-6 spots away from them. After a minute or two, she pulled over closer about two spots away on my side. We stayed in our car and I just continued looking at my phone like I was texting. She then back out again and pulled up right next to us on Candy's side and rolled down her window. We then noticed she had cuts on her face and was bleeding. She proceeded to warn us about a bird that had swooped down and attacked them. This was the reason she had cuts on her face. We thanked her for the warning and they left.

Well being so close to the cache, I didn't want to leave without an attempt. The parking lot was about 100' from the cache location. We looked out the window but didn't see any bird flying around. I opened the door and looked some more. Nothing. A few SECONDS after standing up and looking around, this bird comes out of nowhere swooping down to about a foot above my head! I quickly jumped back into the car. There IS an alien attack bird out there on the loose! Now what to do?
Looking carefully we noticed a driveway running right along side the house and around back. So I pulled out from the parking lot and into the narrow driveway until I was just a few feet from the cache. Now we had some protection from the car, the house, and an overhang. I quickly jump out and spotted the cache. I brought it back to the car where I stamped the log sheet and placed it back. WOW! We've been on hikes with the threat of snakes, alligators, scorpions, and now Attack Birds from Outer Space! Let's get outta here!

Back over to the main street through town where we managed to find a place to eat. A Mexican restaurant with slow service and just OK food. Nothing special but we were hungry. After lunch, we quickly strolled through the two blocks of festivities for a look. Mostly arts & craft booths with some alien stuff added to the mix. One of the most creative displays was this one guy who turned old tires into alien creatures, plants, and other objects. These were my distant relatives, the Goodyear family, from the planet Yokohama of the Uniroyalverse. On the drive out of town we stopped for gas and had my picture taken with a very patriotic visitor.

Heading south and back towards home, we stopped in the town of Artesia, NM. I noticed on the drive up a couple of statues along the roadside but didn't stop. But since Carlsbad and Roswell were packed full of tourists, I decided to stop here. The first one pictured below is called "El Vaquero" (the cowboy) and is firing a warning shot from his pistol into the air the warn the "Trail Boss" of the second photo that he has spotted some cattle rustlers coming their way.

The next two statues were also virtual Geocaches. The first virtual cache (GCGJGK) brought us to the First Lady of Artesia Sallie Chisum, a school teacher, reading a book to kids about outlaw Billy the Kid.

The next virtual cache (GCJC1X) commemorates the first oil well in Southeast New Mexico and the men who made it happen. The two men are John Gray and Mack Chase who were in the industry for many years. Below that is a statue that depicts the first oil well from 1924.

One last Geocaching stop (GC2CR17) for the day at a cemetery near Lakewood, NM. A small cemetery dating back to 1906. By now it was hot and we were wanting to get back, so we forgot to take some pictures.

When we finally made it back down to Carlsbad, we decided to take a different route the rest of the way. We headed east along Jal Highway (128) and happened to pass by these lakes. They appeared to be salt water lakes and then noticed a sign for a salt mine. It's kinda hard to see from the photo and we didn't find any path to get down closer to the lake, but it looks as though that "white sand" around the edges was salt. There were also some parts that had tree stumps and other debris sticking up and they were all white and covered with salt also.

But that was our Geocaching Adventure for the day. Not what we had originally planned, but being spontaneous isn't bad either.

2016-03-05: From Earth Texas to Billy the Kid in New Mexico

What a day! I think we drove about 400 miles all together. I mean we DID drive to Earth and back! Saw some strange things, learned a lot of history, and met up with Billy the Kid. Geocaching does take you to some pretty unique places.

After several quick roadside Geocaches, our first cache of interest was at the Halfway Cemetery (GC5NEFE). Now, I'm not sure what it was halfway between but the thing that comes to my mind is a Catholic cemetery for those in purgatory. Or maybe zombies? I don't know...

Actually the Halfway community developed around a school establishment in 1909. The name signifies its location between the county seats of Plainview and Olton. A post office operated in Halfway from 1910 to 1914. In 1945 the community had a school, two churches, a cotton gin, and a population of twenty-five. The school closed in 1952, and the building is now used as a community center. In 1980 Halfway had a gin, an agricultural equipment plant, churches, several businesses, and a population of seventy. In 1990 and again in 2000 the population was fifty-eight.

Since we've gotten halfway there... next stop is Planet Earth! (GC3H4VG) And now we know the question that has baffled scientists for many years. No, the earth is NOT millions and billions of years old. Nope, the Earth was established  in 1924. Everything in the history books before that was just our imaginations.

Earth, Texas was established by William E. Halsell, who laid out the townsite in 1924. Originally Halsell named the city Fairlawn, but in 1925 it was renamed Earth when it was learned that there was already a town in Texas by the name of Fairlawn. In order to find a new name the townspeople sent in suggestions, and the agreed-upon best name was chosen.

They even put the name on this huge tower so all the UFO's and space aliens headed over to Roswell know where they are.

Now our next cache was about 100 miles away across the state line into New Mexico. We wanted to make sure we got to it today, so we skipped all the others between there and will grab as many as we can on the way back. So we continued west on US-70 onto US-84 all the way out to Fort Sumner, NM.

Our first stop and next cache (GC8493) is who made Fort Sumner famous. This virtual cache brought us to the grave sight of the wild west outlaw Billy the Kid. Not exactly a good photo of the headstone, but his headstone was stolen twice! The first time it went missing for 26 years before its location was discovered. Within the large cage are three graves belonging to Billy the Kid and his friends Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre. After Billy the Kid's headstone was recovered the second time, a cage was built around the entirety and the headstone itself bolted down at the foot of his grave.

There are several more gravesites here at the historic Fort Sumner site. Here are just a couple samples.

There were four more Geocaches located in the town of Fort Sumner. One at the Billy the Kid Museum (GC29XY8), the Fort Sumner historical marker (GC1P67K), and two more at the main cemetery in town (GC60CPY and GC60CR4). And now that we've gotten all those, we still had 162 miles and more caches to get on the way home!

On the way back in another old town of Taiban we found our next three caches. The first one was the former trading post, former antique store, and now just former and abandoned business (GC34E7G). The Taiban Trading Post was built in 1915 and was once a thriving business.

The next cache in Taiban was the End of the Road (GCV8MZ). Here sits the remains of the First Presbyterian Church of Taiban. Completed in December of 1908 at a cost of $250, its first sermon was presented by the Reverend John R. Gass. As the towns population dwindled due to the depression and drought, the church held its last service in 1936.

As we arrived here, we see a pickup truck with Texas plates on it and a guy with something on a stick walking towards the church and right into the front door. I thought maybe another cacher holding a car GPS. I walk down the side of the church towards the back looking for the cache and he went all the way through the church and is out back. I ask him if he's Geocaching and he says he was taking a video. We get to talking and it turns out he's on vacation from Germany and traveling through Texas and New Mexico for 12 days. We chat for a little while and wish each other safe travels.

On the eastern edge of town was our next cache at the Watering Hole (GC1RVY1). This once liquor store, maybe even a bar is now half burned down. Once a destination for the thirsty, now only a destination for Geocachers.

Continuing eastbound was our next cache (GC617HR) and piece of history. At noon on November 30, 1944, a World War II supply train hauling 165 five-hundred-pound bombs headed for the Pacific Theater derailed in Tolar. The train caught fire and the bombs exploded. The blast, which leveled nearly every building in town, could be heard 60 miles away. It vaporized 500 feet of track and sent a 1,500-pound axle crashing through a store and rolling out the back. One person, Jess Brown, was killed in the explosion after a piece of iron shrapnel struck his head.

Our last cache for the day just west of Clovis, NM was located at the Blacktower Cemetery (GC61N67). Located west of the Chavez West Housing addition near Cannon Air Force Base, the cemetery is considered to be a lost cemetery and shows signs of not having been kept up for a long time. Tall grass, weeds and stickers guard the entrance to this piece of eastern New Mexico's history, but at one point airman from neighboring Cannon Air Force Base turned out to restore and clean up this treasure. 
According to a June, 2009 article, 25 volunteers showed up to the cemetery to clear away the weeds and shovel away the sand that had blown over the headstones. In the six years since the service project, the cemetery has fallen back into its forgotten, buried state. Railroad tie steps still exist and lead visitors to the entrance of the cemetery where several headstones are visible, but extremely difficult to get to.

According to a May 22, 2009, Clovis News Journal article, the Blacktower Cemetery was originally started as a family cemetery and became the final resting place for 42 individuals. The article cites local High Plains Historical Foundation member Harold Kilmer as saying that Blacktower is unique because research suggests that two Civil War veterans are buried there: Emmett Fulkerson, who died June 17, 1911, and William Brantley, who died Feb. 7, 1908. Kilmer said the cemetery was started by an unknown farmer’s family about 1906 after an infant’s death.

After looking around the cemetery at some of the headstones, we finally arrive in Clovis, NM and a wide variety of restaurant choices! You would think by now we would have learned to pack a picnic lunch for our adventures. Because having past through Clovis heading west out to Fort Sumner, spending time in Fort Sumner, then driving back to Clovis, there's not much for places to eat! By now we're practically starving! 

So we grab a quick sandwich at Subway before driving the two hours back to Lubbock. We ended the day with 16 Geocaching finds and a new county in New Mexico. And another day of adventure through history.