Prescott to Roswell, New Mexico

Our room rate included a full breakfast downstairs in their bistro, which was lovely. There are so many choices in American eating!

Me: I'd like the house special, please. 

Waitress: How would you like your eggs - fried, poached, scrambled?

Me: Poached, please. 

Waitress: Is that soft, medium or hard?

Me: Medium, please. 

Waitress: Bacon, sausage or ham?

Me: Bacon, please. 

Waitress: What kind of toast would you like? White, wholewheat, sourdough, rye, English muffin?

Me: Rye, please. 

Waitress: Fruit or breakfast potatoes?

Me: Fruit, please. 

It was tasty. 

We were away by 8.30am, planning on a long drive to Roswell, New Mexico, via the VLA (Very Large Array). I've been keen to see the VLA ever since the movie 'Contact' was released in 1997, and this was our chance as we scoot across the country to Miami. 

We drove through dense pine forest during the morning, not descending below 6,000 feet for most of the day. We were just beneath the clouds! The towns we saw today are all built for snow. Steeply pitched rooves, permanent 'Giveway to snowplow' signs, yellow guide markers beside the roads. 

Thankfully I'm not finding the driving too difficult. I was minorly apprehensive, but it's becoming more natural every time we visit. 

We crossed the Continental divide at 7796 feet, so now all the rain water drains to the eastern side of the country!

The scenery became dry and shrubby, with the layered rock bands in the hillsides a rainbow of blues and reds. 

Most of the towns we passed were very small, one only having one building! And a horse. Some of the buildings are very old - cowboy days old. It's a shame and a little shocking to see so much disrepair and abandonment in these towns. Maybe the work dried up? It's certainly a naturally beautiful state, but we didn't see much agriculture or fields of cows or sheep. Six cows, no sheep, 889 kilometers. 

We had agreed that we wouldn't eat at McDonald's unless there was nothing else. We lasted two days. The biggest town on our map had nothing else, and the small towns were closed up (Saturday arvo?). 

85 miles along state highway 60 from the border of New Mexico - Arizona is the VLA, a series of 27 radio telescopes, each 25 metres across. The VLA receives radio signals from space, observing black holes, the creation of new stars, and much more by providing the power of a single dish 22 miles across. It needs dry air and quiet from other radio signals to work efficiently. Astronomers from all over the world vie for time with the equipment.

We enjoyed walking around the facility, which seemed deserted. 

 

It was a long day of travel as we struck out for Roswell, New Mexico. There wasn't anywhere else suitable to stop anyway. Hungry and tired and within 20 miles of Roswell we came to a full stop on the highway. There were state police and a sheriff on the opposite side of the road, measuring distances in the dark, and I could see some wreckage in the bushes, but it didn't look like a full car, and there was no one looking at it. That's all the information we had. 45 minutes later a helicopter departed from over the rise and everyone started their engines and continued the journey. We didn't see anything further to indicate what the problem has been. 

Luckily we found a restaurant open at 10pm.