Doggie-Style Guy
For the first few days of the trip, we were recording funny quotes, and were going to do a quote-of-the-trip. Or something. Two things happened to put an end to this idea. First, we got bored with it and forgot about it. Secondly, this guy came up with a beauty that is probably unbeatable:
The "Four Corners Monument" marks the intersection of the borders of the states of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. You can stand in four states at once. So everyone does it. Enter old-bearded-bloke who decides he is going to get down on all fours, with one knee in each of Utah and Arizona, and his hands in Colorado and New Mexico. As onlookers start giving him strange looks the old bloke proclaims that "This is the only way you can do it!"
9.5 / 10
Albuquerque
We were there for about 5 waking hours. We got lost, ate food, slept, woke up, and left. No further comment. One bonus point just because it's the place with the awesome name.
?+1 / 10
Roswell
Pretty much the same as any other country town or small city. Except with aliens decorating everything!
There's the alien museum (of course) with info about the Roswell Incident, UFOs, aliens, etc, etc. Surprisingly there are actually a couple of non-UFO-related highlights. The tourist info center dude pointed us to some museums and galleries and such to pass the day. History of the area and so forth. More interesting than it sounds! There was also a stuffed beaver called Biff. And a detention center which warranted road signs warning drivers: "Do not pick up hitchhikers. Correctional facility nearby."
6 / 10
Even all the streetlights are alien shaped! Rad!
McDonalds in Roswell
Sure, we are spending a number of weeks overseas, going many places, doing and seeing many things; but at the end of the day, this is the real reason for travelling halfway around the world. The McDonald's restaurant in Roswell is SHAPED LIKE A UFO! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!?!?!
Yes, you are exactly right... it's pretty lame. I couldn't even see the UFO-ness of it from one side because it had advertising banners and cars parked in front of it. After driving and walking past countless McDonalds' prior to this, always saying "No, we're saving it for Roswell", this was a total let-down. But a totally expected one.
3 / 10
Carlsbad Caves
I'm not sure who Carl is, or why people think his caves are so bad. I thought they were quite enjoyable. Take an elevator several hundred meters underground then wander the enormous cave system down there. Plenty of impressive and amazing looking stalag[m&t]ites and other rock formations. Also plenty of uninteresting rocks that they've tried to make look awesome with their lighting scheme. Also the place Katie discovered a new setting on her camera which allowed her to take fabulous photos in dark conditions. Yep, found it just before we left the caves.
7.5 / 10
Bottomless Pit
One of the features in Carlsbad Caves. Unfortunately, when you get to it, the information panel tells you that it is in fact only 140 feet deep. These people need to either rename the pit, or lie about its true nature in their information.
0 / 10
Texas
A landscape dotted with oil drills and pumps - they appeared everywhere as soon as we crossed the border into the state. Highways with 80mph speed limits (I'm sure they are elsewhere, but this was the only place we encountered them). Petrol for less than 90 cents a litre!! More on Texas in the upcoming post...
7.5 / 10
