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Trip Snapshot
Objective
To find signs of extraterrestrial life by exploring the site of the famed 1947 UFO crash.
Disclaimer: We are not trained ufologists.
When We Went
September 2017. It was hot during the day, but cooled off a bit at night (think hoodie or light jacket at most).
Length of time
We spent one day in Roswell, this was about the perfect amount of time. (There’s not a whole lot going on here.)
Roswell was a pre-planned destination city as part of a larger road trip.
Altogether, we made a 4,000-mile journey across five different Southwestern states:
(Texas> New Mexico> Colorado > Utah> Arizona> New Mexico> Texas)
It took us ten days to complete and racked up a grand total of 55 hours of driving time.
How We Got Around
Plane
We flew in and out of Austin, Texas, the starting and ending point of our roadtrip.
Rental Car
We drove everywhere.
Where We Stayed
We used Airbnb and booked each night ahead of time.
The Airbnb we stayed at was located just a few miles outside of Roswell. All we wanted was a place to crash so we went extra budget-friendly with this one and got a “private room” in a lady’s home. She greeted us as well as showed us around the property when we arrived.
Food
Pack a Cooler
The majority of our meals came from a cooler we kept in the backseat (we brought a cooler as a carry on item on the plane to take along with us for the drive).
Farley’s Food and Fun Pub
Restaurant options were limited in Roswell, but we popped inside Farley’s Food and Fun Pub, where the chromed-out walls and chairs kept up with the cosmic vibe of the town.
We took advantage of the southwestern twist they spun on our favorite foods and ordered green chile burgers and the best pinto beans I’ve ever had. We ordered a second helping of the beans.
Check out their website here.
Try Some Alien Beer
At the local Albertsons grocery we snagged a six pack – it was out of this world.
What We Did
The (Never-ending) Drive Out of Texas
We took US highway 87 West out of Texas. It was a LONG drive filled with rolling grassy fields, oil rigs, the occasional train, and of course the infamous Longhorns (I’m a cornhusker).
Sunflower Surprise
While on US Highway 380 just west of Brownfield, Texas, we stumbled upon the largest sunflower field I have ever seen.
Rows upon rows of tall green stalks and bright yellow petals. If you happen to be in the area late summer or early fall, it’s worth a drive by.
Bottomless Lakes State Park
About 15 miles east of Roswell, we made a pit stop at Bottomless Lakes State Park. This was our first glimpse of the red clay dirt and plateau-esque landscape that made up the pre-conceived image in my mind of what the Southwestern United States should look like. We took the short drivable loop around the water. The park looked to be a popular spot for family picnics and a swim.
Check out the park website here.
Houston, the Eagle Has Landed
We finally rolled into our destination city for the evening, Roswell, New Mexico, at 5:30 pm.
Shortly thereafter we discovered nearly everything closed at or before 6 o’clock.
It was a Saturday.
Despite this, the only thing we missed out on was visiting the International UFO Museum And Research Center, which closes at 5:00. (We should have checked their website first.)
Our search for the rumored extraterrestrial life was to be continued…
Back to the Future
Roswell’s aura was that of a sleepy little town that seemed to be stuck in the 1980s.
We were able to drive the entirety of it in roughly half an hour.
We were delighted to see that the other-worldly vibe was oozing throughout the town as nearly every business downtown was adorned with little green men.
Even the lamp posts had almond shaped eyes that seemed to be watching…
Enchanted Lands
We stopped by Enchanted Lands, your basic disc golf course. Clean and well laid out, it was a good spot to walk around.
Check out the course here.
Up With the Birds
We woke up to start our drive the next morning to the sound of roosters crowing. The land is so open, it makes the sunrise quite spectacular. About an hour down the road, I discovered that I must have gotten a little too friendly with the birds. I had just smeared chicken poop all over the passenger side seat that — unbeknownst to me — had been clinging to the bottom of my flip flop.
After a quick emergency stop and some wet wipes we were back on the road. I was lovingly deemed ‘poop foot’ for the remainder of the 500 mile drive to get us to our next destination, the Four Corners Monument.
The Travelberry 