August 6 - Roswell & Carlsbad

I left Albuquerque Monday, and headed southeast towards Carlsbad. On the way, I passed through the town of Roswell, which seems to enjoy hamming up its UFO reputation. Alien themes were to be found at all the major commercial establishments.

Of course, I had to drop in on the famous UFO Museum and Research Center , which had many exhibits (taking a decidedly believing slant) on various unexplained phenomenon, such as UFO sightings and crop circles.

I made it to the easternmost stop on my road trip, Carlsbad Caverns National Park , just before sundown, and attended the daily evening Bat Flight when the bats wake up, and are supposed to swarm out of the cave in search of food. I didn't see nearly as many bats as expected, however. The park ranger explained that agricultural pesticides (which are eaten by insects before the bats eat them) are thought to be killing them.