We woke up in Roswell with no alien abductions during the night. After breakfast at the hotel, we set out to see the alien sights we drove through the night before. They were quite interesting and entertaining. Dean even found his own personal alien to hang out with until it was time to go.
We wanted to move along but Dean spied a display that he knew Robin would love. Of course, he was right! It was outside of the Roswell Museum and Art Center which houses the Robert H. Goddard Planetarium. It was a life-size statue of Robert H. Goddard and his rocket. In the 1930s before Roswell became associated with alien abductions, Goddard lived outside of the city of Roswell. He built and launched his rockets in an environment where people would stay out of his way. It was pretty cool!
In addition, to the alien hubbub, we also learned that Historic Route 66 runs straight through the center of town. Businesses display the historic symbol on the buildings and were selling various items. We drove the route for a little while until the interstate took it over. The road ran in and out of our day's travel.
Since it was dark when we had arrived the first night, we missed taking pictures of all of the alien Welcome to Roswell, NM signs. Since we left town on Route 66, we ran across another Welcome to Roswell, NM sign. Dean stopped so Robin could take a picture of it. When she returned to the car laughing, she had to explain. The sign did not reference aliens at all. It stated that Roswell was the Dairy Capital of the World! Who would have thought that?State Historic Site - New Mexico State Forestry's Smokey Bear Museum and Historical Park
We left Roswell and headed to Capitan, NM. What was in Capitan? The Lincoln National Forest is which was the birth place of the real Smokey the Bear. We went to the State Smokey Bear Museum and HIstorical Park. As the story goes, the forest was on fire. A ranger spotted a little black bear cub running around without his mother. The ranger rescued the bear and bought him home. That led to the fire prevention campaign over the years featuring Smokey the Bear and his motto: Only you can prevent forest fires! The museum had lots of fire prevention information, but also Smokey the Bear personal and campaign details. We then went outside and walked through the historical park. In addition to a variety of trees in different habitats, the area that caught our attention was Smokey the Bear's grave site. The marker was hand carved of a little black bear climbing a tree. 
Space Center/Museums #3 - New Mexico Museum of Space History
rockets. On the walls were pictures and information on everyone who has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The peopleFrom Capitan, we drove to Alamogordo. We went to the New Mexico Museum of Space History which is also home to the International Space Hall of Fame. It was four stories tall and packed with exhibits, including more information and photos of Robert Goddard and his were major contributors into the field of aeronautics and aviation. Of course, there were many of the scientists and engineers who created the theories to allow these others to explore. The inside of the elevator was like the inside of a cockpit.
Many of the astronauts featured on the wall, Robin and/or Dean had met in person, had gotten an autograph from, or had had their pictures taken with them. It was exciting to realize they were selected to this highest honor in their field. One of our favorites was Scott Carpenter, the second American astronaut to orbit the Earth. Robin had a nice conversation with him about teaching when she thanked him for all he had done. His response to her was, "No, I should be thanking you for teaching all of the little minds that will be able to continue moving our ideas and actions forward." We were very glad we got to share that moment with him the year before he died. He validated how important my job was. Yet he was the one inducted into the International Hall of Fame. He was quite a man!
Outside of the four story building was a display of important machines to the field. It was called the John P. Stapp Air and Space Park. He was an aeromedical scientist who conducted research on how the mechanical forces affected living tissues. He was named "The Fastest Man Alive" when he rode the machine Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled at a speed of 632 mph in 5 seconds. He sustained the highest G-forces, 46.2 Gs, of any man recorded when his machine abruptly stopped in 1.4 seconds. He still holds the record today after his death in 1999. In addition to being a Hall of Fame inductee, Dr. Stapp layed the foundation of research for the requirements of seat belts in all cars beginning in 1968. Legislature was signed into law by President Johnson.
Also at this museum was the grave site of Ham, the World's First Astrochimp. Ham played a very important role in the history of space flight.
National Historic Site #7 - White Sands National Monument
After leaving the museum, we went straight to White Sands National Monument which is just outside Alamogordo. The first order of business is stamping our passports. That is Dean's job.
After learning about the monument thought the film and exhibits at the visitor center, we drove to the actual sand dunes. There was white sand everywhere in mounds and on the roads. The wind was so strong that it was hard to see.
Robin's kiddos had challenged her to slide down the dunes in a saucer that you could buy in the gift store. Well, she tried and found it to be much harder than expected. The dunes were very difficult to climb up and then getting started sliding down wasn't so easy, even with waxing the bottom of the saucer. However, she was successful a few times. Dean videotaped the attempts, mostly while laughing to think I would really try this challenge. He only took video so I will have to figure how to capture a single frame in order to post. Just let your imagination run wild seeing this old lady trying to act like a kid!
After White Sands, Robin had to deal with the reality that she wasn't as young as she used to be! We drove to Las Cruces, NM for the night. We had another Fairfield Inn and already had a plan for dinner. The Cattle Baron Steakhouse we enjoyed so much the night before also had a restaurant in Las Cruces. We knew what we got there and were up for the repeat. Again, the restaurant lived up to our expectations and we were left with a leftover filet sandwich for the next day.
We thought about visiting the fitness room in the hotel before turning in since we hadn't been able to at most of our hotels due to renovation. We went back to our room, we were surprised to find the sign for the fitness room directly across the hall from our room. However, when we peeked in, we found an office full of desks - no fitness equipment! We were given another reprieve for renovation!