What an unexpected bonus on the route to Flagstaff we went past the Very Large Array which is 27 (85ft Diameter) Satellite dishes, which was just amazing to see. These are used to capture radio signals from space including those form Voyager II.

The film Contact with Jodie Foster was shot here in 1999 in just 5 days (well the VLA sequence anyway) and unlike the claims in the film the VLA is not used for SETI (the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence).

The best thing is that you can walk all the way up to them and marvel at the sheer size (and cost of around 78million to build).

An awesome site and just so cool.

Well today saw us head out at 7.30 in the am on a monumental drive from Roswell NM to Flagstaff AZ, via the scenic route, through the likes of Lincoln (something to do with a goat called Billy) and Capitan home of Smokey the Bear, a symbol of US fire safety after a young bear cub was rescued from a 17,000 acre forest fire in the 1950’s (see I can do history today).

The RV or commonly called Recked Vehicle, now has the aircon unit hanging out the ceiling after the screws fell out, somehow I feel we will get to Vegas with nawt but a chassis and a handful of screws to give back. Come back on a daily basis to see what else has dropped off the Cruise America bucket.

From now on we are collecting RV screws as souvenires.

Picture the scene, Mr Fogg all contented having been immersed in lots of alien stuff, toys, pictures and the like, exits the UFO museum to wander back into downtown Roswell. As we are walking back to the RV a gentleman approaches him with another guy videoing and asked if Mr Fogg had just been into the UFO museum, and if so could he ask a few questions while videoing. Feeling obviously not his usual self, Mr Fogg happily agreed.

He he he, it started well enough:
“Where are you from?”
“The UK”
“Did you come to Roswell just to see the UFO museum”
“Well yes, as part of a holiday”
So what do you think, government conspiracy or something out there?
“Gotta be something out there”, says Mr Fogg
“So you believe in aliens then, how about angels?”
“Sorry?”
“Do you believe we all have angels looking after us? Because there are good and bad angels”
“I thought this was about the museum, not about religion, I’m not talking about religion to you”
“Well I’m not religious, but I read the bible, do you sir?”
“Erm, if this isn’t about the museum then this interview is over”
“Ah sir but you have a soul don’t you, do you believe in the bible?”
He was very persistent.
At this point I got the giggles and had to walk away.
Mr Fogg very politely ( I was very impressed) pointed out that this was not an interview that was going to continue. At which point his interviewer turned to his amateur cameraman saying:
“And there my friends is the evidence that the people who come here to visit the UFO museum are non believers with evil in their souls”

You heard it here first! I can only imagine some church somewhere sitting down to watch a video of a UFO worshiping non believer from England who just happened to be wearing a tee-shirt which read “Eejit”, with a giggling lunatic stood behind him. Funnier still, it might make You Tube!

Oh we get all the crazies….

We drove 300 miles north out of our way because I wanted to visit historic Santa Fe. I wished I’d not bothered. The campsite ( see picture) is pleasant but I’m afraid I was not impressed with Santa Fe. It’s claim to fame is largely historical, the infamous Navajo Long Walk came through on the old Santa Fe trail, Billy the Kid was temporarily imprisoned here before being moved and escaping and some of the buildings are supposed to be some of the oldest in the US.

However, despite pretty plaster buildings the actual centre consists of five main aspects: Overpriced and oversized jewellery in expensive boutique shops, overpriced expensive clothes with very odd designs in overpriced boutiques, unwashed hippies galore with overgrown beards, scabby unwashed kids and well dressed beggars with cardboard signs (all ages from teens upwards).

It’s also an artists meca, large art galleries with odd pictures, sculptures and the rest abound in Santa Fe. You want a full size bronze of an Indian complete with buffalo to stand in your house? You got it! Or you can have random bits of metal contorted into large shapes with what looks like breasts welded on, want two? No problem.

Needless to say the place did not have a pleasant feel to it, there was limited to see – unless to be fair you wanted museums because there are at least 5 huge ones which may or may not be good ( didn’t bother). We lasted 2 hours here, one of them was waiting for food.

A 600 mile round trip for nothing. Disappointing.

Oh, but I did see the site of the jail where Billy the Kid was imprisoned – it was knocked down in 1907. Sums it up really.

So what do you do with your spare time in a campervan at 8pm, Wude Word Scwabble of course, where Wude words are worth 3 times there actual value.

Worryingly Mrs Fogg won hands down.