After leaving the KOA and filling the truck, we’re back on the freeway, I-10 East. But not for long: “The Thing” had been advertised on billboards for about the last 300 miles, to be at exit 322, and wildly intrigued (yeah, right) we pull off and check out the gift shop. For $1 admission, we get to walk through 3 buildings housing old “relicts”, cars, tools, tractors, etc. In building #3 we hen get to see “The Thing”: a mummified corpse with baby corpse in its arm, in a coffin. Kinda fake, but hey – we still paid $1 to see it! 😉
Then we’re on the road again towards the New Mexico state border and soon after stop for lunch at a rest area.
It’s my turn to drive and we continue on for a couple more hours, passing through Las Cruces, NM before heading into the mountains (ok, we’re already at 5,700 ft elevation … what’s a few more to the pass!?
Then we enter the White Sands Missile Range, home of the first ever nuclear bomb explosion on April 26, 1945 (a test). Highway 70 crosses right through the range, but fortunately, no tests are scheduled for this evening!
We pass by White Sands National Monument (we’ll come back tomorrow to visit) and head into Alamogordo, the main “destination” for our trip (to visit a friend of Kirk from the Air Force). Check in is at the Boot Hill RV Resort at the northern end of town, and we park the trailer here for the next couple of nights. Best part about this place? Looking out of my trailer window, I can see “The World’s Largest Pistachio Nut” right across the street!!!
Sabine
I was hoping for a photo of the world’s largest pistachio nut! 🙂
Kirk
Just wait!