Dust storms brought us to 10MPHWe had to stop twice for wild steer crossing the highway and Adele was thrilled to see wild mustangs along the way. But most interesting was a bathroom stop in a town along "The Extraterrestrial Highway" that looked completely deserted, except for an old bar with a blinking 'open' sign.
As the girls ran for the bathrooms I asked a few people sitting at the bar (Where in the world did they come from!?) why the highway was called "The Extraterrestrial Highway". They looked at me like I was from Mars. After a pause one said, "Because Area 51 is just 8 miles from here." I looked at her blankly. Area 51? Responding to my blank stare she said, "You know, the top secret military base." Top secret military base? I was racking my brain to make some connection to "The Extraterrestrial Highway". The man behind the bar said, "This is the place they brought the UFO that crashed in New Mexico in the 1960s. I have a whole notebook of people who have seen them. I've never seen one, though." He handed over a full binder of testimonials, going back to the 60s. "Oooh," I said, like I knew what the heck they were talking about. There were actual photographs wallpapering the wall of UFOs seen around the world: in Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, etc. Apparently, believers of aliens make pilgrimages to this place. And Area 51? Good thing we didn't take a wrong turn because if you get close to the gate "deadly force is authorized"!
Naps and settling in were on the agenda today, although we did go to lunch to see my brother Mitch, his wife Joann and their son, Tag.
Luckily more of them to come...
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