Day 5 Road trip

Okay, so I've been a little too exhausted at the end of our days to post. So I'll try to give you a brief description of each day up to today.

Friday, May 4: We woke up in Meridian, Mississippi, checked out and got on the road by 6:45 a.m. We drove until around 7:00 p.m. and stopped in Abilene, Texas. Now for the story. We didn't think we would make it as far as Abilene, so I called Chad around 3:00 and asked him to look up hotels in the Eastland, Tx area off of Interstate 20. The only thing he could find was a Ramada Inn so he made the reservation, called me back and gave me the exit number. When we pulled in, I just got a weird feeling, but checked in and we proceeded to drive around the building to park and unload for the night. Well... my grandmother and I walked in and I just couldn't stomach the smell, the dirty carpet or the rusty sink and bathtub. We walked back outside and a few other trucks had pulled in and it was a pretty rough looking bunch of men. There had been a few other red flags at check in but I just got on the phone with Chad and we were all in agreement that we needed to "get out of dodge"!! I'm so glad we did. When we pulled into Abilene, we stayed at the hotel Chad had suggested first and it was heaven!! The room was huge and comfortable. The girls got to swim and we relaxed.

Saturday, May 5 : We started early again 7:00 a.m. and we made it to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico around 1:00. Grandmother shopped and strolled the top of the mountain while the girls, Mom and I hiked into the caverns. It was so beautiful and we were once again amazed at the handiwork of God. After we made it out, we drove on into Roswell where my Grandmother's sister (Aunt Vene) lives. We checked in to the hotel and then dropped Grandmother off. She is staying with Aunt Vene while we explore Roswell this week.

Sunday, May 6: Today we once again started early and drove about 3 hours to White Sands. It was a beautiful drive up and over mountains. Before we started up those mountains, we were in the desert. At one point we turned on State Road 13 and I looked at Mom and we had to laugh. It was the 3rd time we saw a sign that says: "WARNING DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS. PRISON FACILITIES IN THIS AREA." (The only difference was that on Saturday the first one we saw said "Correction Facility" instead of "Prison". The girls were quarrelling and we told them, stop there is a correction facility nearby. It was pretty funny and they quickly stopped.)

Monday, May 7: This morning we slept in.
(6:30 I guess we're still on East Cost time)
We made the decision last night to stay in Roswell and skip Santa Fe. The drive was just a little much for us so we began to explore this little town. We have been shocked by the poverty we've seen. It's been very disturbing to us. The average income of a working adult here in Roswell is $27,000. We decided that there had to be more than what we were seeing here on Main Street. We turned left out of our hotel and just drove. We went about 3 miles and found "Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge". They are only open on Tuesday so that is on our agenda for tomorrow. We also went down to the visitor center. There has to be more here than the UFO Museum and Research Center. Yes, that is the title. And guess what, there is more!!! We found out that Roswell has a beautiful art museum and it's free!! We did that and shopped in the gift shop. It was wonderful and if we're back, we'll go back. The New Mexico Military Institute is here. The grounds are beautiful and the architecture is stunning. The funniest thing of the day happened this morning. Mom was doing her devotion and suddenly burst out laughing. That isn't out of the norm for my Mom, but usually doesn't happen during Bible study. She said, oh you have to hear the key verse in my devotion guide. The verse was Exodus 22:21 "Do not mistreat an alien, or oppress him for you were aliens in Egypt." Here we sit 2 miles from the UFO Museum and Research Center!! (We had been making fun of that place since Abilene, Texas) We are convinced that God has a sense of humor unlike any other!!!

So, that's where we are so far. I'll post again when I can. When we get home, I'll post pictures.