Intro
New Mexico is a fascinating state. It has majestic views, cool architecture, and an intriguing history. In June 2024, I went on a trip to New Mexico with my dog Peanut. In just five days I visited Roswell, Santa Fe, and Tucumcari, plus other places along the way.
Inspiration
My inspiration for this trip originally came from three places. The first came from reading the book Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of the Southwest by David Hatcher Childress. Childress frequently appears on the TV show Ancient Aliens. Several years ago I decided to buy one of his books, and picked the ebook version of Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of the Southwest. The book is about various mysteries in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. These mysteries are often times about lost gold and abandoned ancient cities. I picked this book over his others because I figured I would easily be able to go to some of the places he mentioned, since they are in the U.S., while many of his other books are about places on other continents. The book is very fascinating and I recommend you read it. It has two whole chapters about New Mexico!
My second source of inspiration was my liking of southwestern landscapes. I like seeing both red dirt and mountains. I think another big reason why I like the southwest is because of the Road Runner and Coyote Looney Tunes cartoons. I like the backgrounds in those cartoons, which often includes big rocks, canyons, mountains, and a desert. I wanted to see the real southwest for myself. I had been on a few ski trips to New Mexico in the past, though now I wanted to return on my own to explore.
The third source of inspiration was because I knew I would be going away to Austria later that year, so I decided I should visit New Mexico while I was still living in the U.S. and had a car.
Information Gathering
I knew of that I wanted to go to Roswell and Santa Fe, in addition to stopping in Lubbock on the way there, but I did not know the order I wanted to do everything in, plus I did not know what all I wanted to do.
I wanted to go to Santa Fe because a friend of a friend recommended it to me a few months prior at our friend’s house in Lubbock. Roswell interested me too, due to it being famous for UFO related stuff.
I used a combination of Google Maps and ChatGPT to fully plan out the trip. I would ask ChatGPT for suggestions, and I would look at Google Maps to see which routes I could take and what I would be near by. I decided to go to Roswell first, stopping in Lubbock on the way there. I would spend one night there and then head to Santa Fe, where I would stay two nights. One problem though was that the drive back from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Allen, Texas, where I was living at the time, is very long. Plus I wanted to see a little bit more of New Mexico. So I decided to see what was on the way back, and was seriously considering staying another night. I also briefly considered spending that last extra night somewhere in Texas. At some point I saw the town of Tucumcari, New Mexico on the map, and I noticed that there was a state park nearby. ChatGPT mentioned that there is a Dinosaur museum in Tucumcari. I became very interested in Tucumcari, and decided to add one extra night to the trip, so that I could explore Tucumcari and have an easier drive back.
ChatGPT told me about a bunch of different places to see on the trip. I would then look them up on Google Maps to see pictures and to see how feasible it would be to visit those potential places, considering that I was limited on time. I also factored in that I would have my dog Peanut with me. Sometimes I would be leaving him wherever I would be staying at, but for stops along the way I needed places that I could bring him. The Roswell part of the trip was pretty easy to plan out, as I wouldn’t be spending much time there, and the UFO museum seemed to be the top priority. The journey from Roswell to Santa Fe had some cool options. I decided to stop by Lincoln, New Mexico and the Valley of Fires. I was also interested in the Smokey Bear National Monument. I was a bit unsure what to do during my time in Santa Fe, as in addition to the city itself, there are some cool places to both East and West of Santa Fe. I picked out two places near Santa Fe to hike at during the daytime. I would explore the city in the evenings. For the Tucumcari part, I wanted to check out the Dinosaur Museum for sure, Ute Lake State Park, and maybe another museum. It would be a tight schedule, but I could do it. I still had a few details to sort out, though I had budgeted my time and decided on the major stops.
I used a travel website, maybe Kayak, to find places to stay. I found an independent, alien themed motel to stay at in Roswell, an adobe-style house to stay in during my time in Santa Fe, and a hotel with an indoor swimming pool in Tucumcari. I booked my stays and took several days off from work. I was good to go.
Lubbock
Lubbock is kind of on the way to New Mexico, and I wanted to visit a friend plus the two former professors of mine that wrote letters of recommendation for me. I only had a few hours to spend in Lubbock, but it was enough time.
I wanted to give a gift to each of the two professors who wrote me letters of recommendation. My idea was to get some sort of fancy trail mix from a Bucky’s store along the way. I had gotten good trail mixes from Bucky’s in the past. However, I did not know where specifically a Bucky’s store would be on the way there. It turns out the only one was kind of on the outskirts of Denton, and was on the other side of the expressway plus there was a lot of traffic while I was driving by, so I didn’t stop at Bucky’s. I think instead I stopped at an Allsup’s store after a few hours of driving. The trail mix there isn’t the same as what is at Bucky’s, but whatever, it was the best I could do at that point. I bought a couple bags, and maybe one for myself, and continued onto Lubbock.
I made it to Lubbock and drove onto the Texas Tech Campus. I parked in a visitor parking lot and walked my dog for a bit. I also called Chase, a friend of mine who was living in Lubbock at the time, and told him that I was visiting professors and would like to stop by in a bit. I left my dog in the car with the windows at least partially down and walked over to the Electrical Engineering building with the gifts. I went to go look for my professor’s offices. While I was in the hallway on the second floor, a professor who I had gotten to know despite never being in one of his classes along with a staff member who I had also met before walked by. I told them it was nice to see them and that I would be going to Austria soon to attend a Computer Engineering master’s program. Texas Tech has a Computer Engineering bachelor’s program that is part of the same department as their Electrical Engineering programs, so these two gentlemen are very familiar with what computer engineering is. I then went to the department’s office. Either a secretary or perhaps one of the guys I saw in the hallway told me that Dr. Li, one of the professors that I came to visit, was out of town, so I placed a bag of trail mix in his mail box. I then went and visited Dr. Dallas, the other professor. He had just finished teaching a class that day. I gave him a bag of trail mix, we had a nice conversation, and then I left.
I got back to the car and headed over to my favorite restaurant in Lubbock, Blue Sky Texas, a burger restaurant that is just north of campus. I called Chase, told him that my visit took a little longer than expected, and that I was headed to Blue Sky. I asked him if he wanted me to get him anything from there. Surprisingly he said no. I got a burger and mozzarella sticks to-go, then stopped by my his place. We had a nice chat and then I headed to New Mexico.
The gas stations were few and far between on the way from Lubbock to Roswell, especially on the New Mexico side of that trip. I cut it close, but thankfully I didn’t run out of gas.
Roswell
Peanut and I arrived in Roswell during the evening, but no too late. It wasn’t quite dark yet. I checked into an alien-themed motel named Roswell Inn and then drove to a park to walk Peanut.
On the way back to the motel, I picked up dinner from Whataburger. I went there instead of some other restaurant for one reason: to try the legendary green chile burger, the Green Chile Double. It is found at Whataburger locations in New Mexico but not in many other places. It is a double cheeseburger with green chiles. While researching for this blog post, I found out that Whataburger has come out with a green chile burger that includes bacon, but I don’t remember there being bacon on mine, so I think it really was the Green Chili Double. I first heard about it during my short stint as a Whataburger employee in 2018, but had not tried it until I was in Rowswell, New Mexico during this trip in June of 2024. So, after almost six years, I finally got to satisfy my curiosity. The burger is good just how it comes. Normally I add extra sauce to burgers, be it ketchup, mustard, mayo, or barbecue sauce, though this time I ate and enjoyed the burger just how it comes. The green chiles have a good yet subtle taste, which I didn’t want to overpower. The Green Chilie Double is very good, and I recommend you try it at least once. Is it the best burger I’ve ever had? No, though it is a unique and good experience.
While eating dinner in the motel room I started up a movie titled Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog. I’ve called it Far from Home for short. It seemed appropriate, because it is about a boy who survives in the wilderness with his dog, and here I was, on a journey with my dog. Unfortunately, it was already after nine o’clock, and I had a busy day the next day. So, I didn’t finish the movie that night.
The next morning I went to the UFO Museum. Roswell, New Mexico is famous for being near a possible UFO crash back in 1947 and for keeping the space-alien theme going. Early on in the Museum there were several interesting displays about the incident in 1947. After that there are displays more about UFOs in general. At one point, they were playing a clip from the show Ancient Aliens, and I got to watch and listen to David Hatcher Childress, the man who most inspired me to make a trip to New Mexico. I look around a little more, and then headed to the library portion of the museum. There were quite a few interesting books there, but I didn’t have time to read them. I took a picture of several that interested me, and then headed out. I checked on Peanut, checked out of the motel, and departed for Santa Fe.
The Journey to Santa Fe
The drive from Roswell to Santa Fe was quite scenic. I did not take the most direct route there. Instead, I made a few stops in Lincoln County, New Mexico on the way to Santa Fe.
The story of Billy the Kid has interested me. A range war took place in Lincoln in 1878. Billy the Kid fought one side. Today Lincoln New Mexico has a very small population. Some of the buildings still exist. Others don’t, such as the house that Billy and his allies took cover in during a shootout, and have since been replaced by other buildings. Publicly owned and privately owned buildings are interspersed with each other, so the accessibility of buildings varies. I walked up to the courthouse and a few other buildings. I think I visited a small museum there too. I learned a bit about the range war while walking around a reading signs. Lincoln was a neat place to check out.
I stopped by the Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico, but dogs aren’t allowed there so I didn’t go inside. That was okay. I continued on my journey.
Valley of Fires Recreation Area is a neat place in the western part of Lincoln County, off U.S. Highway 380. The Valley of Fires was created from lava flow thousands of years ago that has hardened into large black rocks as it cooled down. The place is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as a recreation area, and is basically a series of camp sites and a hiking trail. However it is very different from other camp site places, in that the scenery from the lava flow is quite unique. I drove around a bit, and walked around a bit in there too. It was very hot that afternoon, and Peanut was getting hot, so we didn’t walk real far. I still got some cool views though, and saw a giant black lava rock up close. I was a bit confused about the admission, because the visitor center was closed while I was there. As I was in the process of leaving, I found out that I was supposed to pay admission at a box at the front. Somehow I had missed the sign about it. I put five dollars or whatever it was into the box and then left. Next stop, Santa Fe.
Volcanic Rocks at the Valle of Fires
Santa Fe
The Adobe
I arrived at the adobe house in Sante Fe during the early evening, while there was still plenty of daylight. The adobe was actually one of several small adobe houses connected together in a small compound, in which they all shared a courtyard. There were at least three buildings in total. The owner’s house and my accomadation for the next two nights also shared a fenced-in entrance area that had a stone path and was decorated with stones and desert plants. I checked in with the owner. He was a pretty chill guy. I then went into my adobe.
The interior of the adobe had a rustic and southwestern style to it. There was a large wooden table with matching chairs, a small kitchen area, one king sized bed, a couch off to the side, a bathroom area, and a TV in a large cabinet set.
There was no air conditioning, instead windows could be open and there was some sort of machine in one of the cabinets that does something with water to cool the room down. There was a small, Native-American-style painting on a wall, and the bathroom sink looked like a stone basin with a vertical metal water pipe and spout off to the side.
The toilet room kind of looked like an outhouse, but indoors and with a toilet instead of just a hole in the ground. The bathroom area also included a shower. The floors of the adobe were hard, though with a few small mats. On the bed was a stuffed animal shaped like an Armadillo. That was a nice surprise!
The kitchen had a small refrigerator, an oven, a microwave, a sink, and a container of drinking water, along with a few pans, plates, glasses, and silverware. This place was simple, though decorated with a nice theme and it was sufficient for my stay.
I wanted to cook a nice meal for myself while in Santa Fe, so I went shopping at a nearby grocery store, which had a wide variety of grocery items. One thing that caught my eye were the purple sweet potatoes. I like sweet potatoes a lot, I also like the color purple, and I wanted to try them, so I got two purple sweet potatoes. For the main course, I decided to treat myself to grass-fed steak, because grass is healthy for cattle and I don’t think I had tried grass-fed steak before.
Upon arriving back at the adobe with my shopping trip complete, I took Peanut for a short walk and then cooked dinner. I baked the purple sweet potatoes in the oven and cooked one or both of the steaks in a pan on the stove. I also had some bread that I had either brought with me or bought at the store. I think there was olive oil and salt already in the kitchen, and I had a seasoning, likely ground rosemary, that I had either brought with me or that was already there.
The steak and sweet potato both tasted very good. I gave some steak to Peanut, along with some dog food.
Going to a Dog Park
The next morning I took Peanut to the nearby dog park. It was a nice place and the people were friendly. One guy that I especially remember talking to was a man named Bobby Lee Martinez. He told me that he is a pilot and has seen something that might have been a UFO. I thought that was interesting, and as a result became a little bit more interested in getting a pilot’s license someday, though it might be a long time before that. I got Mr. Martinez’s name because he told me that he wrote a book, and while fictional, some parts of it were based on events in his own life. The title of his book is NEAR MISS. I looked it up on Amazon real quick and added it to a list, with the intention of reading it someday. I talked to a few other people at the dog park, mainly about that I was from Texas and was still planning out the sequence of events for the day. I wanted to go to both Bandelier National Monument and Pecos Historical Park, however I was still not sure of which to go to first. I got the impression that Pecos Historical Park would be hotter in the afternoon than Bandelier, due to there being less shade, so I decided to go to Pecos first. Peanut and I went for a walk after leaving the dog park, and then I dropped him off at the adobe and headed to Pecos.
Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos National Historical Park is known for its ruins, both Native-American and those of a Catholic church. Within the park are the ruins of structures built long ago by Pueblo people. Specifically, the remains of stones, kivas, and a large wall are there. A Kiva is basically a man-made pit in the ground that has stone walls, and originally a roof. The roofs of many of the old kivas are long gone, though one has been reconstructed at Pecos.
Luckily I showed up about twenty minutes before a free tour was scheduled to start. I had not checked the schedule before hand, and there are only a few tours per day, so I was very fortunate. There is a small museum at Pecos, and I had time to check it out. The museum contained artwork, artifacts, and displays of information about the history of the area. One thing that especially caught my eye was a large bowl with what appeared to be a swastika painted on it. The swastika is a very ancient symbol that has been used by various cultures throughout the world, especially in India, other parts of Asia, and various Native American tribes. In general it means something along the lines of “good fortune”. Since Asia and America are so far apart, perhaps the Native Americans’ use of the swastika is evidence of pre-columbian voyages to America, something that I was on the look out for during this trip.
I showed up to meeting place with a few minutes to spare, despite having looked at many things in the museum. About fifteen people were on the tour, which was lead by a pretty female park ranger. Early on in the tour we got to see some good views of the natural scenery. Then we saw various Pueblo ruins, including a somewhat distant view of what was once a large wall. The ruins of homes had been reduced to some stone-masonry squares or rectangles on the ground, showing where the walls of houses and other buildings once were. Traditional adobe buildings have to be maintained overtime, or else they eventually get reduced to their stone foundations. A highlight of the tour was getting to go inside of a kiva. Kivas were used for ceremonies among other things. The park service has rebuilt and maintains a kiva at Pecos with a rebuilt roof and ladder. One by one we got to climb down into the kiva. It was much cooler inside the kiva than outside, but not cold. It was a neat experience.
The tour then ended at the remains of what was a Catholic church. The ruins of the church are now without a roof and with only three walls instead of the original four. A maintenance or construction team was performing serious maintenance on one of the three walls while I was there. After the tour I walked around a bit on my own, exploring the place and getting additional views of the Pueblo ruins. I then went back to the visitor center.
I had heard something about there being a civil war battle field in the area, and asked a male park ranger if that was in the park. He told me no, although it is nearby. He then gave me specific information about where it was. I also briefly talked to the female park ranger who gave the tour, and she told me that park rangers get to state preferences before they are assigned, and Pecos was one of the places she wanted to go. I bought some sort of snack to enjoy later, and then headed back to the adobe house to see Peanut and eat lunch. On the way there I stopped by a roadside marker about the civil war battlefield that the park ranger had mentioned, and then continued on my way.
I checked on Peanut, ate a quick lunch with him, and then drove to Bandelier National Monument.
Bandelier National Monument
Bandelier National Monument is famous for its cliff dwellings and is kind of like a very small national park. Despite me calling it small, it is still a large place; its land area is over 33,000 acres. However, some places that are national parks as opposed to monuments have a land area of over a million acres. In addition to the cliff dwellings, there are also petroglyphs and structures made by indigenous people long ago.
I parked near the visitor center and then looked for a hiking trail. Near the center is a sign for the “Pueblo Loop Trail”, which when including the optional extension trail, is a short yet sufficient hike for seeing the main sights at Bandelier. The trail by itself is only 1.4 miles, but about midway through you can add about a mile to it by going on the “Alcove House” trail. That’s what I did, and I recommend it. This particular hike shows you many of the top highlights of Bandelier. Because there isn’t much elevation change and the total distance is less than two miles, it is an easy hike that worked well for me, since I was only spending a few hours there.
I got to see some neat things while on the hike. I saw more kivas, most if not all of which didn’t have a roof anymore, and the petroglyphs, which are basically carvings into the cliff. They might have been a bit faded, and I don’t know the meaning of the individual petrolglyphs there, but they were nice to see. The scenery was nice to see as well. However there were two things that I also especially enjoyed seeing.
The first of two cliff dwellings that I went inside of
The first of my two favorite things to see at Bandelier were the cliff dwellings, and what made these one of my favorites was that I got to go inside of two of them. The first was near the beginning of the hike and was smaller than the second, though it also consisted of multiple rooms. Nevertheless it was neat to go inside of it. The second was perhaps the highlight of my time at Bandelier. This dwelling consisted of multiple rooms and I could comfortable stand up in a large part of it. Accessing this cliff dwelling involved going up quite a trail, some stairs, and then a wooden ladder. It was relatively high up and I had a nice view of the landscape from inside.
The second thing that I especially enjoyed seeing were the Albert’s squirrels. Albert’s squirrels are a species of squirrel whose native area includes Bandelier National Monument. They are gray in color and are known for their unique-looking ears, which can be described as tufted or tasseled. These squirrels are often found near ponderosa pine trees. I saw a few of these squirrels while on the hike.
I managed to finish the hike and get to the gift shop before it closed for the day. I got a fridge magnet that had a picture of an Albert’s squirrel on it. Fridge magnets can be good souvenirs because they take up little space and are generally inexpensive. This magnet captured the essence of my time at Bandelier with its squirrel pic. Satisfied with my time at Bandelier, I went back to Santa Fe.
Sight seeing in Santa Fe
Peanut was excited to see me when I got back and was in for a neat walk. The Cross of the Martyrs is a large white metal cross on a hill overlooking much of Sante Fe. I drove with Peanut to a park nearby the cross and let him sniff around a bit. Then I carried him up the hill to the cross.
The view from the top of the hill was fantastic and the cross was neat. I met a man from New Zealand and his wife. They offered to take pictures of me and Peanut, and the pictures turned out great. One of them is below. We chatted a bit and then went our separate ways. I enjoyed the view a bit more, then Peanut and I walked down the hill and back to my car.
Peanut and I went for a long walk the next morning in Sante Fe. We saw quite a few cool sculptures plus a cathedral that was built in the 19th century.
Aftwerwards I packed up and we departed for Tucumcari.
Tucumcari
Tucumcari is a great place to stop while on your way from Santa Fe to Texas. There are multiple museums in Tucumcari, with my favorite being the dinosaur musuem. I checked into a hotel, dropped off Peanut, and headed over to the dinosaur musuem.
Mesalands Community College’s Dinosaur Museum and Natural History Laboratory is a neat place. There is a lot to look at. The exhibits include fluorescent minerals, bronze replicas of dinosaur fossils, casts of dinosaur footprints, bronze replicas of other fossils, and artwork. The real fossils are stored somewhere else, not on display, but the bronze replicas look very realistic. There is also a window through which you can watch paleontology professors and students work on fossils. I 100% recommend that you go to the dinosaur museum while in Tucumcari. Shown below are some of the pictures I took there.
Next I went to the Tucumcari Historical Museum. The museum had a military aircraft in its yard and a few interesting things inside to look at. I wouldn’t go all the way to Tucumcari just to see this museum, but the museum is definitely worth visiting if you are going to be in Tucumcari anyway and haven’t been to it before.
For some reason I stopped in an Alsup’s store on the way back to the hotel. I decided to get an Alsup’s burrito, which I had heard are good. There were two flavors of them, and I saw them put new ones into the case while I was there. I went up to the counter and ordered one. The woman working started reaching to give me one of the old ones, but I quickly yet politely asked for a fresh one as I pointed towards them. Thankfully she complied. I only took a few bites of the burrito that late afternoon, because I wanted to taste it while it was still warm. I then saved the rest for dinner later. The burrito tasted good. It is not the best tasting thing in the world, but it is worth trying if convenient.
I picked up Peanut and headed to Ute Lake State Park. I was hoping to do some easy hiking there and see cool views. It was further away than I thought. Also I drove extra because the first entrance I went to seemed kind of lame, so I drove partially around the lake to another entrance, which the maps posted in the park indicated had more amenities. However, this other entrance was not much better for me and Peanut. We got out and walked a bit, but it was very hot outside. I carried Peanut in order to go a little further, but after getting a view of the lake I turned around and we left. Ute Lake State Park might be fun if you have a boat, but it is not worth the trip if you are just wanting to hike around for a bit.
Thankfully I found a city park while on the way back to the hotel. Plus it was about sunset time that day, so the weather wasn’t so hot anymore. Peanut and I had a short and sweet walk through the park.
The main reason I chose the hotel that I did over the others in Tucumcari, is that it has an indoor swimming pool. Although I got back a little later than expected, I still swam in the pool for a little bit before dinner. The water was a tad chilly, though I toughed it out. I swam a few laps and then headed back to the room.
I ate dinner with Peanut in my hotel room and watched the rest of Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog. The movie is good. It is not my favorite movie, though it is worth watching at least once. Aftwerwards I briefly took Peanut outside, then I got ready for and went to bed.
The next morning I at breakfast at the hotel, which had a complimentary breakfast buffet. I usually don’t eat breakfast, however, I like to treat myself to breakfast when on vacation if it is complimentary. I then returned to the room, finished packing, and headed out with Peanut, back to Texas.
The End of the Trip
I had brought a Nintendo Switch and the game Super Mario Odyssey with me, though I never played it on the trip. I was pretty busy during the trip, exemplified by the I only watched one movie over the course of several days, during the evenings for short periods. The trip was so much fun and with such a tight schedule that videogames weren’t necessary.
I stopped by a ghost town called Cuervo. I think I made this stop as a brief detour after leaving Tucumcari to head back to Texas. It is unlike what I typically think of as a ghost town, because the houses and other buildings there look like they were built in the 20th century as opposed to the 19th, and it is directly off a highway, as opposed to being in some very remote area. Right after exiting Highway 40 there is an area where some trucks and drivers park in order for drivers to take a quick break. Then further there are some very dilapidated houses and what appears to be an abandoned gas station or mechanic’s shop. There is also an old church. I saw quite a few no-trespassing signs, plus I got a creepy vibe from Cuervo in general, so I did not spend much time there. I continued on to Texas.
After a lot of driving I made it back to Allen, Texas. My trip was done. However, I was in the process of moving and had to be out of my apartment the next day, so Allen wasn’t really my home anymore. I did move out in time.
Conclusion
New Mexico is a great state and I strongly recommend visiting it. I did a lot in those five days, and although I found little to no evidence of pre-Columbian voyages to America, at least in part because I mainly visited common attractions and didn’t go off trail, I had a great trip. Plus I got to spend a lot of time with Peanut. I’d like to travel to New Mexico again someday.