18 hot air balloons took off this morning in the tiny town of Artesia. Pretty cool. It was a bright, still morning so they could take their time and were fun to watch. Then the local bluegrass bands started in on the downtown square along with crafts and yummy local baked goods. We tried brownies and apple/pecan bread. Both lived up to our high hopes. It was a fun morning.

Desolate, rock strewn, dotted with scrub brush and yucca. The only surface water is what they dam and manage or pull from artesian wells and sell. Wow is southeastern New Mexico bleak; and, as if Mother Nature didn’t deal it a mean enough blow, man mistreated it too. The lake here at the State Park near Artesia is so contaminated with DDT that there are warnings not to eat the fish. This broad valley/canyon, the Indian Basin is riddled with 28,000 oil wells and the associated tanks and pipelines and power distribution. Whole areas are posted as “danger, poisonous gas” because of ongoing and unpredictable H2S releases from the wells and storage.
Amazingly though, far into the canyon we found the artesian stream that is responsible for creating it. It bubbles up through the rock atop the mesa in a bed of high green grass then falls 150 feet to cool, cascading pools. Within a mile, it all disappears back into the ground. It is a beautiful oasis all the prettier in such as unexpected place

Three roadrunners just around camp. Gangly looking black tailed jack rabbits too.

They winter here. It is amazing. We saw them come back to the lake in waves. Seemingly endless clouds of them moving across the skyline. There were more types of ducks than I could possibly identify plus egrets, geese of several types and lots of other shore birds. The coolest was an American bittern. It is so wonderfully camouflaged it can hide in plain sight. There were great horned owls on the cliffs by camp. We heard them long before we saw them. Bitter Lake Wildlife Preserve and Bottomless Lake State park are both great in the fall for bird watchers.

Evidence. Testimonials. Actual pieces of the craft that then mysteriously disappeared. They have a huge collection from both sides of the argument. Believers who are positive there was an alien ship and government reports that spend a lot of energy trying to prove there was not. An argument not likely to ever actually be resolved. Fun to mull over. There is actually a documentary about the landing on the local TV channel this Thursday.

Skipped the Alien Ale but found some more NM wines worth trying.
A Chavez County Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blend and a smooth Chardonnay. Nice.

South on 285, cactus anyone? The occasional pronghorn antelope else it’s pretty uninteresting. A bizarre sculpture at the Mesa rest area, that and a “watch for rattlesnakes” sign. Wonderful. Huh? Arrive at Roswell, the stop for tonight is Bottomless Lake State Park campground. Tomorrow we check into the alien story here.

No yelling. Nothing significant broken. The Miata stayed on dry land. That’s success.
It was fun getting out in the boat again. The wind was cold so we didn’t stay out long. Cruised up river a ways in search of eagle or other raptors. No luck with that but did see herons. Nice afternoon.