After leaving Tombstone, we traveled to Fort Sumner. It's an all day drive from Tombstone and we didn't really have time to do much sight seeing on the way. We arrived in Fort Sumner in the early evening after a pretty hard day of driving. Along the way, we went through White Sands, a place that I would like to explore a little more thoroughly. Now, some of you may ask, why in the WORLD would you want to go to FORT SUMNER!? I'm glad you ask that question. Number 1, we had never been to Fort Sumner before. For Sandy and I, that alone is enough of a reason to drive 500 miles. Second, there is a really great Billy the Kid museum in the town. And third, maybe most important, Billy the Kid's grave is just outside of town. Also, the historic spot where he was killed by Pat Garrett is still there, more or less, having been washed away by the Pecos river during flood conditions.
The Billy the Kid museum is located right smack dab in the middle of town and has been family run for decades. http://www.billythekidmuseumfortsumner.com/ The current owner (son of the original owner) is a retired railroad worker and is a joy to sit and chat with. There are numerous artifacts to be found in this museum, many of which have to do directly with Billy the Kid. The showpiece of this exhibit is Billy's Winchester rifle. Being a firearms nut, I really appreciated seeing the Winchester that he wielded so deftly during his short carreer. The museum also has a small "RV Park". As such, it's really just a parking lot, but it does boast full hookups. Our first night there was over 90 degrees and we had thunderstorms!! Great place to visit, but don't even look for a place in town to get a decent meal. Take your food with you and cook for yourself. It's safer for your tummy and much tastier.
This is a shot of Boldlygo at a rest stop along interstate 10 on the way from Tombstone to Fort Sumner:
On the road again!!
The lovely missus standing next to Old Fort Sumner museum. The Kid's grave is behind this building.
Below is Sandy standing next to Billy's grave. Notice the cage built around the grave. The headstone has been stolen at least twice. The last time it was stolen, it was missing for quite a few years and eventually recovered in Huntington Beach, California. They wanted to make sure that it stayed put this time, so they built a 'jail' around it. Seems appropriate to me . . .
Here's Sandy overlooking the Pecos river. If you notice in the foreground, there is a plaque in the ground. This is the spot where William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid was killed by Pat Garrett. Billy was inside of a ranch house that has long ago been washed away by the flooded Pecos.
Of course, no trip to New Mexico would be complete without a trip to Roswell, the alien capitol of the world. According to their story, an alien space craft crashed there in the 1950's and the bodies of the aliens are kept in area 51 or some such crap. No, I don't believe any of it, but it does make for an entertaining story and a fun town to visit. The whole town seems to get into the spirit of the alien theme. Even the WalMart store has a picture of an alien on the wall out front:
Here's the UFO museum. It was amusing at least.
There is an old home in town that has been turned into a museum also. It actually was the highlight of the visit to Roswell. I believe that it was called the White-something or other house. Sandy could tell you more, as this is really her type of thing. Here's a couple of pictures:
I included this last picture because Sandy loves old stoves. If she had her way, I think she would dump our beautiful 3 year old range and put one of these 100 year old clunkers in it's place!!Time to go home now. We headed off on Thursday morning and spent the night at the halfway spot, Flagstaff, Arizona. What a beautiful town! We stayed at the KOA, just a little ways off of interstate 40. Up the next morning early and we headed off on the last leg of the trip home. Of course, we had to find a place to stop and have an Indian taco. If the reader is ever in Arizona, you MUST stop for one of these things. No, they're not that good . . . but they are unique and you won't know what you're missing until you have one!!
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