yeeee-haw Texas ya'll

Texas! But first, starting from Roswell because I havent updated in a few days. I'd like to thank random motels advertising free wi-fi, then inform me that its down after I've already paid. GRR! Moving on...

I didnt spend too much time in Roswell, but the time that I did have I spent at the Roswell UFO Museum. What a cool place it was, full of old newspapers lined up on the wall telling you the timeline of the 'incident' and all the fallout from it. Very cool, and lots of reproductions of artifacts and printed interviews to help with the story. Also on the walls are loads of the classic military releases that are mostly blacked out. I especialy liked this 'reproduction'

If (When) the "greys" finally make their presence fully known, I wonder what they'd think if they saw something like this. I'm not saying "ooo thats bad and disrespectful" or anything, just wondering. Do they have museums with scenes like this, except with people getting probed? I'd like to ASSume so. *rimshot*

After Roswell, it was time to head south onward to Carlsbad Caverns. Just gorgeous scenery on the way there:

Amazing right? All that nothing! What a boring ride it was until the exit to Carlsbad Caverns. The road changed from a flat straightaway to a winding twisty road going between hills and cliffs. Once you get to the caverns, its time to head underground. The elevator to the caverns was cool as its full of windows and they turn the lights off as you're descending so you can see the rock walls fly by as you descend 750 feet in 1 minute. Thats not really that fast, but when the rock wall is 1 foot from your face, you feel the speed. Once inside, the place really opens up to a whole new world. The pictures didnt come out too great, but heres the best one:

Its almost impossible to express the enormity and expanse of the caverns. If anybody has played The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, or any dungeon crawler game for that matter, thats what it was like. I kept wanting to hear some ghouls or something moving around in the darkness, but all I heard was people lightly talking. FYI the "bottomless pit" in the caverns isnt bottomless at all, its 140 feet, but back in the day when they were naming stuff, I would have called it bottomless as well.

A ways down the road, and here we are

and completey surrounded by this:

Miles upon miles of this landscape to look at. West Texas at its finest I guess. I knew that Texas was big, and my next destinatin was San Antonio, so to help make miles and time, I hopped on the I-10 and boringly rode it out. The speed limit was 80, and if you ride a Ural you're probably chuckling right now. I cruised along at 55-60mph and had no problems with traffic. The only problem I had was with fighting the wind, which was nothing like the road to Flagstaff Arizona, but it was still pretty mean.

I stayed at a motel for a night with a bunch of firefighters from all across the country. Drought has caused the entire big ass area very prone to fires, and there quite a few of them. Apparently, Texas doesnt really have a state run fire department to deal with it, so firefighters make the annual trip to Texas and help out. The state then manages them while they're here. People from Washington, Oregon, even New Jersey were showing up to lend a hand. Seeing the effects of drought firsthand from New Mexico to here, and then watching all the tornadoes and flooding on television, really makes the mind think about things.

Eventually, the scenery changed as I entered Eastern Texas:

Greenery! Soon enough I was in San Antonio, and of course I couldnt forget the Alamo!

Lots of history here, and a very nice museum to tell the story on the inside. While looking at the list of names of those who died at the Alamo, I found this:

3rd one down on the right, William Mills! Am I related to that guy? I have no idea, but I'll go ahead and say yes, at least to my self. I even picked up an "alamo ranger deputy" badge/star from the gift shop.

Onward to Houston, and more battling with the wind. Houston isnt too far away from San Antonio, but I coudlnt take much more beating from the wind. I called it a night and decided to arrive at my friend Lee's house the next day, which is exactly what happened. I remember Lee telling me about home cookin', and once I arrived the meal was absolutely fantastic. Crawfish etouffee to die for, also the best picture Lee has ever had taken of him

So ends another leg of the journey, the Desert Leg is done. Freya valiantly carried me across what I thought would be the most difficult part of the trip. In some ways it was, but the bad pales in comparison to the good. Freya had no mechanical issues, no problems, just pushing me all across the land from the barren wastes to the Texas hills.

Now a confession. Freya was still covered in the light tan dust from the Las Cruces area of New Mexico, and today I did the almost unthinkable. If you ride a Ural, you might not appreciate this, but I.... washed my Ural... really scrubbed her down and got all the desert dust and road grime off her. After the wash, I pretty much bathed her in WD-40 and I'm not entirely sure why, but there are some rusty spots and WD-40 cant hurt anything.

Now the Iron Swan is all shiny, and tommorow its the usual full inspection after a completed leg of the journey. I'm just under 7500km, which means I've put 7000km on her during this trip. The Avon tires look almost untouched btw. Freya is sitting in the garage right now, no doubt as anxious as I am to get back on teh road and get dirty again. Rest well sweet lady.