I came prepared. Prepared to see the odd. Prepared to witness the strange.
I was told of people walking around in alien suits and businesses up and down Main Street abusing the UFO and little green men angle to make money.
Driving north on Highway 285, I will admit that my mind started to drift into another world. There are long stretches of nothingness to where you see nobody. Just miles of road in front of and behind you, southwestern terrain to your left and your right, and wide open sky.
As the sun started to drop and I found myself all alone, I thought that it was just a matter of time before the beam of light engulfed my car and I am transported aboard a spacecraft for experimental purposes. Well, I wasn’t kidnapped and made it to Roswell unharmed.
The city itself is rather non-descript. There are no aliens walking around (although the street lamps are in the shape of alien heads) and to my surprise, not many businesses use the UFO line – only a handful. I am, actually, writing this at the Not of This World Internet Café and across the street there is a gift shop that displays inflatable visitors from another planet.
There is the big UFO Research Center and a couple other attractions that go along that line (a possible UFO Theme Park is in the works) but you are not engulfed in the mania.
Roswell, it seemed to me, was just another town. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be much here to work off of as far as a workout. But I was determined to get past my bad experience from the previous day and at 7:30 this morning set out to find a high school track. What I found was much better than I could have ever imagined.
A mile and a half jog down the street from my hotel, I came across a sports complex situated across from the New Mexico Military Institute. There are a series of softball fields, a baseball field, football stadium with Tartan track called the Wool Bowl, and the NMMI obstacle course. Doesn’t sound that special? Well, in the middle of all that was a mammoth crushed rock oval that is about 25 feet wide and a half mile long, I was told. I have no reason to disbelieve them, it was huge! All it needed was banked turns and a pit area and you could go racing!
It was the perfect place to do my 6.5 mile form-running workout. I was in heaven and was about to reach a runner’s high!
With the core of my workout completed, I looked for a good cool down route. What I came across was the 5 mile long Spring Creek Rec Trail. A paved trail that runs from one end of town, at the Spring Creek Park and Zoo, along Spring Creek (which is pretty much a water run-off trench), to the other side of town at Enchanted Lands Park. Along the way, you pass through a couple small parks, the Kenneth Smith Bird & Nature Center, and Spring River Golf Course.
Some of the trail is wide open and not shaded by pines, but in all, was a nice cool-down route. By the time I got back to my hotel, an hour and 55 minutes had expired. It was a good thing it ended when it did – the sun and heat was starting to get to me.
The people I met along the trail and on the track were awesome. In fact, everyone in Roswell has been great! Drivers yielded and got out of the way of my path. Walkers, runners, and bikers said hello, good morning, and smiled. Everyone, including a Roswell police officer, was very willing to give directions. Nobody yelled from their car or honked. This is how it should be everywhere! Wake up, Austin!
I hate to leave Roswell, today. Another day of running here would have been great! But my mission continues and I need to hit the road, again. The next destination is a place where New Age beliefs thrive and Native Americans hold sacred – Sedona, Ariz.
Peace
Notes from the road:
1) It took WAY too long to get out of Texas. The western side is beautiful, but gas stations and towns are too few and far between.
2) Was worried for myself for a short while in New Mexico. Then I realized that it wasn’t just me – apparently, there are a lot of natural gas resources in this state. Kinda stinky.
Road song of the day: “Just Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Vassar