On June 7, my daughter, Jacquie, flew from Wisconsin to California to visit
with us for a few days and to ride back with us in our motorhome. On the morning of Friday, June 11, 2004, we embarked on
our five-week journey!
Roswell, New Mexico
Our first sightseeing stop was the International UFO Museum
and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico. The primary focus of the museum is to inform the public about what has come to
be know as "The Roswell Incident" in 1947. (If you are unfamiliar with this story, another good source is the 1994 movie "Roswell," starring Martin Sheen.)
The museum is fun and interesting; it contains copies of all the newspaper articles about the crash and numerous signed affidavits
of people who were involved with the aftermath in various ways, as well as a myriad of other UFO-related things.
| Int'l UFO Museum & Research Center, Roswell, NM |
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| The Big Texan, Amarillo, Texas |
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| Click to enlarge |
Amarillo, Texas
Our next stop-over was Amarillo, Texas; Fred was looking forward
to eating dinner at the well-known restaurant, The Big Texan. They offer a free 72-ounce steak if it's eaten within one hour. Needless to say, neither of us ordered that, but it is a
fun restaurant where a trio of wandering musician/singers entertain diners. The restaurant also offered door-to-door limousine
service that we took advantage of—quite nice!
| The Gateway Arch sign, St. Louis, MO |
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| Click to enlarge |
St. Louis, Missouri
Our next sightseeing stop was The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. The
complete and correct title is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which consists of The Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and
St. Louis' Old Courthouse.
Below the arch is the Museum of Westward Expansion, which houses a large
collection of artifacts, animal specimens, authentic American Indian tipi, and an overview of the Lewis and Clark expedition
that began in St. Louis on the Missouri River.
We saw two movies there: "Monument To The Dream" that documents the
construction of the arch. The second movie, "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West," was shown in their Odyssey Theater
with a four-story-high screen and THX sound. It made you feel like you were right there!
| The Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO |
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| Click to enlarge |
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