After the Mass we checked out, then visited the "Coming King Sculpture" Site to view the hollow cross and the parts of the sculpture garden that are already completed.

We left Kerrville around 11:30 for our 7 hour drive to Roswell, New Mexico. We checked in to the Baymont Inn & Suites by Wyndham on the Main Street of Roswell.

Monday, Jul 25^th:

Today we visited the Roswell International UFO Museum and Research Center. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I did a few years ago. The displays changed a lot since then. Marilou got her picture taken near statue likenesses of Aliens. Displays indicate numerous images of prior UFO sightings and even some ancient carvings that seem to depict alien space ships.

After that we walked around looking for the Roswell UFO Spacewalk, but different sources listed differing locations and we gave up looking for it and went back to the hotel. I wanted to rest up for tomorrow's trip.

Tuesday, Jul 26^th:

Today was the reason for our trip to New Mexico, Marilou wanted to see the miracle staircase of the Loretto Chapel. Santa Fe is a 3.5 hour drive from Roswell, as we entered Santa Fe I encountered a man who ran out of gas and was able to help him out. I filled a 2.5 gallon can with gas at a station about 10 miles down the road and returned it to him. We then continued our trip to Loretto Chapel. I only took a few pictures because this was my third trip there. I'm not sure I took a photo of the peg holes for the pegs St. Joseph used instead of nails.

Leaving Loretto we traveled to El Santuario de Chimayo. The Google Maps App took us all over the place before we finally found the place. Again, I didn't take a lot of photos since I've been here twice before.

Wednesday, Jul 27^th:

The primary purpose of today's trip was to visit the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, but when we arrived there, it was closed for the day. Fortunately, I had added two other stops in the area so the 2 hour drive wasn't for naught. Our first stop was at McGinns PistachioLand. They have grape vines and sell wine in addition to the pistachio orchard. We bought some various flavored nuts and had some pistachio ice cream.

Our next stop was at the White Sands National Monument. I didn't have my National Seniors Pass with me, but he let me enter for free anyway. We drove around looking at the "snowy" drifts and stopped at the picnic area to eat the lunch we brought with us.

Thursday, Jul 28^th:

For today I planned a short trip to the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in anticipation of a long trip tomorrow. We followed the auto tour loop in the car, stopping at the overlooks and hiking the Desert Upland Trail, at the Oxbow Loop we took the side to the Pecos River Trail. Views not that outstanding, but ok. Saw various birds but not as many as I expected. At the visitor center did the butterfly trail. For lunch we ate at the Pasta Cafe Italiano Bistro. I had the Eggplant Parmesan, Marilou the Pasta de Mare. Service was a little slow, but the food was good.

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