Socorro, NM - Brownfield, TX

Near Corrizizo the everlovin' saw a tarantula crossing the road! I missed it, but by the time I had dithered about whether we should turn around or not, we had driven several miles. So I left him with strict instructions to stop if he saw another. I really didn't think we would see another, and still wasn't really sure if I wanted to see one or not.

The time came though, when another monster arachnid leisurely crosssed our path. We stopped and watched this fear inducing creature as it .... relaxed? Watched us? Who knows what goes through a tarantula brin. It was fascinating, far different to any of the large Australian spiders we are used to. (LOL, 'used to' is not a phrase that is accurate for a person who is in turn fascinated and terrified of large spiders).

Three more tarantulas crossed the road in front of us within about 10 miles. It's a strange thing to see a spider so large you can see it crossing the road when you're doing 120 km/h down the highway. Other game watching activities included seeing two foxes playing in the middle of the road and 2 dead skunks.

A cashier at the service station when we fueled up in Capitan wasn't as excited about the tarantula migration as I was, but did tell me that they did come out onto the road on warm days and that she catches them to put into her garden. I forgot to ask her if she caught them by lassoo or if a group of cowboys had to herd them to the garden.

I thought there was a cowboy festival in Lincoln, but Lincoln is a tiny town living in it's violent past. Once considered to be the most violent place in America, this is where Billy the Kid and the Regulators raised havoc. Now it's a sleepy town with the orginal adobe buildings that house about 7 museums. We wondered around, mostly excited because we got to pat a random cat, and the everlovin' embarressed us terribly when he accidently knocked a giant bull skull off a gift shop wall while trying on giant western hats.

We were in Roswell, for only one purpose - the New Mexico state fair. Of course that wasn't why we were there, we were huntin' aliens. Hint: There weren't any at the International UFO centre. It was an interesting diversion, but it didn't have anything new or particularly interesting. Surely there have been some developments in UFO sightings/conspiracies in the last 50 years?

Crossing into Texas, we finally stopped in Brownfield. A quiet Saturday night was evident as most places looked closed at 8pm. Our choices outside franchised fast looked to be Hong Kong Buffet or Savannah Mexican. We chose Mexican, and as we walked to our table the everlovin' whispered 'Do you ever get that stared at feeling?' Clearly there aren't a lot of tourists in Brownfield. The young waitress looked confused and frightened when I said I didn't eat meat, and what could she recommend. When I suggested putting beans in an enchilada she said nervously 'I don't think we've ever done that'. Eventually, I got a big plate of an enchilada with beans, a taco with beans, with beans on the side. Go Beans!