Roswell, NM

We drove until very late to get to the Roswell, New Mexico Motel 6. It is SO dark there at night you can see a little town coming for miles and miles by the dim light it throws up. Living in 24-hour lit-up LA for so long, I rarely experienced actual night. The pavement edges of route 285 were the limit of our world, but up above, through the windshield I could observe the stars' movement (or rather the earth's).

I started feeling random waves of anxiety in the car. Worry about things I forgot to do. Fear that we were making a huge mistake. Residual stress I think. A slow unwinding was occuring. The huge trucks zooming by didn't help. A hot shower and bed at the motel were good medicine.

Roswell is the home of Area 51, the supposed crash landing site of a UFO in the 1950s. A cottage industry of UFO souvenirs and conventions has grown up here and it adds a wacky touch to a quiet little desert town. When we woke up we had "Out of this World" coffee, and went to the UFO museum.