roma 23 – The Adventures of Mike and Cindy

This post is about the first half of our return to St. Joseph, Missouri via New Mexico.

On February 3rd, Cindy and I packed up and headed off to our house in St. Joseph, Missouri. In the past, we have made this trip via Highway 40, and we do it in two very long driving days. Then in cartoon like fashion, we both had lightbulbs appear above our heads. What is the hurry? Why not enjoy the drive? And that was when we decided to slow down and enjoy the drives every time we are able to. This was one of those drives. Because it was early February, the weather can be unpredictable on Highway 40 in the area around Flagstaff. We decided to take the southern route along Highway 10 for part of the trip. We drove to Tolleson, Arizona the first night and spent the night there. We ate at Roma 23 and it was delicious. We had a charcutier board and flatbread pizza.

Roma 23 was good enough to earn a link. If you are passing through or near Tolleson, Arizona, use the link to get yourself some delicious grub. The next day we continued on to Las Cruces, New Mexico. On the way, we (by we I mean me) finally got to stop at the home of “The Thing,” just outside of Benson, Arizona. If you have driven on Highway 10 from Arizona to Texas, you must have seen the numerous roadside signs advertising “The Thing.” For years I have seen the signs and have not been able to stop to find out exactly what it was. Here is one of the signs.

This year I was not going to be denied. We stopped at the attraction and I was excited. Cindy was not but went along anyway.

Inside the store were some interesting displays.

But I was there to see The Thing. I was hoping this was going to be the hokiest crazy display I had ever seen. Cindy and I paid our $10 ($5 a piece), and headed in. The start of the tour did not disappoint when they proposed that space aliens may have battled and controlled the dinosaurs on earth.

Now this is what I was hoping for. The tour continued with the belief that all of human history was a lie, and space aliens have actually controlled everything.

To this point, the tour was great. It was very corny and ridiculous. All that was left was to see the actual “Thing.”

When the tour climax arrived, it was very much a disappointment. I expected to see a badly made alien, or a yeti, or even a jackalope. Instead, there was an object that appeared to be real and something you could see at any number of museums throughout the country. So, what was it? You’re going to have to go there and pay the $5 to see for yourself. Use the link at the end of this post if you dare. We made it safely to Las Cruces and got a good night’s sleep. The next day we drove to White Sands National Park near Alamogordo.

After we visited the Visitor Center, we saw a cyber truck towing a trailer. That was something new to us.

Here are a few pictures of the view from the Visitor Center.

Our first stop in the park was a one mile walk on the Dune Life Nature Trail.

After our walk, we drove around the rest of the park. As you can imagine, there is a lot of white sand.

You can see the whole park in less than four hours, and it is well worth the stop. Use the link at the end of this post to plan your stop. From the park, we drove to Alamogordo to McGinn’s Pistachioland. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for the world’s largest anything, so I had to see the world’s largest pistachio.