…what the fuck, Chuck?
CritterCon #19
Trip Day Three
In which we travel a familiar route, see desert artwork, eat ice cream with aliens, watch flying saucer races, see a cool Giant Not-Jesus, visit the original con site, and help another family in need.
(Note: Various commentary by those other than me is in italics.)
The wheel spin this morning has us driving from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Abilene, Texas via a northeasterly, then southeasterly route. The year is 1972, the year I and several friends graduated from high school.
We departed Las Cruces, which is The Crosses in English, at 8:oo am. Our trip was listed as about 8.5 hours and 533 miles. We’ve driven parts of this same route before, though not all together or in the same decade.
The High Points
Desert Art By The Side of The Road
Just near the edge of the actual sands of White Sands National Park, and almost to Holloman Air Force Base, some group of artists decided to put up murals, sculptures, and other artwork for all to see. It goes on for about a mile, so we pulled over and took a walk to check it out.
The art pieces ranged from simple paintings of desert flora and fauna, to Native American artwork (the Mescalero Reservation is nearby) to some unusual modern art. This being 1972 and very near a military base, there was wisely nothing very political in nature. We stayed for about 90 minutes and took tons of pics.
Grace: There were some very well done pieces. The mural depicting Apache life before the Europeans arrived was particularly good.
Honey: I really liked the art and I love the desert, even if we all did probably get irradiated.
Ice Cream With Aliens
In Ruidoso, we stopped in at “Happy Ice Cream”, the local ice cream shop that opened up just after WWII. The proprietors, Harold and June Cisco, are old friends. Like, since 1885, when Grace and I first met them in New York. Although they look human, they are actually Giskilyan’s from a system about 300 light years away. They are here until 2085 to monitor humans for GalSec. But to make ends meet and support themselves, they sell some delicious ice cream.
We couldn’t stay too long, but we did pose for a group photo that will go up on the shop walls with hundreds of others. The pic is still there, though quite faded, in 2026. We also bought a bumper sticker.
UFO Races In Roswell
By 1972, Roswell was starting to lean into the whole alien crash thing, and when we arrived at noon (due to driving at excessive speed while cloaked), it was just in time for the First Annual UFO Race.
The route takes racers around downtown Roswell, about 2 miles total. All UFOs must be pedal powered and driven by one person. First UFO across the finish line wins $50.00 cash and $50.00 in free groceries at the local market. Fifty bucks at the store in 1972 would buy a lot of food.
Avis: Probably a weeks worth for a family of 4 or 5.
There were 24 UFOs, ranging from tricycles to bikes to pedal cars to one guy on a unicycle. At 12:30, the gun was fired and they were off. There were three crashes in the first 200 feet, but they got up and kept going. More crashes took place, and the race looked pretty tight until the started down Main Street toward the finish line.
The winner was a guy on a bike whouse saucer looked more like a flattened missile. Second place was Unicycle Guy, driving a Starship Enterprise. Third place was a teenaged on a big tricycle that looked like a Martian Tripod.
Gabe: The guy on the unicycle had about 10 close calls, but never wrecked. I’ll bet his ass was sore.
We bought t-shirts and bumper stickers, then headed out.
Talk About Big Oil
Just outside Denver City, Texas, we saw a 50 foot tall fiberglass statue of an oil well worker. It was unexpected, so we stopped to look and get pix. It was pretty well done and realistic, right down to the oil stains on his hands and clothes. He had a big smile on his face.
I found out later that the entire statue was stolen in 1980 and has never been found. My guess is it’s either in a private collection or got reskinned and used by some business in another state.
Checking Out The OG Site
Our route took us very near Critter City (originally Wilted Springs), Texas, original home of CritterCon (originally Dog/Cat Con) for the first 17 years. We all decided a visit was in order, so we drove the 20 miles there. We popped back to 2026 to do it.
To be honest, Critter City doesn’t look much different, except for some of the restaurants and shops now being above ground. The place is still a very popular vacation spot for humans and their animal companions, and the fact that the dome keeps out the notorious Texas weather 365 is a huge selling point.
All of the con specific stuff is gone, of course, except for a large plaque outside the Hilton that lists every human and NHT who came to that first year of the con back in mid August of 2008. This included myself, Grace, Daisy Ann, Winker, and many of our gamer friends. As we read it, we saw many names of people who are no longer living. This was pretty emotional for all of us.
We stayed for about an hour, just walking around and talking about that first year. We also bought some t-shirts and fridge magnets.
Mary: It was kind of odd how the place has changed and not changed.
Grace: 19 years. Wow! I turned 50 just before we came here.
A Family In Need
About 20 minutes outside Critter City, we saw a family of coyotes sitting by the road looking pretty hot and tired. I stopped and got out to talk to them and found out that they had been chased from their home by a rancher and his dogs. I invited them in for something to eat and drink. They accepted eagerly.
Once Roggy and Klea and their 4 cute kids were fed, rehydrated and cooled off, we drove them a few miles up the road to an area that wasn’t being used for anything, and dropped them off. We loaned them a SmartBot who will dig them out a nice safe hidden den. We also gave them the names of some local NHTA contacts. They were very appreciative of that.
It’s about a 2.5 hour trip from Wilted Springs to Abilene, so we got there about 5:00 pm. After getting cleaned up and dressed, we all went out for some great food and a walk around a local park. After that, it was back on The Bus for talking and games.
Now, it’s late and I’m heading for bed. We’ll see what our route is tomorrow.
Destination Sign When We Started: Thieves’ World
Destination Sign When We Stopped: Lullaby Land
QM Radio Station: WEST Country & Western Music
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