6:34 a.m. - 2008-05-28
Seeing Mummies
We made a surprise visit to the White Sands Historical Monument and dunes yesterday. When the government isn't testing bombs in the desert or working on secret projects (Roswell, 1947 and stuff), they make really nice areas for tourists. We took the scenic drive through the sand dunes and came upon incredible beauty.
Here is my attempt at being a serious photographer.
The sand is really quite white and very fine. It drifts across the roads like snow.
The shoes perched on a waste receptable make from recycled materials. The sand was a wee bit hot on their feet.
We then went in search of Steins - the Ghost Town. We found it but it was closed. Who would have thought that a ghost town would be officially closed? I thought that was the whole idea of a ghost town - being closed.
But this one was so closed we couldn't get in. Here's a shot from the freeway entrance ramp.
The cultural highlight of yesterday had to be our visit to The Thing Museum in Benson, Arizona. We were teased for MILES with billboard announcing the mystery of The Thing. Would we be able to idenitfy it? Would we be too frightened to try?
So....as the town of Benson loomed, we decided to stop and see The Thing.
It cost $1 per person to see The Thing. It was housed in the third building, so we had to visit other exhibits first. We followed the yellow footprints into the abyss. The Thing awaited us.
Now, the museum was weird. It was an odd collection of strange things that made no sense. Everything was displayed in large wire cages.
They had a few nice cars. We might want to consider displaying our signatures cars the way they displayed this lovely Rolls Royce.
The curator of this collection is obviously fond of torture devices too. There were dioramas of people being stretched on racks and/or having various body parts hacked.
This is a lovely example of an imported statue that seemed to have caught his fancy. He looks well-pained.
And then, we saw The Thing. It looked like a hoax mummy in a glass case. What makes me say that is the mummy is smiling. I don't think one would actually smile if mummification was imminent. I don't think mummification is any cause for grinning, smiling, or showing joy in any way.
I don't have a picture of The Thing because the glass made it impossible. That's okay though. You really need to make the trip and see it for yourself. I'll spring for your ticket.
