ESE on the Road, pt. 2

"I'm up for all kinds of interesting shit."

That is how Bernard kicked off the day.

He is my research assistant and travel pal. The Harper Lee (Nell Harper, dammit!) to my Truman Capote.

Not sure who comes out looking better in that.

Bernard is already performing his job duties with the utmost skill. After a quick leaf through the morning newspaper, he has informed me that a three foot lizard named Salazar has escaped in Roswell, New Mexico. From a zoo, I suppose. That is where one would keep a lizard, isn't it? Will we see him? I don't know. Are they sure it was a lizard? I don't know.

I told Bernard that we have a stopover in Phoenix, Arizona. He immediately began singing the theme song to Alice. That was a sitcom from the 1970s with characters like Vera, Mel, and Flo.

Not Flo the Progressive Insurance mascot. Totally different.

I find intolerable that when typing on the iPhone keypad, I write "if" when I want "of." It's not like autocorrect is going to catch it.

There is a basketball hoop by our terminal. Good to know.

As the plane ascended, a bright and powerful beam of morning sunlight shone through the window and onto my face. I choose to see that as a good omen.

We cannot go to Albuquerque directly. We must overshoot it by several hundred miles and then acquire new transport to take us where we want to go. Kafka and Camus would have loved it. Maybe it's like Bernard says: Albuquerque is the kind of town you have to sneak up on.

Winging my way over the Southwest.

Studying notes for interviews.

Major catastrophe with the rental car reservation. Since I'm a special kind of stupid, I booked the pickup point with a location on the other side of town, not the airport. Had to rent a Focus from another agency for much more than I was already paying and the woman working the desk bragged about being a Packer fan. Insult to injury.

Albuquerque somehow makes me feel like I'm in Mos Eisley spaceport. I'll look for the cantina later.

Met up with Norio Hayakawa and did an interview with him. Great guy. He took Bernard and I to the Manzano area of Kirtland AFB where Paul Bennewitz had his first sightings. Saw Thunder Electronics, the engineering firm Bennewitz started and then the house where Bennewitz once lived. As Norio accurately points out, without Bennewitz, there is no Dulce.

Later, Lesley Gunther from UFO Magazine met up with us. Got an interview with her while we dined on Polish delicacies with Norio. Very enjoyable time with those two and I hope to keep in touch. They both helped me tremendously with my research, both with names of people to talk to and accounts of their own experiences. Much more of this to come in the book.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Dulce. Not sure what kind of internet access we will have...if any. Will update when I can.

In closing, here's a comic book cover I found hanging in an eatery in...where else?...Phoenix.