He's quiet about it but we think that Dave B illegally smuggled himself out of Britain and into Canada in a steamer trunk full of Quality Street Chocolates. With this in-dispute alien background we thought that he’d be particularly interested in what has to be the most famous in-dispute crash landing spot of an illegal alien in the U.S.: Roswell, New Mexico. The tin foil hat types hold that an alien spacecraft was flying over the New Mexico desert observing secret US nuclear weapons activity, but crashed after being hit by lightning, killing the aliens on board; a government cover-up duly followed. We did hook up with a guy named Dennis in a back parking lot and, after an exchange of word codes, he squeezed us into his vehicle and took us to all of the more critical Roswell sites (and a bunch of less critical ones) that together build a compelling story of aliens and government cover-up. Compelling to Deb B in particular who kept posting to her Facebook page in order to document any potential abduction- she seemed strangely fascinated by the idea of alien probes.

The town does pay homage to the most famous event in its history but, outside of the souvenir stores, it seems a somewhat reluctant effort that you might expect from locals who are likely tired of being lumped in with the gang of little-green-people believers. Dennis did take us to some lesser known Roswell sites such as the marker built by German POW’s (Germans from Rommels Afrika Korps were held in a New Mexico prison camp- many stayed), a statue of local sheriff Pat Garrett (the man who killed Billy The Kid), and the local airport that is now used as a massive airplane scrapyard (the New Mexico mild and dry climate allows to planes to be methodically scavenged for parts).

The aliens of Roswell may not have had a happy outcome- crushed little green bodies or complete fabrications- but it did make Dave appreciate his own outcome. As an illegal alien he was quickly able to find employment with the Toronto Police (despite being covered with empty Quality Street candy wrappers) who were, at the time, actively recruiting ex-soccer hooligans. Happy Days.

After the alien-filled streets of Roswell we did the long drive to the main drag that was once known as the 'most dangerous street in America’- right through the middle of Lincoln, New Mexico. Now we had always thought that the most dangerous street in America was any street that Bonnie D happened to be driving on at any given point in time but in Lincoln, gunfighters were involved. Billy The Kid was captured, tried, convicted, and then escaped after killing two deputies (Bonnie D just terrifies pedestrians).

Driving a little further took us to the grave of Smokey The Bear where we paid tribute to this furry little icon who had a very tough start in life but became a safety celebrity. Within a very short drive we were able to explore the mystery of a space alien crash, walk in the spur-jangling footsteps of infamous gunfighters, and tip our hats to the most famous bear ever. The birthday tour continues.