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Day 3, 26 December
1996
(continued)
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We left White Sands and drove into Alamogordo, a
town which for some reason seems to cater to
Germans... Lots of signs say "Wilkommen!" We
couldn't figure why Germans, though they have lots
of money and get six weeks of vacation a year,
would want to come here... Then, doh, it hit us: at
Holloman Air Force Base, just outside of town, the
German Air Force sends its best and brightest to
get trained.
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We headed straight up into the eastern
mountains, and finally ran into our first snow! It
was more like ice, though. I broke a fingernail
trying to make a snowball. Waah!
Here Chris pauses to take a picture on the
highway outside of Cloudcroft.
We then moved on to Capitan, home of Smokey the
Bear, where for a measly 25 cents you see and hear
all about the life and times of America's most
beloved ursine, in a splendid little museum. Out in
the back, you can see Smokey's final resting place
as well.
The story of Smokey is thus: he was created in
1946 by the Forest Service, to raise people's
awareness of their own carelessness. There was no
living Smokey--until a few years later.
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In 1950, at the edge of a forest fire outside of
Capitan, New Mexico, a small black bear cub was
found, badly burned but still alive. So the cub was
named "Smokey", installed at the National Zoo, and
licensed on everything from lunchboxes to ashtrays.
He lived to the ripe old age of 26, then was flown
back to where he was born.
Behind Chris in the photo on the left are the
mountains where Smokey was found as a cub.
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