There should be a lot of – okay, some – 'activity' in Roswell this week in the build up to the town's annual UFO festival next weekend (July 5-7) – which will see locals taking part in a costume competition and a parade, while authors and 'researchers' descend on Roswell for a series of lectures and presentations

Sadly Katie's going to miss (again!) the alien festivities, but perhaps she should check out the Roswell UFO Museum: which opens at 9am – tomorrow. 

Reader NewMexicoLinnet adds:

"if you on a cosmic trip, check out [Spot the Station] to check if the International Space Station is flying over your location in the next few nights. Watching it fly across a New Mexico night sky is far more satisfying than the alien nonsense in Roswell."

We arrived in Pecos expecting to see rodeo clowns and eat BBQ. But only the latter happened, and just barely.

The rodeo was deserted when we arrived. We missed the early morning parade, and the main events won't be until later this evening. We were expecting events to be going on throughout the day, but the 45 degree (113F) heat appeared to be deterring the cowboy community from daytime practice. 

Even the horses were huddled under the shade (if they could find any), saving their strength for the chaos of events like the Wild Mare Race:

Pody's BBQ, named by Texas Monthly as one of the best pits in the state, was also closed for the day when we rolled up. Luckily, the sign on the door pointed to the Sheriff Posse building across the parking lot. We took this as a Pody's gesture of extreme good faith in the posse's abilities.

We entered the posse building, where a few men were busy setting up for tonight's post-rodeo country western dance. After some light pleading, posse president Brett Walker shared some brisket with us from his personal pit. He threw in some mustardy potato salad, pinto beans and Bud Light. (Native Texan Sarah's verdict: "It was solid, but lacking in some smokey flavor.") Then he charged us $35. We gave him $24.

After leaning about what it is a sheriff's posse does – it provides scholarship and "support" to ths sheriff – I asked the Pecos native for a few of his barbecue tips. "Don't burn it" was probably the best and most effective. 

Before we wrapped up, I asked him about Texas. 

Misconception: "That we're all wild and crazy I guess." 

Truth: "That we're big." 

We were going to stop in Carlsbad post-rodeo, but now we're heading 198 miles – three and a half hours – north to Roswell. We'll stop at anything that looks quirky, but in the meantime ... any lodging ideas?

Per the generous recommendation of austindb at Guardian Witness, we arrived at Balmorhea State Park about an hour ago to quickly check out the huge, spring-fed pool of the same name. Like its cousin in Barton Springs, this pool mixes man-made concrete with natural rock. At its deepest, the pool is 25 foot deep, and you'll swim with what appear to be overfed, friendly minnows and smaller, more shy catfish. 

While our driver opted for a nap, Sarah and I took a break from the punishing sun – the temperature just crept up to 39C (102F) – and dove in. The things we do in the name of journalism. 

Now for another highlight: we're on the road to Pecos, a 43-mile drive north and home to one of the largest rodeos in the country. We've heard that there's a risk of brush fires in the Pecos area, so we'll proceed with caution.

We'll also be stopping to try Pody's barbecue in Pecos, listed by Texas Monthly as some of the best in the state.

Callout: We're looking for places to stay the night in either Carlsbad or Roswell, depending on what time we make this afternoon. Ideas? Leave them in the comments or tweet them to me @katierogers.

@bristela has been doing us proud with music tips all weeks, offers this:

If I might be so bold as to answer the two questions you've been asking people on your trip:

The biggest misconception: we've seen this already in the comments and it's that everyone there is ultra-conservative. They're probably in the majority but it's worth pointing out that Bill White (the very Democratic mayor of Houston) got 42% of the vote when he ran for governor against Rick Perry. Austin is a very well known blue spot in a red state but so is Houston and it's significantly bigger. Largest city in the US with an openly gay mayor, for example.

The biggest truth: again, others have said this, but people really are very, very nice. This is especially true if you're just visiting. Only possible caveat is perhaps they're not always very open to different ways of seeing things (especially if they see you as an outsider, particularly Yankees) but it's quite simple to avoid politics if you're a tourist.

At the foot of the Fort Davis mountains we noticed a gem: Rattlers & Reptiles, home to the largest rattlesnake exhibit on the planet. We each paid $4 to visit with 19 varieties of rattlesnake, scorpions and some poisonous arachnids.

Our guide, Barry 'Bear Trap McGee', isn't an expert, but could rank scorpion pain from "wasp sting" (giant hairy desert scorpion) to "it'll just set ya on fire for a few days" (Texas bark scorpions).

Bear Trap fell into rattlesnake curation after he learned the job came with free room and board, and has since become somewhat of a tourist fixture himself - he's been part of documentaries and an extra in There Will Be Blood, filmed just south of Marfa.

"I got into too much trouble in Fort Worth, moved out here," he told us. "Went to back to Dallas Fort Worth, got into trouble, came back here."

While we had his attention, we asked him about Texas.

Misconception: "That everything is bigger and better here."

Truth: "I don't know that there is any truth in Texas. If there is I really haven't found it."

Next, we're poking into the Fort Davis Drugstore, as recommended by Andy Rhodes, author of Moon Texas, and then it's on to Balmorhea. We're a few hours away from visiting the Pecos rodeo, so let me know if you have suggestions along the way.

Apologies for lack of updates over the past hour, but we've quite literally been on top of a mountain. We made the drive through Fort Davis and straight on to the McDonald Observatory, a 25-mile drive through the Davis Mountains.

The twisty mountain road gave way to stunning views of the Texas landscape, which changed from lush green to rocky and back again during the course of the drive. We spotted teepees, odd trailers and desolate picnic spots along the way, plus stout vegetation I've never seen before, including 'century' plants, Joshua trees and mesquite bushes.

The drive up ended up being the highlight of the trip to the observatory, but we found out that the next $9 guided tour would last the better part of three hours. We opted instead to drive up to the 'free' observatory, which is essentially a viewing room for an enormous telescope that wasn't in service. It was impressive, but we quickly turned around and headed back into town, which is providing enough signal for me to send this update.

[In the - hopefully temporary previous - absence of pictures, take a look at the clip for a sense of the scenery and place - up to 1 min 19, though it's all pretty interesting]

Apologies for the slow service - we're being blighted by technology at the moment (lack of cell service) - which puts us in mind of this classic techno garble summary by Boomhauer in King of the Hill.

Do Texans really talk this fast? What are some of the choicest Texan phrases? Share in the comments below

Ok, so we've been itching to get this playlist up on the blog. As Katie is heading for the West of the Pecos Rodeo later in the day, we've made a cowboy mix for y'all to enjoy. We welcome your favourite cowboy/rodeo tunes in the comments below, and if we get enough suggestions, we'll make another one in time for her arrival in Pecos

We swing by the Prada installation in Valentine, which has been standing in the middle of a field since October 2005. It was installed by local art group Ballroom Marfa and has weathered the elements and spots of assorted vandalism over the years.

Today, lizards and unidentifiable worm-looking insects crawl on the structure, just feet away from leather shoes and bags. People leave rocks with their business cards along the edge of the installation, so naturally we left a rock autographed Guardiannews.com.

Next up: Fort Davis, approximately 45 miles east

We're stopping in Squeeze for coffee and a quick breakfast on the recommendation of @monteriggs.

It's a charming Swiss cafe manned by Swiss staff that sells T-shirts that say 'think chocolate', coffee fixings and gourmet candy. One yogurt and an iced coffee later, we'll be hitting the road.

We arrived in Marfa after 10pm, about four hours later than planned and two hours later than the office at our hotel, El Cosmico, stays open. We'd stopped for dinner at the nearby outpost Alpine and then pulled over on the way into town to see the famous Marfa mystery lights, so our arrival at El Cosmico was met with a key in an envelope and then some bumbling around in a pitch black field.

Since there's a film festival starting here today, we expected some late-night artsy crowd activity, but the grounds were quiet by the time Sarah found her safari tent and I unlocked the door to my trailer, dubbed Kozy Coach.

What followed was a night of toss-and-turn sleep in a trailer that seemed to retain all of the previous day's heat, until the temperature suddenly dropped to freezing in the early morning.

There's an outdoor trailer attached to our trailer; being able to watch other people eat breakfast and throw out trash over the top of my shower curtain was a new and different experience, and I am okay with never having it again.

It wasn't all uncomfortable. There are several quirky amenities at El Cosmico, including crickets, a soft bed, amazing pillows, an in-trailer toilet and Jo's gourmet coffee on the counter. Our trailer also has a deck, which we won't get much use out of as we prepare to hit the road.

Next stop: A quick tour of Marfa, the drive to Fort Davis to see the observatory plenty of you recommended. Food suggestions today are welcome since every site on our list has been recommended by you.

Our eventual destination today is Roswell; it's about a five-hour drive away, so we're embarking on another busy travel day with plenty of stops in between - including a humungous rodeo in Pecos.