Dulce By Mary Muñoz © October 19, 2008

I would like to jump to the spring of 2003. Growing up I found many places to be my home and one of them just happened to be a small community in northwestern New Mexico called Bloomfield. I lived in the area from 1967 – 1977 with my mom, step-dad, and siblings. Growing up in the area was fun full of adventure to a young kid and I wanted to share that adventure with my family, so we took a day drive there to see what I use to call home.
The position of Bloomfield to Moriarty allowed us to have two choices for our trip home. We could go back the way we came or we could go around a longer but more scenic route. We decided that viewing Navajo Dam would be great and then we could head over to the infamous Dulce that is said to have had strange happenings around it. Being adventurous and curious we decided that an extra long trip would not be out of the question for the day.
We get to Dulce in the late afternoon and had to get some fuel. Since I had been driving most of the trip I decided that I would trade positions with Abe and let him take command. I wanted to have a better view of Archuleta Mountain, the reported location of the base. It was said to be just north of the town.
When we got into town I had noticed the bluff to the north and was very interested in it, but wasn’t sure if it could be the famous mountain that is said to house some strange things. I found out later that it was not the one I was looking for. Archuleta sits north of that bluff, but that didn’t matter after what occurred next.
Abe is pumping the gas while Hannah and I go in and buy some snacks in the only convenience store we could find. I look up and see Abe coming in the door. “Hey Hun, what do you want to eat.” He ignored me. I looked at Hannah and she shrugged her shoulders. Abe went straight to the restrooms.
I pay for the snacks we chose and it was right at that moment that Abe came out and motioned us to the door. He holds onto my shoulder and grasps just a bit. I look at him, “What is wrong?”
“You are driving.” We step out of the door that he pushes open for us.
“What, I thought we decided…” He interrupts me, “You need to drive, please, please, I will tell you later what happened.”
“Okay.” I thought to myself.
We walk a short distance to the car when I notice that there is a sheriff pumping gas behind us. He was extremely tall in comparison to those around us. I estimated he was well over 6’ tall. I look closely at him as I am approaching the door to the driver’s side and begin to wonder if this is why Abe is so freaked out. He smiles and nudges his head in a courteous way, but I don’t think much about it. I smile and nudge mine back as I turn to get into the car. I turn to Abe and he is looking straightforward. “Go. Don’t ask questions!”
“Okay…” Now my curiosity is up about his behavior, but I am still interested in looking for something, anything, that might point out the underground facility that just lay north of town. I wasn’t certain what was happening with Abe, but I would find out soon enough. Abe didn’t like the fact that I was still interested in looking around town. He turned to me and stated, “Get out of town; we don’t need to worry about the base.”
“Okay…” This is when I focused on how far getting out of town would be which wasn’t too far and then maybe I could get some closure to as why he was acting like he was. This was not my husband.
These are the exact words of my husband on what he remembered:
“He pulled in behind me while we were at the gas station. Here I am pumping gas, this pickup pulls up behind me, a Sheriff, who is Native American descent, and stood about 6’1” or 6’2”. He gets out of his truck to pump gas. He then looks at me, I look at him, and then we nod as if to communicate hello. I look back down at the gas pumping into the Toyota. Then I look back up and he is staring right at me. Not knowing what his intentions were or what my intentions were towards him he looked right at me and without his lips moving he told me, “You’re not welcomed here,” which through me into oblivion. With that in mind I hurried pumping gas, hurried into the convenience store to the bathroom, and that is where I told my wife, “You need to drive, please, please, I will tell you later what happened.” © Abelino Muñoz 18OCT2008.
For the next thirty miles or so he would not be the same person. It took me playing a Messianic Praise tape to finally throw him out of whatever took over whom he was. I don’t know what happened that day to him, but I do remember the guy from College and what he knew about my next move.
So did this guy know what our intentions were that day before we even made it to town? And when we got there was he sent out to stop us? Were we being warned to stay away for our protection or was it for theirs? Will we ever know for certain, because Abe heeded the warning; staying away. It has now been five years since that adventure began and we have yet to be back. Will we do it again? I don’t know, but if we do, we will know the possibilities of what awaits us the next time. But this wouldn’t be the first or the last time strange occurrences would meet up with us, more on that next week.
Mary.