Area 51 Trip

June 11 th through the 13 th 2010

Shut the Front Door!

 

Our trip began at noon on Friday the 11th. On schedule, we hit the road from Lake

Havasu City heading north to Dreamland, Area 51 for a weekend of adventure. Kris and I

decided to bring along my ATV and his dirt bike last minute since our friend Billy

decided not to go. We trekked across the desert, heading to out first stop, Pilot, for

refueling.

The forecast called for clear skies and a low of 60 degrees - Perfect sky watching

weather! We had a blowout on the trailer along the way which threw our schedule off by

few hours over all. Changing the tire was a cinch since Kris had all of the tools and spare

handy. It was while in Henderson that things slowed way down. The details and timing of

the events are all so very relevant. I’ll explain why, later.

One of my favorite experiences on a trip is when things present themselves as

shining beacons of irony. Well, that may be a little embellished but when you can’t park

your big ‘ol truck and trailer within a 100 yards of the tire place and have to carry a

heavy, blown-out rim and tire that distance it’s good to know the Universe is looking out

for you. In this case, some nice person decided to ditch their Albertson’s shopping cart 10

feet away from where we had to park, thus creating a perfect blown-out tire,

transportation mechanism…No fuss, no muss.

After being told that in 10 years of his experience at the tire shop, no one had

steered in a rim and tire on a shopping cart before. We dropped it off and headed for the

bank. On our way out the door, someone shoved me from behind. I turned around and

there was Billy. Did I mention we had a third coming along originally? His plans had

changed and he was staying behind. Billy was going to pile in and camp out at Groom

Lake too. This was really the start of the strangeness. Of all of the tire places, in all of

Vegas we stopped at the Discount Tire where Billy was waiting for tires for his fiancé

Andrea’s car. 5 minutes was the difference between bumping into him and not.

After the initial, “Get the heck out of here!” (Or as he says, “Shut the Front

Door!") shock had passed we had a good laugh. What are the chances?

2 hours later, our business in Vegas was finally wrapped up. The sun was going

down but we had the security of a new spare tire and a new pair of hiking shoes for me on

board. The truck was pointed north again and off in the distance the clouds grew thick.

 

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

By the time we made it to the Extraterrestrial Highway (375) the sun had vanished

and the rain set in. I had studied “topo” maps (Topographical) and Google Earth heavily

enough to know at the time we were just 50 miles away (as a crow flies) from one of the

most heavily guarded, top secret installations in the world. It all began to sink in for me, I

felt the energy shift slightly and there it was….not the base, but indirect proof of its

presence. Staring at the GPS in Kris’ new GMC truck while he held his compass out on

his i-Phone the GPS went black before our eyes. Seconds ago it had worked perfectly as

we tried to get our bearings. Now, the screen was blank and all that was shown was the

arrow indicator showing us in a sea of darkness. We both looked at each other then at the

compass which was spinning wildly and agreed that this was a pretty awesome first

impression of “Dreamland”.

Although I had spent quite a bit of time studying the area from a mile above, you

never really know the terrain until your boots are on the ground. We missed the two roads

that I wanted to camp on and we were heading toward Rachel, NV and the Little

A’Le’Inn (Alien, get it?) restaurant.

Not knowing what the roads would be like in the rain, we pressed on for a famous

A’Le’ Inn burger and some intel.

My buddy John told me all about the food and about the folks that worked out

there so we had to check it out. Unfortunately, it was nearly closing time and the grill was

cold when we arrived. There were only two people in there, the shop keep and another

gentleman sitting at the end of the bar. I asked the shop keep if there was someplace close

to camp that maybe wasn’t so muddy. He said we should check out Coyote Summit 4

miles back the way we came. I thanked him and took one more look around before I hit

the door. Wait a minute, why was this so familiar to me? It wasn’t déjà vu. John told me

something days ago before I left. It came back to me as Kris and I were leaving. I could

hear John say, “Look for the guy at the end of the bar and try to talk to him”. John hadn’t

been out there for over 5 years and here this guy is sitting exactly like what was

described. It wasn’t the right time to go and talk to him now but I was blown away by

how uncanny this was - Right down to the trucker hat and physical description of him.

We headed back out into the darkness and drove to Coyote Summit. We pulled in

to check it out. I was being indecisive because when I get something stuck in my mind, I

press for it. Yet, here we were in a pitch black, unknown environment. Luckily our sense

of adventure kicked in and we decided to just find the spot I had in mind based on the

map and hope for the best.

We ditched Coyote Summit and got back on to Highway 375 heading back

towards Groom Lake Rd. We had about 20 miles to go before the turn off at mile marker

34. We noticed something off in the distance - A glowing orange light just above the

horizon. It was the base! With as much careful lighting that goes into keeping the base

stealthy and low profile, they couldn’t keep the low, misty clouds from being a dead give

away tonight. All my studying and our printouts confirmed that that glow was

pinpointing the location of the base that “doesn’t exist”. We would have been guessing

the whole weekend as to where the base was in relation to the trailer. This lucky

happenstance made all the difference in the world.

As we traveled south on 375 and had our eyes peeled for mile markers in the rain,

we saw another glowing light ahead of us. It’s a light that the two of us, on different

occasions, have seen a thousand times by oncoming cars at night. Just before the clear

outlines of headlights appear, you can tell by this glow that they are about to. It lasted for

several minutes. It would get closer as if about to crest then seem miles ahead of us.

Unless the vehicle was driving backwards at 50 MPH, this made absolutely no sense. The

glow dimmed and went away. We had traveled nearly 15 miles with this going on. A few

minutes later, an oncoming truck started the process over but within seconds we could

see the headlights. That made sense, the first glow did not. Just another creepy event to

keep us focused.

We found mile marker 34 and saw the Groom Lake Rd. stop sign. We headed

West on the long dirt road and realized how well maintained everything was. I found one

of the roads on the right that would lead to a corral that I was considering for camping a

few days earlier. We went to check it out and ran into some mud. This was not our spot.

We got back on the narrow side road headed south and crossed Groom Lake Rd.

keeping Area 51 on our right side. We were still using the glow of the lights from the

base to make sure we lined up perfectly once we found our spot. As we slowly cruised

along this lightly used utility access, we started getting pretty concerned and were

exhausted from the day. Where was the next turn? When you’re pulling a 28” RV

through an unfamiliar area in the rain on a road with zero room to turn around, it gets

stressful. We just about talked ourselves into parking on this road and calling it good until

daylight. As we slowed down and were getting ready to do so we caught the edge of the

upcoming left turn in our headlights. We pulled up and discovered the perfect camp spot.

It was just off the road and left plenty of room to unload the bikes (My ATV and his Dirt

Bike).

We setup camp and had a good dinner. Kris finalized some stuff outside and

locked up the rigs. He came in from the damp, cold night air and said he was never so

sure in his life that we were being watched. I agreed. We could tell as soon as we settled

in that there were eyes on us - Electronic or otherwise. They knew we were there.

Moments later, a truck came down the road slowly. It stopped about 25 yards away and

waited. We turned off the lights and looked out the front door to see what was going to

happen. The truck drove off slowly. This was about 1 a.m. We shook it off and got some

shut eye.

The Two-Day Long, One Day

Living in the desert your whole life, you get very familiar with certain sounds.

There is one distinct sound that you get familiar with when you spend a lot of time racing

through the desert or watching other people race in the desert. Some city folks would

think it was the sound of an oncoming jet fighter. For one second as my mind was ripped

from its slumber, I did think it was a low flying jet. Indeed, it was not. It was the sound of

a truck flying down the road at about 80 mph. The sand kicked up and hit the side of the

trailer and the wind from it shook the RV as well. My first thought was of total relief that

we pressed on and got the heck OUT of that road! This was not the kind of road that you

do 80 mph on every day - Groom Lake Rd maybe. This road went nowhere. I remember

seeing that it trailed off into a distant dry lake bed and went nowhere near the base. 2

more white Ford F-150 trucks flew past over the next couple of minutes. By then I had

setup a post at the trailer window to watch the rest of the caravan - Soon, a completely

blacked out Ford F-250 Heavy Duty rolled by. No plates, no markings just two hazardous

material signs on it. This thing was custom. It had a standard cab but the back end looked

like an armored truck without any doors or windows. 3 more vehicles followed over the

next couple of minutes – One car (a Dodge something or other) and two more standard

Ford trucks, all white and traveling together.

We had some breakfast and stepped out to get our bearings. This was the first site

of the area we had gotten yet and we had been there for over 10 hours. We could not have

picked a better spot in the entire valley!

The Gear -

There was complete cloud cover and scattered showers as far as the eye could see.

Our plan to hike up to the top of Tikaboo Peak was toast. Not only would it be slick and

dangerous from the rain, it would be fruitless since we couldn’t see into the base anyway.

Without being too bummed out, we got excited about a day long trail ride, geared up and

headed out.

Our first stop was the famous “Warning Signs” and visit to where everyone

always sees the “Camo Dudes”. These are the armed guards that are charged with

“shooting you on site” for trespassing onto the mysterious property. Sure enough, we

were being watched as we approached the signs. We made it to the edge of Air Force

boundary and they moved there truck closer to watch what we would do. The tan Ford F-

150 was pretty menacing and was obviously the vehicle of the day. We stopped for a

couple of minutes, took a drink of water and headed back. I did a kind of solute slash

wave and off we went.

On the way back we could see two other lookout spots where the Camo Dudes

can see the whole valley. There’s our trailer…the ONLY vehicle or camp set up within

50 miles! We found a really cool trail leading back into the “no” zone. It was some of the

strangest rock formation I’ve ever seen. It was like sandstone honey combs or something

and it could only be seen from within this one wash. We traveled through it for about a

mile.

We came to the end of that trail and were totally surprised that not one single

vehicle had traveled up that way in many years. There was no turn around spot, just

tracks leading straight into the base. We didn’t chance it and made our own turnaround

spot.

We rode around and explored the valley. I was freezing by the time we got back. I

hadn’t thought to bring a bunch of warm clothes. Luckily I did have a jacket and

sweatshirt but by now those were soaked through. Kris had a water resistant jacket on and

his motorcycle gear so he was set. We stopped at the trailer to refill and for me to warm

up and grab a helmet. Having the whole day ahead of us and only limited trail, we

decided we had to have an A’ Le’ Inn (ALIEN, get it yet?) burger! We rode 25 miles

back to Rachel stopping only once to see the famous solid white, “Black Mailbox”. The actual Black Mailbox was removed many years ago.

Yep...A Helmet on My Head...It was THAT Cold...

We made it to the restaurant and ordered two of the famous burgers. Whatever the

sauce is, it’s amazing. Ancient alien secret recipe or some crap, delicious!

We saw the old lady that owns the place and her son working in the back to feed

the hungry passers-through. I saw the “guy at the end of the bar” again and he was busy

talking to a lady that obviously lived there too. They passed around a book of sightings

which had a high rez photo from a Russian satellite of Area 51. Kris studied it and his

jaw hit the floor...

All this time, all of these miles now traveled in the area that morning. My

insistence on pointing the trailer in the right direction and not settling for a second rate

camp spot came to a sudden revelation. This was a really big deal. Our campsite was only

13 miles as a crow flies from the most advanced, high tech, secretive installation in the

world.

With a new sense of appreciation for our current location on planet Earth, we

geared back up and headed south to camp down 375. A total of 4 cars passed us all day.

Some cows had crossed the road and a baby calf was left behind and was reluctant to

cross. I’ve taken my quad a lot a places and have done a lot of cool things with it but up

until this point, I’d never herded with it. That little fella didn’t like the sound too much

and he was a squirrelly devil but I managed to get him across safely.

We made it back to camp and topped off our tanks with the last of the fuel. We

took a look around, looked up at the sun’s position in the cloudy sky, looked back at

Tikaboo Peak and decided it needed to be done. There was a hint of blue sky coming

through in the east and from our experience, plenty of time to knock out a 15 mile hike.

We took a look at the topo map, agreed on a trajectory and hit the trail again.

After some doubt, just like the night before, it seemed like we would never find

the left-hand turn that is shown on the map. We found it however and it all started to line

up to the foot hills of the mountain. We found an old rancher trail that worked its way up

into the unknown and ran our bikes hard over rocks and shrubs to stay on the line.

The trail faded in and out of clarity a few times and I had to cut in a few feet and

hope it connected. Luckily, we pressed on through the gigantic wash and eventually I

kept us connected to the main trail.

As we approached the basin, we realized that we had lost track of the actual peak

we needed to climb. The terrain was very similar but as it got higher, the rocks and

sediment changed color. At least that gave us some bearing as to where to look for the

peak. We left our over worked rigs and headed south on foot.

Much deliberation followed as we tried to decide which hill to dedicate our climb

to. It was around 1 pm that we started and as 3 pm closed in; we had hiked for 10 miles

and hadn’t really climbed in any upward direction. Finally, we picked a peak that overlooked

the valley and got an amazing view. We confirmed the location of Tikaboo Peak

from there and found the ravine that we needed to take way north of where we were. It

was pretty cool to be up at about 7000 ft and see only our trailer again in the entire valley.

We were “it” for activity for the Camo Dudes to watch and that was kind of cool.

By 4pm we had started to head back to the bikes (my ATV/quad and Kris’ XR

650 dirt bike) We had one last little foothill to clear before we made it and it hit us.

There’s the peak, there’s the ravine, and it’s SO CLOSE! Let’s bust it out so we can say

we did it. We took off at a jog and got back into a groove and a hope of conquering this

mountain. The sky was clearing up and we had the sun cooking us while we pushed

ourselves up boulders and in through some of the most difficult terrain.

 





I have to admit, as 5 pm approached, I wussed out. Kris wanted to press on. We

were SO CLOSE. Staring at the bottom of the last 500 feet of the climb to victory, it

became clear. A steep, sharp climb would have been in the cards 3 hours ago but we

don’t have a ride waiting for us at the top. Our gear is 20 miles away, the bikes are sitting

out in the middle of nowhere…we have to quit while we’re ahead.

Staring up at these last few hundred feet, we both were disappointed but it is what

happened later that made that a great decision.

The sun was starting to set. We found our bikes easily thanks to good ‘ol “Honda

Red” sticking out in the desert sand light a light bulb. My Forest Green ATV would have

been a little trickier to locate. Exhausted from the attempt at the peak and 18 or so miles

from camp now, we needed to make some decent time. I was worried because that trail

had been so difficult to follow in the first place. Amazingly, once we got out of the main

wash and found the trail head, the lower sunlight hit the now impressed weeds from the

first trip up in such a way that the trail was clear as daylight. We flew down the trail and

kicked up dust in places the Camo Dudes haven’t seen in many years!

Getting back to camp was a cinch. We off loaded the bikes and each cracked a

Corona faster than green grass through a gooses….rear end.

The day’s activities at that time felt like two days of non-stop adventure. We had

ridden over 100 miles and hiked over 12. We were both wiped out and ready to get

cleaned up and grab some dinner.

After we grubbed, we agreed that we had to get some sky watching in. Kris’

trailer is really nice and very roomy but it is still a “one butt kitchen”. So, he volunteered

to clean up dinner and dishes and I went outside to check on the clearing sky. There was

still a considerable amount of low, scattered cloud cover. I looked to the south and saw

Sirius blazing away more brightly than I think I have ever seen it. It could be compared to

a police car with full code lights, tossed into the sky and stuck there, 5 miles away. No

other stars were visible it was just peeking through. I shook it off because I knew it was

Sirius just acting normally. (Aside from it’s heightened luminosity)

I looked due north and caught another star doing nearly the same thing. They

were both twinkling violently. Interesting choice of words to describe a star - You just

had to be there. These stars were twinkling to a degree of luminosity that I have never

seen before!

I went back in for a while because it was windy and cold. The temp at this point

was around 45 or 50 degrees - Cold for an AZ guy. About 15 minutes passed and we

were both layered up and were wearing as much clothing as we could muster. We stepped

outside and the clouds had significantly dispersed. It was a new moon (a completely

moonless night). The southern sky was the deepest blue imaginable, near black. Every

star in the sky was 3 times brighter than we’ve ever seen. There was one spot in the sky

near the constellation Orion that looked as if a thousand airliners were circling in a

holding pattern 30,000 feet up. I can’t explain the amount of twinkling and do it justice. It

was simply incredible.

Astounded, we grabbed our chairs and climbed to the top of the RV. With a 20

mph wind and it being pitch dark it was a task. We got settled in and began to focus our

two sets of binoculars on the outline of the foothills just this side of Area 51.

We were very lucky to find a red light way off in the distance and just on the

horizon. I assume this is the main gate as it does line up with where there road was, past

the Camo Dudes and into the restricted zone. We used this light to explain where we

were looking. Trying to get two people to look at the same spot through optics at night is

a pretty big challenge so this red light was perfect. We saw some vehicles driving around

and one vehicle in particular was driving very fast on one of the trails up way past where

civilians are allowed.

It’s my understanding that they do have covert training for foot

soldiers and snipers out that way as well as vehicle surveillance training. Who knows

what was going on but it was cool to see at least something taking place.

I wasn’t very disappointed at all that in two days we hadn’t seen so much as a

helicopter fly by in any direction. I was ok with that, but now that the sky was clear and

we out paying close attention, I really started to worry. We struck up a conversation

about that fact, eyes to the sky and horizon, watching the same place at the same time -

Dead center of the base.

I’ve seen some very interesting and unexplainable objects in the sky. I know what

ordinary aircraft of all shapes and sizes move like. I know what typical aircraft have for

lighting and they way it looks in all kinds of conditions. Havasu is a prime location to get

very familiar with these things. We are “on the way” to Phoenix to L.A. and back and

Phoenix to Vegas and back.

Havasu is constantly the site of military exercises and on the path for a regular

refueling training routine. I live on the south side of town and our airport is on the north

so smaller aircraft fly over constantly. All of this is a constant reminder that the things

I’ve seen up to this point have been extra ordinary and what I am about to see is the third

most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life to date.

A 200 plus foot long object approximately 30 feet thick, “jumped” into sight

from just above the horizon directly above where the bulk of the buildings are at the base.

It “jumped” three more times into position and began traveling on a horizontal plane due

south. There were three huge lights on the side that were mostly white but we could see

an occasional red and blue hue emitted. The lights were each probably 20 to 30 feet in

diameter and either attached to the craft or were a result of some type of energy emission.

Arguably nothing like what we saw...But the Closest Image I can Find

 

We watched the craft move south for a few seconds then saw something neither of

us could understand nor believe at first. The craft “jumped” up 200 feet or so, then

“jumped” back 500 feet then forward, down, up and back. It was popping in and out of

existence and leaping hundreds of feet without following the normal laws of physics. I

can best describe it as teleportation. We watched as it popped around this horizontal

plane and went behind some clouds and a mountain not far from the base and disappear.

We knew what we just witnessed was probably the most incredible thing possible

- an actual UFO sighting at Area 51. We were ecstatic!

We kept looking in that same location but nothing appeared for a while. We

looked to the north and there were a bunch of exercises going on with conventional craft

now. Possibly C-130s and some fighters were practicing. I am not sure what the larger

aircraft were but they were lit up like Christmas trees. They would strobe then stop then

strobe and go dark - Pretty wild stuff. Kris spotted the object over the base again while I

was looking north and I missed it. According to him, it behaved the exact same way the

second time.

It was so great to have an immediate reference to what we just saw. Here are

several, actually about ten, aircraft of understandable size traveling within the parameters

of known science just 30 miles away at nearly the same 30 degree plane from where we

witnessed all physics break down.

The Butterfly Effect was at play. That all of these things that happened took place

to bring us to that moment, that one occurrence and 60 second or so test of this gigantic

craft over this immense secret base…What are the chances? We deliberated and thought

about the what-ifs until we realized it probably wasn’t going to show itself again.

By this time it was late and we were freezing up there in the wind. We had a huge

adventure that day and we decided to try and watch a little longer from inside the trailer.

After about an hour, it was around 1:30 am Sunday we gave up. I was dozing off up in

my loft in the back of the rig and he was toast and unable to see anything at the front.

I stepped outside to water the bushes one last time before I crashed. The night was

so extremely quiet. Being so far away from civilization there is an unbelievable quiet that

is just surreal. I slowly stepped out to a field across the main road facing the base hoping

for one last glimpse of super secret activity. My senses were lit up and I felt so absolutely

sure I was being watched. I started to spook myself and talk myself out of doing my

business and just wiz in the bathroom of the trailer. Maybe I should have, but I didn’t. I

finished, zipped up and froze solid. I couldn’t believe what I heard...

There is a distinct cough a man makes when he is messing with someone. It’s a

single cough that is so intentional and so clear that a guy just knows it

beyond the shadow of a doubt. I heard it, it was distinct and as real as the absolute

blackness I was starring into. I tried desperately to get a bearing. I know what I had heard

but from which direction?

My defenses were severed. I had a .380 caliber pistol on me which was

less effective than a golf ball sized rock in this situation. I had no way to see this person

and they could see me very clearly. Thank God I had studied up on this place. Somehow

logic took over and I thought it through even though my adrenaline was pumping, my

brain had to kick in since physical reaction was worthless. I started to think about where I

was.

We haven’t seen a vehicle on the road since that afternoon when we were coming

down the hill and we saw the caravan leaving, headed back to wherever it was they go

home for the day. I know there are zero campers out here and the probability of hillbillies

traipsing around out in the night to cause trouble in one of the most secure locations in the country is

slim and none. I also know that there are all sorts of training programs with the most high

tech equipment imaginable out in these parts. I am 13 miles away from Area 51, can I

expect that there is some military bad ass or bad asses out in the field in front of me training for

a sniper mission or assassination and covert ops training going on around me? Yes, yes I

can. This guy coughed and let me know he was there on purpose and in retrospect, I think

that is so totally cool.

I walked back into the trailer and told Kris we were as safe as we could possibly

be right now. He agreed. The world’s most powerful army just outside our 1/8” thick

aluminum walls out in the middle of BFE…pretty humbling. I slept like a baby.

Confirmation

The next day I was up at about 7am. Today, there wasn’t an 80 mph caravan of

government vehicles headed off into nowhere to wake me earlier. I stepped outside to a

beautiful Sunday morning. Very few scattered, bright-white clouds off in the distance. A

slight breeze came from the north but in the sunlight it was perfect.

An hour later we were packed up and headed home. We decided to skip breakfast

in the trailer and treat ourselves to the little café / bakery that we spotted 40 miles away in

Alamo, NV.

We found it and pulled in. It was a very cool little place, as down home as it gets.

There were a few people finishing up their breakfasts but the grill was switched to lunch

by the time we ordered.

The food was great!

 

We finished up. They were having a bake sale, Kris got up and began

investigating the situation. I was hovering over the table while the waitress cleaned off

the last empty seat. She asked me if everything was ok. I said the food was great and I

was just waiting for the check. She smiled and showed me where she had left it. "If it were a

snake it would have bit ya."

I laughed and said I was so tired and “out of it” from my trip. She asked where we

were headed and I explained that we were going back to Vegas and Lake Havasu

respectively after having had camped outside of Area 51 all weekend. She got this look

like, “What else is new” and asked me if we saw anything weird while she rolled her

eyes.

This was awesome because I deal with people as a profession and I can read folks

very well. She did a very good job of screening me. This is the part where I am supposed

to say, “No we didn’t see anything” and then she plays the role of – “Yeah, most folks

come out here and ask a thousand questions about what “we” see but never share their

own sightings off hand”.

I didn’t hesitate though when she asked me if we had seen something. I lit up and

explained our sighting in detail. She smiled and said she knew exactly what I was

talking about. She saw the exact same thing 3 nights earlier! What she said next blew me

away. She very calmly stated that as she and her husband were watching “at a closer

distance than what you saw it”, it bugged her that he couldn’t tell her what it was. I didn’t

ask, she offered this info, this is the real deal. He works at the base; her son is a Camo

Dude. He does not say a word to her about work, neither does her son. They follow

protocol to a “T”. The only thing she could confirm to us was that we weren’t crazy, nor

were our eyes playing tricks on us.

She made it absolutely clear that the Men in Black were real and that they do

regular check ups on her and her friends and co-workers. She knew the conversation we

were having at this moment would come up. She didn’t seem worried because she didn’t

divulge any real information. At this point, I am convinced that the government almost

demands an air of mystery. They allow people to speculate to a certain degree without

ever actually allowing the presentation of facts.

This lady had been visited by the MIB before regarding another friend whose

husband worked for Skunk Works and was a mechanical engineer working on the Stealth

Fighter back in the early 90’s. This conversation was the absolute icing on the cake for

us. By the way the conversation started, it was clear that she didn’t offer this information

to just anyone.

Everything came together and fit so that it was just a great opportunity for her to

share. No other customers, I wasn’t prying for information and we both had seen the

same thing in the sky within days of each other - The perfect end to an incredible trip.

We loaded back up into the truck and headed south. We had a few hundred miles

of pavement ahead. The Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge is just minutes from

Alamo.

We talked about conquering Tikaboo Peak soon and are putting together a plan to

bring my Dobsonian telescope up to the top on a clear day to see into the base. As we

mapped out our plans, our second blowout on the trailer occurred and we realized we

were heading back to reality. Glad we stopped at the tire shop and got to say hi to Billy!

We threw the new spare on and made it home safely.