Today we decided to go visit Area 51 for the second time this month. We enjoy heading out there as a family and seeing what is going on. Today there was a little something for everybody. I can't remember the last time we went out in this area and didn't have a great time. We started out the trip a little later than normal. It was 12:30pm when we left. With the time change, it wasn't a problem. After visiting Alamo, Area 51, and Rachel, we head to Caliente to eat dinner. It makes for a long day, but with the time change it works out perfectly. Once arriving in Alamo, we took the road to check out the Lincoln County Sheriff's Annex to see which "White Bus" will be parked out in front. They must be cutting money 
everywhere because the same small old Blue Bird bus was parked out in front. That has been the same bus for the past few months. I wonder what happened to the nice big new one! I am happy to say that Alamo now has a nice new pizza place to eat at. I am happy for the people that live in Alamo. The Chevron must have been getting old. This trip we decided not to go down Groom Lake Road and visit the "cammo dudes" at the warning signs. It has been a few months since I went to the back gate in Rachel during the day light, so we headed for the back gate. We arrived at the gate and found we were the only ones there. It appeared to be empty in the guard shack. If it wasn't for the camera, I would have felt completely alone there and capable of doing anything. I quickly came to my senses and realized we are never truly alone near any of the border points. The back gate looked pretty much the same. There were a few nice pieces of radar equipment behind the shack and to the left. I didn't really get a chance to take pictures of the equipment because the wind 
was blowing like crazy and the three females in the car with me had to use the restroom (wife, and two daughters!). We raced back to the Little A Le Inn for a restroom break and a few sodas. It was real quiet in there. After a rest at the Inn, we headed back down the ET HWY toward Caliente. A few miles from the "black mailbox" we noticed some of the Area 51 Alien cows in the road. The family loved it because there was a little calf with his mama. The family loved the cows and especially the calf. I bet those cows see and hear some pretty neat stuff! Dinner was great in Caliente and the trip back to Vegas was peaceful and relaxing. Everybody but me was sound asleep. No sighting of secret military projects, UFO's or any aliens, but the trip was still FUN!
Once a month my family and I head out to Area 51. We go out there to take pictures for the website, see if anything new is
going on, and most importantly to spend quality time together for the entire day. This past Saturday (3/7/09) we headed out to Area 51. We leave around 11am and our first stop is always Alamo. We check the Sheriff sub station to see which bus is parked there and take a few pictures of it. The Area 51 worker's bus was parked there along with one white workers truck. After checking out the white bus, we headed directly for the Chevron Station for a much needed bathroom break. My eleven year old daughter loves the mini burritos at the Chevron, so we had to purchase a plate for her and a corn dog for my youngest daughter. Once we filled up on snacks it was serious time. We were going to go the warning signs on Groom Lake Road. It was important that we did this before my parents come next weekend for a visit. We wanted to take a picture of me standing at the warning sign wearing a tin foil hat giving the international peace sign. Now, I 
normal don't make fun of anything down in this area, but we thought it would be a fun birthday present for my dad. I take the restricted area very serious and don't mess with the "Cammo Dudes". On a typical stop at the signs, I step out of my vehicle quickly and take a few shots. I never spend any length of time there. I know the "Cammo Dudes" want me out of there so I usually make it a quick stop. This time I had to wear the tin foil hat. I think the pictures actually turned out well. As we turned the last corner of Groom Lake Road, I noticed there were two cars at the signs. One car belonged to two English guys who took a few photos and then left. The other car belonged to two interesting individuals. One of the men was a retired Air Force veteran who had a few papers worth of material he was going to read on camera. The man running the camera was "Cosmo". He introduced himself as Cosmo and said he has an internet TV show dealing with UFO's. Once I put the tin foil on my head and went to the sign for a picture, Cosmo wanted to join me. I was not surprised. He and his friend seemed like really nice guys. I wanted to stick around to hear what they were going to read on film, but I never like to spend a lot of time
at the border of the restricted area. We left and headed down Groom Lake Road towards HWY 375. We made many stops on Groom Lake Road for my wife to take pictures of the Joshua Trees. She has a real eye for capturing beautiful photos of nature. Our next stop was Rachel Nevada. We always stop for an Alien Burger. There were a few people in there and the burger was outstanding. Just before we left, Cosmo and his Air Force friend came into the Inn for a little snack. I wanted to stop and talk to them but we had one more stop to make. We headed up to Caliente next. Some day, my wife and I plan on retiring there. We at Pioneer Pizza. The pizza was very good. The small town was nice and quiet. We can't wait to end up there some day. After pizza, we headed back to Las Vegas. We arrived at our door at about 10pm. It was another great day at Area 51. The entire way driving back to Alamo from Caliente, I looked for those lights that I saw Tuesday, but saw nothing. I guess you don't really need to see anything in the sky to have a great time!
