Alien Adventure Tour

I am attending the Rider Coach professional development conference hosted by Harley-Davidson's Riding Academy, in Las Vegas, NV.  Yeah, I know, it's tough to have to go to Vegas on business.  At any rate, and in the spirit of every ride an adventure, I thought I'd craft this ride to celebrate the rich history of alien encounters along the route.  Check out  the research below the SpotWalla map for some details about the stops along the way.  Be sure to check out the pictures by clicking on the camera icons as I stop at the Alien Encounter way points.

SPOT Gen3 SpotWalla Map

Mon/Tue/ 3/24-25:  The ride to the Thing was great with nice weather.  I spent the night in Lordsburg, NM.  Not much to note other than I'm not so used to taking my time while riding.  I could get used to it....nah!  After reaching the Marfa Lights viewing area I stopped for the night in Alpine.  Had some cheap Chinese then to bed.  By the time I got home Tuesday afternoon around 3pm I had traveled almost 3,100 miles on the Alien Adventure Tour!  Every ride an adventure....

Sunday, 3/23:  On with the Alien Adventure Tour.  On the route today Sector Seven storage facility where the Decepticon Megatron and the AllSpark were kept in the depths of Hoover Dam.  Then, on to "The Thing" east of Tucson. 

Saturday day, 3/22:  The Harley-Davidson Riding Academy conference, Saturday, was packed with great stuff.  Afterwards,  several of us went out to eat and do some people watching over on Freemont Street.  That was fun.  But, I can't tell you about it, cause "What happens in Vegas....stays in Vegas!"

Friday, 3/21:  Happy Spring!  Easy ride down to Las Vegas for a couple days of....business.  Dinner at the pool at 6pm. Glad I brought a flowered shirt.  Then, conference all day tomorrow. 

Thursday, 3/20:  Burrrrrrr....18F in Flagstaff this morning.  Think I'll wait an hour or so for the sun to get a little high in the sky.  Riding through some scenic and remote areas on the way to Area 51, the ET highway and stopping for the night at the Little A'le'inn. 

Good riding today.  Temps warmed up and the skies were clear.  I was keen to see if the BubblerGPS Pro app on my Samsung GalaxyS4 worked in cell dead areas. As can be seen by the map above it worked beyond my expectations.  Check out the picture at the Utah/Nevada border, in the middle of no where.  Sucking on a beer, at the bar in the Little A'le'Inn  as I'm typing this.  It's tough being unemployed on a fixed income.  Tomorrow, Las Vegas.....

Wednesday, 3/19:  Got a string of close encounters on the way to Flagstaff.  It was cold and windy leaving Roswell.  By the time I was crossing the mountain range it was 21F.  Didn't warm up to the 40sF till I reached the Very Large Array.  I'm doing a relaxed ride pace to spend time along the way.  Got to Flagstaff relatively early and decided to ride the 7 miles up the road to the NASA lunar training site.  Spending the night back in Flagstaff. 

 
Tuesday, 3/18:  On my way early to get through rush hour traffic in Austin and maybe the DFW metroplex.   Wow, had a nice tailwind riding north to Aurora.  Got the pix and headed west into the wind.  It was blowing about 20 to 30 miles per hour.  By the time I got just southeast of Lubbock I received a "Sand Storm Warning" on weather radar via my Garmin GPS.  Never got one of those before!  Sure enough, it quickly developed into a 1930s dust bowl event.  I plowed through it, as the radar showed it ending in about 100 miles.  By the time I got to the NM border is was clearly up nicely.  The bike was a mess so I power washed it after arriving in Roswell.  Remaining over night. 

----------------------Background research of the Alien Adventure Tour way points---------------------

"The Truth Is Out There"  A lot of folks, "UFO deniers",  don't believe that we have been visited by extraterrestrial beings...from another world no less.  What with all the conspiracies about how the government is covering up incidents, popular subculture has documented many things fit for the "X-Files".  Below are just a few, which happen to be on my way to Las Vegas.

Alien Adventure Discovery Tour

Dallas Morning News

Aurora TX:  This is one of the first documented UFO incidents in the United States.  The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident is a UFO incident that reportedly occurred on April 17, 1897, in Aurora, Texas, a small town near Dallas-Ft Worth.   The incident (similar to the more famous Roswell UFO incident 50 years later) reportedly resulted in a fatality from the crash. The alleged alien body is reportedly buried in an unmarked grave at the local cemetery.  Check out the report in The Dallas Morning News, April 19, 1897.

Roswell NM:  The Roswell UFO incident took place in the U.S. in June or July 1947, when an airborne object crashed on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Explanations of what took place are based on both official and unofficial communications. Although the crash is attributed to a secret U.S. military Air Force surveillance balloon by the U.S. government, the most famous explanation of what occurred is that the object was a spacecraft containing extraterrestrial life. Since the late 1970s, the Roswell incident has been the subject of much controversy, and conspiracy theories have arisen about the event.

Valley of Fires & Trinity Site

Valley of Fires NM:  Approximately 5,000 years ago an alien spacecraft of immense size landed and subsequently blasted off from the area near Little Black Peak.  The fiery exhaust caused the ground to open, heating the earth's crust which erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.  If you look at the satellite image you can see how the molten rock from the hot exhaust flowed outward from the point of the launch of the alien spacecraft.  Note the proximity of the Trinity Site to this ancient UFO incident.  Coincidence? Some think not.

Trinity Site, 2011

Trinity Site NM: The Trinity Site, location of the first detonation of an atomic device, has long been associated with UFO phenomena.  The theory is ETs saw earth's entrance into the nuclear age as a threatening step in the technological evolution of our species.  An ET scouting mission probably resulted in the famous Roswell UFO incident. The actual Trinity Site is not open to the public. Now, the closest one can get is the historical sign on the highway.  I did manage to sneak my way in during the Land of Enchantment Rally in October of 2011. 

Very Large Array

Very Large Array NM: As seen in the documentary "Contact" the VLA was where astronomer Dr. Eleanor Arroway received the first message from an ET civilization.  Hidden in a virtual radio free zone this government facility is at the leading edge of extraterrestrial contact.  While on the Land of Enchantment rally I needed to take a picture of the radio receivers, getting at least three dishes in the photo.  I arrived around midnight so it took some doing, but I got the picture and bonus.

April, 2007

Meteor Crater AZ:  This large hole in the ground was produced by a very large meteor some 50,000 years ago.  Although, little or no pieces of the original projectile has ever been found.  UFO enthusiasts have speculated that the crater was created by an alien craft slamming into the earth.   The absence of any fossil remains is evidence of a recovery effort from the alien species.  At any rate, it's a cool place to visit on any adventure.  

Lunar SurfaceTraining Site AZ:  Long thought by moon landing conspiracy theorists to be the location of the faked Apollo 11 moon landing.  You can see from the pictures why.  NASA took great pains to duplicate every crater on Cinder Lake, just north of Flagstaff, to match exactly those the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface.   

July, 2010

Extraterrestrial Highway NV:   Designated by the governor of Nevada this stretch State Route 375 is noted for its UFO sightings.  A must stop on any alien discovery adventure.  

Area 51 and Little A'Le'Inn NV:  I passed this way back in July 2010 returning from Alaska and the northwest doing the IBA National Parks Tour.  I promised myself I'd arrange an over night stay at the Little A'Le'Inn and do some UFO spotting.

Las Vegas NV:   Lots of alien activity in Las Vegas.  The International UFO Congress holds their annual convention there to the delight of the local tourist board.  There have even been documented UFO sightings as your can see by this YouTube video of strange unidentified flying objects (UFOs) over Las Vegas.  

Hoover Dam:  Documented in the movie Transformers, Hoover Dam is the site of the Sector Seven storage facility housing the Transformer Allspark.  It is no coincidence that strange UFO sightings have occurred in this area.  As the photo on the right shows a UFO hovering near the entrance to the lower parts of the dam complex where all manner of ET artifacts are housed. 

The Thing:  Long thought to be an alien creature from another world, "The Thing", or what's left of it, rests in a tourist trap on the east bound side of Interstate 10 just east of Texas Canyon.  Of course, some will say it's not the creature cooked by electricity by those Air Farce guys and scientists way up near the arctic back in the 50's.  But, I've heard the government, in an attempt to cover up the incident, changed the appearance of the remains and gave it to a roadside hustler as part of the dis-information campaign. 

Marfa LightsTX: The last ET stop on the Alien Adventure Tour is the prime viewing location for unexplained sites.  Located between Marfa and Alpine Texas off US 90 this place is noted for its strange lights in the far off distant dessert to the southwest.  These sightings have been recorded going back as far as the late 1800s.    

IBA Daytona Party - 2014

On the road again.  This time to attend the Iron Butt Association annual Daytona Party.  It's a great opportunity to see some of the best long distance riders in the country.  The camaraderie is excellent, the different rides with all their individualized farkles and the chance to network with new acquaintances is fun.  I'll be using BubblerGPS Pro as the primary SpotWalla track.  I'm also testing out my SPOT Gen3 unit.  It has some features that are supposed to make it a little more reliable and have longer battery life.


See the full SpotWalls map produced by the SPOT Gen3

Sat/Sun, 3/15-16:  Hey, the weather was about to turn bad on my route back home.  So, I blew off the mid-day event and decided to hit the road.  Weather was good till Mississippi then it turned wet.  Stayed that way till I stopped for the night in Vidor TX.  The rest of the ride was mildly wet and really windy on Sunday.  But, go home safe and sound after a great trip and a wonderful IBA Daytona Party.  I rode a total of 2,168 miles, mostly I-10 at a moving average of 70 MPH. 

Friday, 3/14:  Dined with fellow LD rider at the breakfast buffet that came with the room.  After breakfast I helped with the verification process for the riders who rode the Southern Swing 1,000.  It was a well organized process.  Riders had to ride to ten different locations, take a picture of their rally flag  and get back to the finish at the motel before the end of the 24 hours. 

Around 4pm the Jacksonville BMW dealer had a couple kegs of beer for all us LD riders to celebrate  the day.  We enjoyed the free beer until the awards presentation by Mike Kneebone, IBA president, to all rider of the Southern Swing 1,000 and the ride in IBA LD event riders.  Now, the banquet at 6pm.

Thursday, 3/13:  I departed St. Augustine for the short ride to the Ramada in Jacksonville.  Not much was going on as almost 75 riders were gone on the Southern Swing 1000.  I hung out chatting with fellow LD comrades until I could check into my room.  Took a shower then a nap before dinner.  At 7pm me and a couple dozen others attended a route planning presentation by Greg Rice and Alex Schmidt, Podium finishers in last year's IBR.  Great stuff.  Topped off the evening with a few beer and some good camaraderie.

Wednesday, 3/12:  After a quick bowl of raisin bran and a cup of "Days Inn" coffee I hit the road...I-10 to be specific.  Weather was good with temps in the mid 60s till about 3pm then it warmed up to low 80s.  Arrive in St. Augustine around 4:40 EDT.  Had a couple of beers to wash the Interstate out of my throat.  Had a great meal with good company.  Life is good.  Dr. Howard and I took his cool and sexy Fiat 500 to the IBA motel to see what we could see.  Bikers were still arriving at the hotel for tomorrows "Southern Swing" 1,000 in 24 hours.  The ride kicks off at about 5:30 in the morning with a send off by Mike Kneebone, IBA President.  Howard and I talked about attending the departure but we're too old to get up that early just to watch others ride out. 

Tuesday, 3/11:  Leaving around noon for St. Augustine FL with an enroute stop somewhere along I-10 for the night.  Going to visit a Iron Butt Rally comrade, my rally mentor. The weather looks good along the route with a chance of rain through Louisiana. 

The riding was very good today.  Temps in the mid 70s with partly cloudy blue skies.  Stopped outside Hammond for the night.  Only about 9 hours from St. Augustine, FL. 

Border Road Recon

I need a few hundred miles on the GSA to get it ready for a 60,000 service and some new tires before two trips in March.  So, I'm heading down to the Brownsville area to do some recon work.  Will probably spend the night on South Padre Island.

Click the camera icon to view the thumbnail picture taken at that point.  Click the thumbnail for larger view.

See the full SpotWalla Map

Saturday, 3/1:  Heading home I stopped at Fort Lancaster.  It's a Texas state park along the old frontier trail.  This part of Texas has many frontier U.S. Army posts and Fort Lancaster housed elements of the U.S. Army 9th Calvary, "Buffalo Soldiers".  Frontier forts were usually located about a days ride apart.  There is not much left of the fort now.  Just some adobe walls and remains of buildings.  Leaving there I eventually landed on I-10 for the cruise home.  I stopped in Junction for fuel and stopped in Luckenback for a cold soda.  It was in the mid 80F's....got to love Texas in the winter.  

Friday, 2/28:  Got an early start after a quick breakfast at the motel.  First stops are the Battle of Palmito Ranch and the Launching Site of the First U.S. Army Warplane.  Each of these sites are related to defending the Texas Frontier (border).  That's the theme of this riding adventure.  The road out to the battle site was pretty much deserted this time of day.  It was a beautiful morning with cool temperatures.  Check out the pictures, using the icons on the map, of the signs at the sight.

Departing the Brownsville area I want to recon the border road on the way to Del Rio and beyond to Sanderson.  This is a route segment of the MTF/IBA "Ride Around Texas", RAT event taking place the first week/end in May.  I am the ride coordinator for the start/finish location.  Riders will start in Childress TX and have either 70hrs or 85hrs to ride around the perimeter of Texas collecting dated business receipts at 17 mandatory checkpoints.  My goal for the recon is to give riders a first hand account of any issues along the way regarding the route.  This section of the border is heavily patrolled by US Border Patrol, Texas State Troopers, County Sheriff's Officers, not to mention aerial drones, electronic sensors and infrared monitors over probably every inch of the way.  So, I don't expect to see any "road agents" along the way.

My next stop was to visit the grave site of Texas frontier legend Judge Roy Bean.   Although, he was at one time the "Law West of the Pecos" being the Justice of the Peace in Langtry TX, he is buried in Del Rio TX. He grave is behind a replica of the Jersey Lilly saloon located at the Whitehead Museum. 

About 10 miles out from Sanderson TX is the location of one of the last train heists conducted by frontier bandits.  The Baxter's Curve Train Robbery was conducted by a Ben Kilpatrick, an original member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang.  He and Ole Hobek boarded the train in Sanderson and just outside of town set to rob everyone on the train.  It didn't go well for them.  Check out the link and read how it turned out. I spent the night in Sanderson.  I have passed though Sanderson many times but have never RON'd (remain over night) before.  It has 4 motels all about the same "quality".  Hey, it's a bed and a shower. 

Thursday, 2/27:  It was still a little chilly when I left home, about 50F.  But, the sun was shining bright.  I took the direct route and only stopped for fuel once near Kingville.  After a quick picture at the entrance to SPI, click on the camera icon on the map above, I checked into a nice motel with a off season rate of $40 plus taxes. 

The plan for tomorrow is to scout out the two historic sites listed below the head north west along the border.  I want to go to a couple Texas frontier historic sites between Brownsville and Sanderson. 

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There are a couple of historic locations down there I want to scout out for possible future use in The Texas Frontier event.  Each of them made a significant contribution to the defense of the Texas Frontier

Battle of Palmito Ranch -- The last land engagement of the Civil War was fought near this site on May 12-13, 1865, thirty-four days after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Col. Theodore H. Barrett commanded Federal troops on Brazos Island 12 miles to the east. The Confederates occupied Fort Brown 12 miles to the west, commanded by Gen. James E. Slaughter and Col. John S. (Rip) Ford, whose troops had captured Fort Brown from the Federals in 1864. Ordered to recapture the fort, Lt. Col. David Branson and 300 men advanced from Brazos Island. They won a skirmish with Confederate pickets on May 12. Barrett reinforced Branson's troops with 200 men on May 13 and renewed the march to Fort Brown. Confederate cavalry held the Federals in check until Ford arrived with reinforcements that afternoon. Ford's artillery advanced and fired on the northern end of the Federal line while the cavalry charged. The Confederate right charged the southern end of the Federal line and captured part of the Union infantry. Barrett ordered a retreat toward the U.S. position on Brazos Island. While the Confederates reported no fatalities in the Battle of Palmito Ranch, the Union forces reported four officers and 111 men killed, wounded or missing.

Launching Site of First U.S. Army Warplane -- From Old Fort Brown Cavalry Drill Field, near this spot, was made the first flight of a U.S. Army plane to be fired upon in armed hostilities, April 20, 1915. Two Signal Corps officers, Lts. Byron Q. Jones and Thos. Milling, flew a Martin T.O. Curtiss 75 on the border to spot movements of Mexican revolutionist Pancho Villa. They reached 2,600 feet; were up 20 minutes. Though they did not cross the Rio Grande, the plane was hit by machine gun and small arms fire. Their patrols lasted 6 weeks. Planes were used more effectively in fighting against Villa in 1916.

Mid Winter Ride

I'm heading out to west Texas for a little fun in the warm dessert sun.  I'm doing some recon stuff for a couple of events.  I got a new Samsung GalaxyS4 smartphone so I'm anxious test it out using BubblerGPS Pro.

SPOT2 SpotWalla Map

Saturday, 2/1:  Departed the Best Western in Alpine around 8:30 after breakfast.  I'm going to take I-10 home so just east of town I took the road to Fort Stockton.  It's about 325 miles from there to my house in the suburbs of Wimberley.  So, I topped off the fuel tank at the brand spanking new Flying J and after another cup of coffee hit the 80 MPH superslab. The weather was great with the temperatures in the high 60's and low 70's most of the way.  Stopped in Luckenbach to pee and see some of the goings on.  Saturdays sees lots of motorcycle traffic at this interesting big of Americana, mainly cause...."Everyone is Somebody in Luckenbach, Texas"  What a great mid winter ride.

Friday, 1/31:   I'm going to do a clock wise loop from Alpine to Marfa, south to Presideo then along the famed FM 170 river road to Lajitas, Study Butte, then on to Panther Junction in Big Bend NP before heading north to Marathon then back to Alpine.  I'm scouting out some particulars for the Motorcycle Tourers  Forum's Ride Around Texas evemt that is planned for this coming May.  I'll take some pictures along the way using BubblerGPS Pro but don't expect them to show up until I get back in 3G or 4G cell coverage.  BubblerGPS is supposed to hold the messages and photos when it is not in coverage range, so the will be a good test.

FYI:  The BubblerGPS app on my new Samsung GalaxyS4 worked great.  Check out the GPS track and pictures in the map above.

Marfa questions

After a leisurely breakfast I headed west through Alpine.  Alpine is definitely the economic bright spot here in West Texas.  I stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing area to capture some pix and info for a future riding adventure I'm working on for March.  On the way into Marfa I saw this mural so I had to stop to check it out. Seems someone has a lot of questions.

Since I was not on any kind of schedule I thought I'd so some sight seeing along the way.  I stopped in Shafter, almost a ghost town by now.  But, in the 70's it was the town of "Peidmont" location in the SiFi movie "The Andromeda Strain."  I recognized the church but most of the other buildings I remember from the movie have been changed over the years.

Presidio was my next waypoint along the way.  Checked out a couple of gas stations for hours of operation and pump availability.  It's also at the northwestern end of FM 170, the road which runs along the Rio Grande border of the US and Mexico.  The road was in great shape for this time of the year.  There were signs of recent TxDOT maintenance activities at some of the low water crossings.  I stopped at the high point on the road for a quick picnic lunch and to take in the sights.

Looking West

Looking East down the mountain

Just past the Lajitas Resort and Spa main complex is the Lajitas General Store.  It's normal hours are from 8AM to 8PM in spring time.  It has a gas pump that stays on 24/7 that can be used with a credit card.  Just 87 octane though.  I stopped for a cold drink to get a dated business receipt before continuing on my way through Terlingua to Study Butte. Study, pronounced Stoody Butte is at the junction of FM 170 and SH 118.  It has a couple of gas stations and a new convenience store.  Again, their gas pumps stay on 24/7 with a credit card.  The ALON station has up to 91 octane gas.

Lajitas General Store

ALON Study Butte

On my way to Big Bend National Park via SH 118.  The speed limits drops off to a mere 45 MPH once you enter the park.  It's best not to go faster than the posted speed limits in the park.  The Park Rangers take the speed limit very seriously.  My next stop was the park headquarters at Panther Junction.  It has a great gift shop with lots interesting items.  Leaving Panther Junction heading north to Marathon the temperature was 85F and beautiful skies.  I reflected on how fortunate it is to be unemployed and on a fixed income.  If you have never been to the Gage Hotel in Marathon I recommend you stop for a look-see.  It's supposed to be famous according to the locals, imagine that.   I does have a stuffed White Buffalo head in the bar.  A lot of American Native cultures revere the white buffalo as a great spirit. 

Thursday, 1/30:  After a couple cups of coffee I departed home on my way to a comrade's place to help him with a mechanical issue on his GSA.  Big Jim is so large he couldn't get the spring clip that holds the H7 headlight bulb in its socket.  I had to show him a trick I learned to make sure the spring clip doesn't come off while seating the bulb.  He was grateful and gave me a cup of coffee.  I tried to get him to ride out west with me but he wimped out.

I didn't want to take I-10 out to Alpine, where I was to spend the night, so I took the scenic route on US90.  It was a great ride and the sky opened up after Del Rio.  It was chilly when I started.  By the time I got to Marathon just east of Alpine the temperature was 77F. 

Static Display Data Sheet

HardTxRider

Tim Masterson, IBA # 415
HardTxRider@Yahoo.com
Hard Riding Adventures (Google it)

• Motorcycle -- BMW R1200GS Adventure, 2016, Odo @ ___________ Miles
• Auxillary Equip -- BMW fog lights, FLIR PathFindIR thermal imaging system, rear view camera
• Fuel Endurance -- 7.9 Gallons, Ranges: 300/350/420 at 80/70/60 Moving Avg MPH 
• Navigation -- Garmin zumo 590, zumo 665 , XM, Weather Radar, Live Traffic, smartphone links
• Communications -- SPOT Gen3, BubblerGPS Pro, Samsung Galaxy Note 5
• Hydration -- Mil Spec CamelBak 100oz, insulated pack and 6' modular hose, Under Armor insulated drink bottle
• Comfort System -- Sargent Seat, BeadRider ceramic, BakUp backrest, highway pegs, MRA X-creen articulating wind spoiler
• Tires - Michelin Anakee 3, 14,000 miles typical wear on rear tire, Slime pump/gummy worms
• Load Bearing -- Stock GSA panniers, Tank bag and Tool Box by Touratech
• Rider Gear -- Schuberth C3 Pro helmet with SRC Pro communications collar, Klim Badlands jacket and gloves,  Aerostich AD1 riding pants, TCX X-Desert Gore-Tex riding boots, ess Mil Spec ballistic day/night eye wear, Gerbing heated jacket, LDComfort shirt and shorts, Dr. Scholls compression socks
• Special Equipment -- Nikon CoolPix AW100 water/shock proof, Panasonic ToughPad FZ-G1, Garmin BaseCamp, MS Excel Rally Leg Plan Tool & Profile