Where the Alien Things Are!

After touring all of the canyons, we headed out to Nevada.  The plan was to get happy and spend the night in the haunted Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV.  It's been a goal since Chrissy, Grandkitty, and I drove past it when she first moved from Florida to Washington.  I was looking forward to it, but we had more adventures to go before getting there.  First, there were still amazing canyon walls and other landscape on the way out of Utah.  I'm sure you're a little tired of canyon wall pictures, though, so I'll try to restrain myself.

Not far out of Kanab, Utah, in a little wide spot in the road called Cane Beds, Arizona, we drove past a unique sight.  I was busy taking pictures of canyon walls and missed it, but Bruce saw it and turned around.

I couldn't get the entire installation in the picture while we were stopped in the middle of the road blocking all of the invisible traffic on Hwy 389.  It's the Apple Dumpling UFO Docking and Teleportation Center.  The sign beside the port-a-potty says, "Soon teleporting to Uranus."  Turns out, they have a website.  It doesn't tell you anything else about it than what the signs say and that they had a party in 2013.  A YouTube video from 2012 says it's a way to get the attention of city officials and that they'll soon be teleporting a "greenback squanderpotamus".   Regardless, it was adorable and so out of place for the area, but a good start to a day that was going to bring us close to Area 51!

Okay, so I lied.  After stopping for an oil change on our way out of Arizona, we drove through the Virgin River Gorge, which was lovely.  Since the Virgin River is one of the primary forces that created Zion National Park (reserved for a later trip), it bodes well for what's in store for us for that trip.  This stretch of Interstate 15, as it winds through the gorge, is apparently one of the most expensive sections of the interstate system to construct and maintain, and supposedly one of the most tricky to drive.  It was certainly very winding for an interstate!

After passing through the Coyote Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern (Desert Tortoise and Moape dace endangered species habitat) and some more beautiful scenery,

we reached the Extraterrestrial Highway a/k/a Nevada Hwy 375.  We were not prepared and had no stickers to add to the sign.

The Area 51 Museum and Gift Shop was closed when we pulled up.  I would be willing to bet the real Area 51 is down that little dirt road behind the gift shop (Google Maps doesn't mark it), but we decided not to go down there.  I'm sure they have guards to keep you from getting too close, but we just didn't feel like that kind of adventure at the time.

They apparently do have a "Basecamp" behind the museum, and their website is clear that the "Storm Area 51" Experience is a weekend of music, art, and the sharing of stories and research, and they do NOT actually plan to storm Area 51!

We did find what appeared to be a UFO landing strip.

Soon thereafter, we came to the little town of Rachel, Nevada, where the population fluctuates depending on the number of aliens that have landed nearby.

They are home to a less-decorated road sign

and the unforgettable Little AleInn!

The aliens must have taken on the form of antelope because that's all the life forms we came across once we turned off on the highway.

We made it to Tonopah in time to get checked into the haunted Clown Hotel beside the ancient cemetery.