I wish this was what I was talking about.

You know when you book a flight you’re always looking for the cheapest fare? The fare that you paid for the ticket this holiday season is not the price you paid to get you and all your LUGGAGE to your destination. I’m flying US Airways today to the east coast, and was charged $15 for my first bag and $25 for my snowboard bag. It used to be an all inclusive experience: baggage, meal, pillow, blanket, movie. Now I think I’ll probably have to pay for my meal too.

Gone are the days where flying was convenient and fun and hip. Those adjectives should only be used for flying privately.

I think I’d still rather fly Southwest and have fixed flying costs, instead of playing airline roulette with fares only to have to pay more money when I get to the airport. Previously I mentioned that Southwest had hedged their fuel for the year, I hope they are stocking up again right now.

Does anyone know of any gasoline for car hedge funds? I’d be a member of any club that would get me fixed prices on fuel for the next year or two.

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Now you may wonder why I didn’t take my 50cc scooter with me on my road trip…. well lets just say it felt like deja vu! You must always check the oil in your car or motorcycle or scooter. PERIOD. I, like I did with my first car, did not check the oil. It locked up on me the day before I was supposed to leave and I was planning on taking it with me. Grrrr.

Once I got it unboxed and uncrated, I had to put on a few things: mirrors, windshield, install the battery, put in some gas, and CHECK THE OIL. Then it was good to go!

I forgot to take a picture of it all put together, so I’ll make sure I get one with me on it this weekend!

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Somebody braver than I on a downhill trail at Northstar.

Last weekend I stayed at Northstar Resort in Truckee, CA. I took the dogs for a hike on Saturday, and went biking on Sunday. They were having a race on Sunday, so that was pretty cool to see. I wanted to compare Northstar to the other places I had biked on this trip. Their website said they stopped running the bikes on the chair lift on September 1, so I was pessimistic that it would still be going. It was still going – I was really thrilled to get to enjoy Northstar this summer. I had been up two years ago and the jumps and technical ‘features’ had scared me out of my gourd – I stuck to the fire roads. This year, since Tamarack had shown me the way of the fun, I totally hit every type of trail I could find – Northstar has a plethora of choices. It was really fun, but a bit more rocky than Tamarack. I definitely understand the need for the extra suspension you get from a downhill bike – am I going to buy one? No. But I will rent one this weekend at Tamarack and see what it’s like!

It came out just about what I had wanted to budget for time – 10 weeks. Although the gas could have been cheaper, it was overall a really great trip. I didn’t get to see a couple of things, because the urge to come back was a bit overpowering (tired of driving a huge beast mainly). I didn’t see Bryce Canyon National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, or do the long loop of Slick Rock Mountain Biking Trail. I’ll definitely have to go back and visit southern Utah again and catch some of the sights I missed. Maybe I’ll combine that with a trip to Roswell, NM in the spring when it is a bit cooler.

Nine States and 4,416 Miles in 10 Weeks. It would have been 10 states if I had gone to Four Corners, but that was 16 miles out of my way!

Final Mileage tallies from Road Trip 2008:

Week 10 Mileage 337
Week 9 Mileage: 767
Week 8 Mileage: 261
Week 7 Mileage: 692
Week 6 Mileage: 324
Week 5 Mileage: 438
Week 4 Mileage: 328
Week 3 Mileage: 122
Week 2 Mileage: 275
Week 1 Mileage: 872
Current Total Mileage: 4416 (approx)

Final Week’s leg of travel:

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Rough Sketch of Entire Trip:

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“This is the office of Robert Gates – the Secretary of Defense. We’ve been reading your blog, and are aware that you’ve been getting denied for tours at several Air Force Bases. We’d like to offer you an exclusive tour of R-4808N, I’m sure you’re aware of what that refers to.”

Needless to say I was a little shocked. How do you respond to an offer to tour an Air Force Base that doesn’t exist? What’s the catch?

*Gulp* “Yes, I’d love to a tour!”

Exclusive photos and a description of my tour after the jump!

I’ve spent the last two days at the base – and have gotten a full tour. I showed up and boarded the white bus at the intersection of Hwy. 318 and 375 – the Extraterrestrial Highway. They checked my id and radioed the gate for confirmation before they would let me on the bus. I think this irritated the other commuters – I’m not quite sure. None of them would look or talk to me on our trip there. Did I smell bad? Once we were at the main gate, the security personel did a standard sweep of the bus, checked everyone’s security badges and one got on to escort me during my visit – we’ll call him ‘Tom’. He didn’t talk much either – maybe I should have taken a shower since it had been a couple of days since I had.

Once at the base, the bus stopped in front of a huge satellite dish. I was let off with ‘Tom’ at there. I didn’t get to see where the bus went from there as we went inside a building with no windows.

‘Tom’ led me on a tour of the base – I got to see some of the black projects they are working on, play a little softball, and got to see inside one of the EG&G “Janet Airlines” jets – pretty standard issue.

The first catch was: they got to review any photos I took and declassify as they saw fit. Any photo I took would be immediately classified and put under review. Well here is the only declassified photo from my tour:

Irrefutable evidence Groom Lake is an active Military Installation: tracks in gravel.

The second catch was: I didn’t get to go outside at night, which is supposedly when the good stuff happens. I’d been at Edwards Air Force Base while they were doing flight tests, they fly at 6000+ feet and you can’t hardly tell what’s going on up there. Well I’ve heard that at Groom Lake they fly low to the ground, just like during Red Flag and in the MOA’s of the Nevada Test Site, but the aircraft are usually “eyes-only” – which means civilians don’t even get to know about them.

I spent the last two nights camped in a place called “Horny’s Rest Stop”. It’s called “Hopkin’s Rest Area ” on the gps, but you can’t argue with this official looking sign. I guess the state of Nevada is going ‘green’ with their road signs these days.

Nevada State's new 'green' signage.

I was able to get this photo from the ‘Powerlines Overlook’ – it was right at sunset and it dropped straight down behind Bald Mountain – not a typical flight pattern if you ask me. I was able to snap off two photos of the star – oops did i say star? *cough* – saucer as it moved down towards the base.

The tour of the base and seeing the black projects were very exciting.
Thanks to the Office of the Secretary of Defense! Keep reading my blog!
The only thing that would have made it better would have been a ride in a jet or saucer faster than the speed of sound. Maybe Sir Richard Branson is reading my blog too?!?

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The land yacht and the Milky Way in alignment north of Monument Valley.

I’m not sure if it is the lack of sky pollution (absence of city lights and accompanying smog) or being in sacred tribal land that has caused me to turn my eyes and camera towards the sky.

Either way I like what I’ve seen and captured. Gallery after the jump!

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