First of all, if any Cammo Dudes are reading this, I have the utmost respect for you guys. Sorry to drag you out of the guard house so many times. It's not my fault you placed sensors in the roads on public land leading out to the restricted area. No hard feelings, eh?

Monday morning we went to the Inn around 10 am for coffee when a sonic boom hit just as we pulled into the parking lot. I said, "awesome a sonic boom!" My wife said "thank God, I thought we blew a tire!" Pat at the Inn said it knocked some cans off the shelf in her store room. We went back to our property and air combat broke loose right above us. Four F-15s dogfighting and popping flares in the morning sky. There was at least 5 more sonic booms within a 1/2 hour period. Jet noise, the sound of freedom! The morning was chilly but not bad. By afternoon it snowed to light hail a few times -Yuk. One of the local guys from the Inn drove by on his ATV. We got to talking and he informed me of a new gate up in the hills. Intrigued, we followed him into the hills. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas along the way. He hopped into my SUV and off we went. Sadly there was nothing new just restricted signs on a back dirt road.

Remote gate near Rachel

Watching You...

On the way home, we barely squeezed his ATV into the back of the H3 to haul back to Rachel. As we were loading it up, two "Cammo Dudes" approached us and stopped about 50 feet away. I would have loved to hear that conversation as we loaded the ATV as they watched! On the bright side, it was one of the newer Ford Pick-Ups with the exhaust kit add on. I waved as we drove by them, but got no response in return. My wife said there was no front or rear plates, but I did not notice as we barely got by them on the tight road and we had an ATV hanging out the back! Later in the day we visited the back gate to see the new construction. There were eight piles of gravel about 20 feet long and 2 feet high in the newly plowed "Staging Area." Like long snakes of dirt.

Chalk Mountain Gate

Still Watching You!

Tuesday morning I awoke early and decided to visit another dirt road by the back gate. I stopped at the Restricted Border at 37° 32.903'N, 115° 52.930'W. There is a locked gate, signs and one of the silver balls on a post for the helicopters to use as a reference point. I was hoping they would send the Pavehawk out but instead the same Cammo Dudes came out in the new Ford. After I left the border, I went to the back gate in hopes to get a photo of the Cammos going back inside. On the way back to Rachel, I passed the Cammo Dudes on a small side road. The passenger was relieving himself behind the tail gate! When a Cammo has got to go, a Cammo has got to go! Lol.

Interrupted Potty Break

I had to cut my trip a day early as my wife could only take two days off. On the way home we stopped at the Front Gate on Groom Lake Rd and then we took a side trip to Roadblock Canyon. The H3 easily made it over the roadblock. We went out to where we saw the orange posts but saw no signs as a marker. We stayed a few minutes looking for other security features such as cameras on the hills. I could not see any. We turned around and headed back. Just before the roadblock we saw a Cammo Dude on foot hiking out to see our location. It looked like we startled him a bit as he broke into a fast pace walk to get back to his truck! The Cammo Dudes opted not to drive over their roadblock. My wife who just yesterday feared the Cammo Dudes starts taking pictures. The photo she snapped reminds me of the wily and elusive "Bigfoot" video from the 60s!

Roadblock Canyon Gate

Bigfoot?

Sorry I had to laugh as I shook my head. They both jumped into the Ford and high tailed it out of the canyon. We followed about 50 feet behind them and I had to laugh again as I thought this isn't right, who's chasing who now? When we reached Groom Lake Rd, they headed back to the front gate and we headed for HWY 375 and home. I gave them a friendly double honk of the horn and a wave. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw them following me. What the hay? It turned out to be the worker bus. I did not see it because of the dust the Cammos kicked up as I pilled out. We pulled over and allowed them to pass out of respect and ate their dust all the way back to the E.T. highway. What a fun two days in the desert...

Eat My Dust!