Close Encounters Motor Lodge

The Close Encounters Motor Lodge

Located a mile and a half south of Hayden on Route 97, the Close Encounters Motor Lodge was opened in the mid-1950s as the Hayden Motor Lodge. In 1973 it was purchased by Mose Ponder, an eccentric Wyoming developer, spiritualist, and UFO “nut.” In 1979 he completely renovated the motel and renamed it the Close Encounters Motor Lodge. After Ponder’s death in 1995, the property was purchased by the Schooner Clan.

Layout
The Close Encounters is a fairly traditional motor lodge, a two-story strip of sixteen stacked rooms flanking a central office. The only interesting thing about the exterior is the porte-cochère, which takes the form of a fiberglass flying saucer. The rooms are exactly what one expects from an aging roadside motel—outdated television sets, cracked electrical sockets, leaky air conditioners, spotty Wi-Fi, and faded artwork purchased in bulk from a catalogue. Still, Ruby takes pride in keeping things clean, and even installed new beds before a big GPCA conference in 2019.

Shady Activities
Just because the Close Encounters Motor Lodge is a legit business doesn’t mean the Schooners are adverse to shady activities! For one, Room 108 is reserved for “Jerry’s Girls” at Ballantine Gas. Being located just outside of town, the motel has seen its share of drug deals, firearm purchases, and other illicit activities that might require a private room. It’s also popular with outlaw bikers. Having said that, Maude and Ruby don’t appreciate rowdiness or undue attention, and most regulars know to keep things on the DL. After all, the motel frequently hosts visitors to the GPCA, and that class of clientele rarely notices they’re paying double the rate charged to bikers and locals! 

Employees

The Close Encounters is operated by a handful of people, although there’s always one of Ruby’s “cousins” willing to help out, especially when something sketchy is going on.

Maude Schooner (Owner)
Born in New Madrid, Missouri, 1957

Maude Schooner (née Edgar) is a heavyset, no-nonsense woman who runs Schooner Ranch like a military compound—nothing gets by her notice. A true Midwest matriarch, she’s the real power behind the McCaine Schooners, and even Ruby knows when to shut her mouth and obey. Quite a looker in her day, Maude was a “bunny” at the St. Louis Playboy Club when she met her husband John at the age of 18. After relocating to Schooner Ranch, she buried their first two children, but had “a second litter” in her mid-forties. Even pushing 70, Maude hasn’t slowed down, her one nod to vanity being strawberry-blond hair dye.

Maude is the legal owner of the Close Encounters Motor Lodge, but for the last few years she’s been content to let Ruby take care of the “day-to-day” while she minds the farm.

Ruby Schooner (Manager)
Born in Antonia, Missouri, 1995

Ruby Schooner is Maude’s only surviving daughter, and is very much a chip off the old block. Hard as nails since she was a little girl, she inherited her mother’s “no nonsense” attitude and her father’s head for business, and never lets a lucrative opportunity slip between her fingers. Despite a checkered history that includes credit card scams, identity theft, bilking transients, and light robbery, Ruby has managed to avoid jail and maintains a clean record. To her credit, she abhors violence and genuinely loves animals—certainly much more than people.

Ruby’s been managing the Close Encounters since she was 21, and most people just assume the motel is hers—Maude hasn’t been seen in the office for over a year. After having her heart broken by a biker named Taz—a situation that nearly made her an accessory to murder—Ruby fell for a GPCA array operator named Leo Sawyer. Believing she could finally “go legit” as a scientist’s wife and escape Hayden, her heart was broken again when Leo went “off his meds,” cheated on her with two different women, shot up her motel, and departed Hayden for good in January 2024. Since then Ruby’s become even more bitter than usual, and is seriously contemplating dousing the motel with gasoline and moving to Alaska.

Ruben Bellows (Night Manager)
Born in Bellevue, Nebraska, 1967

Ruben Bellows is a former biker and acid-head who lost the ability to ride when he shattered his leg sliding under an oil truck. Always an eccentric, Ruben’s become even more bizarre as he ages, adopting loud shirts, novelty sunglasses, and collecting vintage Swatches from the 1980s. He unironically enjoys the night shift, which gives him time to fiddle with ham radio, practice card tricks, and work on his manuscript—“Voodoo Gumbo: The Presence of Gris-Gris in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake.”

Despite Ruben’s many quirks, he’s not a conspiracy theorist, and has little patience for Freqers, Lynette’s musings about aliens, or locals who claim the GPCA is “hiding something.” He’s frequently stoned during working hours, but avoids the Schooner’s shadier side-projects, and understands that his job stability depends on delivering peaceful, non-eventful nights.

Lynette Peters (Part-Time Desk Clerk)
Born in North Platte, Nebraska, 2005

Lynnette is a 20-year old nursing student at Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte. She holds three part-time jobs in Hayden—she works the Close Encounters desk on weekdays when Ruby’s not available, dances at Ballantine Gas most weekend nights, and occasionally waits tables at the Wagon Train. Bubbly but not exactly bright, Lynette maintains a flirtatious, upbeat demeanor and enjoys talking to the guests. She borrows empty rooms for her TikTok videos, mostly concerning her struggles with nursing school—an unintentionally funny diary filed with dating advice, make-up tips, and titillating glances at her stripper costumes.

Lynnette is fascinated by the GPCA, and tends to romanticize the science fiction aspects of SETI. Her parents are Soul Seekers, and Lynnette firmly believes that Saxon Conan Cowell is right about an “imminent crisis.” She’s not above pestering guests with questions about the GPCA, but her girl-next-door charm prevents her from becoming annoying—especially to the male guests!

Rosa Becerra (Housekeeper)
Born in Mexico City, 1993

Rosa Becerra arrived in the United States to attend college, but fell in with the wrong crowd and developed an opioid addiction. She began dating an East Texas biker from the Dirty Knuckles MC. One night coming back from Sturgis, he beat her senseless in the Close Encounters and left her for dead. Discovered by Maude, Rosa was taken to Schooner Ranch, where Doc Singer was called to administer some off-the-record treatment. Maude also forced her to get clean. A few months later, Rosa was informed that her Texan friend had met with an unfortunate “accident” and could no longer walk—or see. Maude asked Rosa to work at the motel, and she’s been here ever since. 

Rosa lives in a small house on Tubb Street, but spends much of her free time at Schooner Ranch or driving her Harley-Davidson Nightster across the Sandhills. Despite her connection to the Schooners, she’s excessively law-abiding—being an undocumented immigrant, Rosa is working in the country illegally, and has little desire to tangle with the police. Of course the Sheriff knows her status, but neither Randy nor his deputies has any desire to see Rosa deported. Rosa herself has a wry and somewhat sarcastic personality, often remarking on her stereotypical role as the “Mexican cleaning lady.” Still, she shows little ambition to do anything else, and seems content to be an “adopted” Schooner.

Princess (Good Dog)
Born in Stapleton, Nebraska, 2019

An Australian/German shepherd mix, Princess is Ruby’s dog, and lives in the motel office. Ruby raised Princess since she was a puppy, and she’s fiercely loyal to her mistress. Although Princess is generally friendly, she doesn’t particularly like men—she hated Leo Sawyer, and barely tolerates Ruben Bellows. On the other hand, Princess just adores Rosa and Daisy Grimm!

Notable Rooms and Encounters

Main Office
The motel’s front office contains a sofa, a vending machine, and an icemaker. Ruby replaced the old UFO photos that once decorated the walls with more tasteful images of the Sandhills and the Nebraskan Badlands. Behind the Formica counter there’s a comfortable chair and desk for the agent on duty, including a modern iMac, a refrigerator, and an a small safe used to store valuables. (The combination is 12-06-13.) The safe contains a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, a packet of twenty unmarked $100 bills, and Ruben’s collection of Sativa-based gummies. A board behind desk holds the old-fashioned room keys—solid brass keys attached to diamond-shaped keychains stamped with room numbers and embossed with the motel’s name and profile.

The back office contains the motel records, Princess’ cage and pet supplies, a couple of folding cots, and Ruben’s ham radio. A CD player is perched atop a crate filled with Ruben’s CDs—mostly the Grateful Dead, Dr. John, Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Captain Beefheart, and some assorted jazz. There’s a storeroom filled with cleaning supplies and spare equipment for the motel rooms. The laundry room is accessible through a door marked by a “Hippies Use Back Door” plaque.

Room 108
This room is usually reserved for private use, whether used by employees to sleep, rented by Jerry’s girls for assignations, or occupied by various Schooners with “business.” Currently the room is closed; its wiring went on the fritz the night of March 13.

Room 207
This is the room Leo Sawyer occupied in January 2024 during the month he spent without his implant. During his stay, he used a knife to scratch what he could recall of the Hyades Valentine into the wall. On the morning of January 18, Watcher 2 arrived at the hotel to finally take care of the “Leo problem,” but Princess began barking. Leo blasted the motel door with his shotgun, then sent a second round through the window. He departed Hayden a few hours later, never to return.

After Leo left town, Ruby had the door and window repaired. Leo’s writing was sanded down and painted over. That didn’t quite hide the damage, so she had one of her cousins cover the scrawl with some cheap wallpaper.

These events have marked Room 207 with important clues vital to progressing the scenario. See “Asynchronous Encounters 02—Mystery of Room 207” for details.

Sources & Notes

The Close Encounters Motor Lodge is inspired by the countless motels found in the films of David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino. It’s that kind of place—you just know Willem Dafoe is holed up here somewhere, and he’s up to no good! The image of the motel front was created using Gemini 2.5. Although the Close Encounters is actually a larger, two-story motel, I really liked the flying saucer, so I kept this image. The map of the motel was adapted (poorly!) from a diagram of the Rosebud Motel from the television show Schitt’s Creek. The images of Rosa Becerra and Princess were created using Gemini 2.5. The image of Ruby Schooner is Julia Garner from Ozark, Maude Schooner is Elizabeth Saunders in From, Ruben Bellows is Russ Tamblyn from Twin Peaks, and Lynette Peters is being kindly portrayed by Sadie Sink.

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Author: A. Buell Ruch (Based on work by Kevin A. Ross)
Last Modified: 3 December 2025
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
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