Kennedy Space Center

  • Entry

    Right at the entrance, we were greeted by an array of rockets used over the years. The specific names of all the models escape me, but the largest one is the legendary Saturn 5 model - the most powerful machine ever built by man.

  • Motor Closeup

    The business end of this rocket looks more like a tangled mess of tubes and wires, but its a very advanced and complicated machine.

  • Off topic - Stone Ball

    Instead of a boring fountain, the center had a map of the cosmos carved into a 2 ton granite sphere, suspended and slowly rotating on a water base. With enough force you could spin it a different direction!

  • Atlantis Base

    The solid state rockets and liquid fuel tank for the Atlantis Space shuttle, The picture doesn't do any justice to just how massive this is.

  • Facility Panorama (Click the full-size image for a better view)

    A panorma with a view of several facilities. The location this was shot from was formerly a public viewing area for space launches, but has been deemed too dangerous since then.

  • Crawler

    One of NASA's two land crawlers, currently being outfitted for SpaceX missions.

  • Vehicle Assembly Plant

    This building is where every NASA space vehicle is assembled. Again, the picture does no justice to the height of this building.

  • Another Crawler

    Another one of NASA's land crawlers, hiding inside.

  • Seaside Bunker

    Looking out into the Atlantic, one of the main launch platforms would have been behind me. According to our guide this little bunker was used to house sensitive equipment for detecting electricity in the air, as lightning is a grave threat to launches.

  • Lightning Towers

    3 lightning towers designed to direct bolts away from the launch pad that they surround.

  • Saturn 5 Rocket Base

    The business end of a decomissioned Saturn 5. Walking the length of this rocket takes minutes! 20 tons of fuel per minute would flow through here.

  • Saturn 5, second stage
  • Command Module
  • Apollo Guidelines

    A list of mission status and abort codes from the Apollo era. View full size to read it.

  • Space Shuttle Atlantis

    The retired Space Shuttle Atlantis. 'Murica!

  • Birds!

    That's the last of the space pictures, I took a few quick shots of birds outside my hotel a few days later on the same trip.

  • A Pelican

    "What you lookin' at?"

  • Lucky Shot!

    A gull dive-bombing to catch a fish, at the moment of impact. Took quite a few trys to capture this!

Last November, I had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, while visiting relatives living in the area.
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Oktoberfest 2013

  • Whiteface Lodge

    Deck of the Whiteface Lodge, at the foot of Little Whiteface and Whiteface mountains

  • Grounds

    Looking out over the grounds of the area, many local vendors set up tents to show off their homemade products every year.

  • Cloudsplitter Gondola

    The quickest way to the top of Little Whiteface! 

  • Yodelers

    A group of 3 yodelers and their alphorns, these instruments were traditionally used for communicating mountaintop to mountaintop in the past.

  • Yodeler Show

    Inside the Whiteface Lodge, the Yodelers teamed up with a traditional German band, DSB die Schlauberger.

  • Traditional Accordion Player

    I really wish this photo came out better. Oh well!

  • Selfie!

    This guy was awesome.

  • Up the cloudsplitter!

    Can't beat that view! This is why I love the Adirondacks.

  • Looking down

    Halfway up the mountain, looking down.

  • Base camp

    A better view of the festivities below. The line across the picture is the arm-size cable hauling our gondola to the summit.

  • Almost to the top!

    Nearly there! And an amazing view of the surrounding mountains.

  • Yodeling

    We met our yodeling friends from earlier, they were demonstrating how sound from their alphorns could be bounced off other mountains and heard echoing. Very neat demo!

  • Whiteface

    Facing the opposite direction as the previous photo, the view of Whiteface from Little Whiteface.

  • Alphorns

    The business end of some of these horns. Looking east.

  • Locking horns
  • Horn artwork

    Very pretty!

  • Trails

    Facing north, a good view of the ski trails connecting the two mountains.

  • Summit

    A short distance from the gondola drop-off, the peak of Little Whiteface.

  • Tribute

    A tribute to soldiers of a local division in WWII, a gift from Italy.

  • Olympic Ski Jumps

    Not the best photo, but I think it came out alright considering the range was about 12 miles.

  • Olympic Bobsled Runs

    Another long distance shot at about 8 miles, the Olympic Bobsled run at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

  • Lake Placid

    Facing west, the view of Lake Placid from the mountain.

  • Ticket

    My "Cannon" and my ticket.

Every October, the ski resort at Whiteface Mountain has a small Oktoberfest. Traditional German music, food, beer, and demonstrations are featured, and many local vendors come to show off their homemade crafts.

This is the first time I've gone in many years, and the first time I went being older than 21! It's a ton of fun and is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area during the skiing offseason.

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Exploring Benson Mines

  • Entrance

    Entrance to the facility - and my car!

  • Machine Shop

    Judging from the abundance of 440 volt hookups in the building, this likely was some sort of machine shop.

  • Safety for All
  • No Entrance

    Back door to the machine shop.

  • Ore Silos

    Rusting silo between concrete silos for holding iron ore. It looked like there was more machinery on top of the silos that had rusted away and collapsed.

  • Overgrown

    Tree blocking a doorway.

  • Garage Door

    Outside view of another building showing the decay of the area.

  • Burned Steps

    Even older looking stairs - the mine has history back to the 1800s, but this is probably not that old. The building on top of it appears to have burned, leaving behind electric wires and boxes.

  • Abandoned Excavator

    ...With no bucket. Likely a Massey Ferguson 450.

  • Abandoned Excavator's Engine
  • Machine Shop Roof

    Outdoor view of the first building, the roof on this side is nearly rotted through. Most of the buildings were built with cinderblock walls, metal trusses, and wooden roofing.

  • Workshop

    Inside another building, some sort of workshop.

  • Worker's Desk
  • Transformer Gauge

    The guts of the transformer were missing, probably stolen by copper thieves.

  • Office Building

    One of the few two-story buildings, with major fire damage inside.

  • Another office.

    Some sort of office area, completely rotted out.

  • Bathroom and Sink

    Likely decimated by vandals.

  • Outside

    The office/bathroom is inside this building, and the first building in the album is visible through the trees in the background.

  • Exit (Entrance)
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Benson Mines is a long-abandoned iron mine near Watertown, NY. The mine was shut down in 1978 and the buildings and have been completely abandoned ever since. Abandoned man-made structures are my favorite to take pictures of, so I couldn't resist exploring!
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