Photos

Kennedy Space Center

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Space Shuttle Atlantis

    The retired Space Shuttle Atlantis. 'Murica!

  • 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!

  • Lightning Towers

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

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

Oktoberfest 2013

  • Looking down

    Halfway up the mountain, looking down.

  • Horn artwork

    Very pretty!

  • Up the cloudsplitter!

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

  • Lake Placid

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

  • Whiteface Lodge

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

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.

Exploring Benson Mines

  • Workshop

    Inside another building, some sort of workshop.

  • Safety for All
  • Outside

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

  • Abandoned Excavator's Engine
  • Office Building

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

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!