Photos

Kennedy Space Center

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • 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.
Fri, 01/17/2014 - 10:11
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Oktoberfest 2013

  • Looking down

    Halfway up the mountain, looking down.

  • Alphorns

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

  • Olympic Bobsled Runs

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

  • Yodelers

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

  • Horn artwork

    Very pretty!

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.

Thu, 10/17/2013 - 09:47
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Exploring Benson Mines

  • Office Building

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

  • Transformer Gauge

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

  • Worker's Desk
  • Abandoned Excavator's Engine
  • 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.

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!
Tue, 10/01/2013 - 09:26
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