Photos

Kennedy Space Center

  • Apollo Guidelines

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

  • 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.

  • Lucky Shot!

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

  • 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.

  • Saturn 5, second stage
Last November, I had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, while visiting relatives living in the area.

Oktoberfest 2013

  • Horn artwork

    Very pretty!

  • 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!

  • Olympic Bobsled Runs

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

  • Cloudsplitter Gondola

    The quickest way to the top of Little Whiteface! 

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

  • 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.

  • Outside

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

  • Another office.

    Some sort of office area, completely rotted out.

  • Office Building

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

  • Machine Shop

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

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!