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.

  • Lucky Shot!

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

  • Crawler

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

  • Command Module
  • 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.

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

Oktoberfest 2013

  • Olympic Ski Jumps

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

  • Horn artwork

    Very pretty!

  • Cloudsplitter Gondola

    The quickest way to the top of Little Whiteface! 

  • Lake Placid

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

  • Grounds

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

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

  • Garage Door

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

  • Entrance

    Entrance to the facility - and my car!

  • 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.

  • Exit (Entrance)
  • Overgrown

    Tree blocking a doorway.

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!