Photos

Kennedy Space Center

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Lightning Towers

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

  • Command Module
  • 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.

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

Oktoberfest 2013

  • Yodeler Show

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

  • 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!

  • Alphorns

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

  • Cloudsplitter Gondola

    The quickest way to the top of Little Whiteface! 

  • 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

  • Exit (Entrance)
  • Outside

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

  • Entrance

    Entrance to the facility - and my car!

  • 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!