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Showing posts from April 22, 2007

Wyoming and Idaho

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We are back from a quick vacation. I managed to score three (actually several more) bucket list items in 4 days. 1.) Long Snowmobile Trip. 2.) Yellowstone Park and 3.) Wyoming. I reached my 50th State --Wyoming! And we took a 90 mile snowmobile trip in Yellowstone National Park. We went to the "Craters of the Moon--National Monument and Preserve" in Idaho and also stopped at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where I got to see (with my own eyes) the very cool nuclear powered twin turbojet engine. It was a successful experiment in the 1950s and 1960s. https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/htre-3-meltdown.html Of course, I had my Radiacode scintillation detector with me and yes, the apparatus is "Hot". The screenshot of the readings from my three walk-arounds the artifact. I swear you could smell the radiation. There was a very un-natural burnt smell something reminiscent of burned bakelite. Although, I am quite certain the emitted radition was not the source...
I am out in Idaho. I slept well on the plane on the way out here last night. So even though I got in quite late I put in a good days work and felt rested. I am staying at http://www.cdaresort.com/. The place is quite nice. I get to stay in the penthouse starting on Wednesday. I have a presentation to give Monday. It should go great. Bonnie and I will have to get out of the populated areas and see what the "out of the way" areas are like out here. Tomorrow the guys and I are going to take a seaplane ride in an old radial engine beaver on floats. I am looking forward to that.
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What a difference a week makes with weather. We had over a foot of snow last week and this weekend it is in the 70s and is just beautiful. I have been working on farm work, gathering firewood for next year, tractor work, and so on. It is easy to over do it. I am a little sore so I am taking a break. I was outside enjoying the sun and warmth and tried to relate it to sleeping in a tent in Antarctica. There is no comparison. Even here out in the country there are signs and traces of humans everywhere and the sounds and smells of all the wildlife is more like a jungle than anything else. It is a remarkable difference. I have been looking through photos from Antarctica as a screen saver on my computers. Some one them I am seeing for the first time. We are still working on Rosey, but it is not looking good. She is up and down. Last week she got out of the barn and fell in freezing water out in the pasture and couldn't get up. Bonnie and I were out there dragging her back in the barn...