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...

It was an aviation weekend. I spent a bunch of money (Ahh.. I mean time.. Hpmt..) in the air. Here is one of the flights shown mapped out on the chart. Cory and I went down to a 2400 foot grass strip skirting around and under the class bravo airspace of the world's busiest airport. It was a bit of an oxymoron. Navigating some of the worlds most complex airspace to land and have lunch at a primitive airport with a nice country restaurant/aviation museum. Loads of fun. I had blinders on most the time for simulated instrument time. It was bumpy and hazy. It was also 108 degrees F out. Needless to say, climb performance and comfort were issues. It "aint" much cooler 5000 ft in the air. The hazy picture shows what "home" looks like. It is (LZU) Gwinnett County Airport from the South on about a 1.5 mile left base for runway 25, although you can't quite see the airport off to the left.) It is refreshing to get a "good" look at things when the blinders come off. Reality is a lot different than what the instruments and charts say.










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