Travel – Page 13 – Geeky Girl Engineer

Wind Cave National Park

Posted on August 25, 2017 by geek

This morning I visited Wind Cave National Park. On the surface, the park looks like much of same lovely grassland as the surrounding area. Underground, however, lies a huge cave system filled with gorgeous formations. The cave is famous for its boxwork formations and has most of the known boxwork in the world. You can take tours of a small portion of the cave, enough to get a glimpse of the gorgeous boxwork.

Wind Cave National Park, grasslands above ground

Boxwork in Wind Cave

Crystals in Wind Cave

Wind Cave

Boxwork in Wind Cave

Deadwood

Posted on August 24, 2017 by geek

After visiting Devil’s Tower, I decided to visit Deadwood just because. I took the scenic route through Spearfish Canyon. If you ever in the area, I highly recommend this scenic drive. It is lovely. I then arrived in Deadwood and had only been there for a short time before a gun fight broke out. No worries, it was on schedule. They have a gun fight several times a day, every day, although this may only be in the summer. There is a fight over a card game, and then a dual on the street. Of course all I was thinking was wondering if these actors wore ear protection because that’s the type of person I am. In any event, many of buildings in Deadwood have been restored to their original design. The buildings are kind of neat. The old train station is now the visitor’s center. Much of downtown though is casinos and tourist shops, so if you are not into those activities, and I am not, Deadwood only needs to be a short visit. Unless you just like watching fake gun fights.

Deadwood train station that is now the visitor’s center

Franklin Hotel in Deadwood where a gun fight constantly breaks out

downtown Deadwood

Spearfish Canyon scenic drive, worth the drive

Devil’s Tower

Posted on August 24, 2017 by geek

For my trip out west, I wanted to visit many sites that were kind of in the middle of nowhere. Devil’s Tower fits in that category. I don’t think photos can do it justice. As I was driving to it, the road I was on curved, and then Devil’s Tower just appeared. That is what is so amazing about it. The area around it is pretty rolling countryside with some of the black hills, but then this columnar rock tower just appears. The trail to walk around it is a little over a mile, and even while walking that trail, I still was amazed by its size and how much it stuck out of the surrounding countryside. There are exhibits on the trail that give good visuals to describe how it formed. Still I find it awesome.

Devil’s Tower

Devil’s Tower, close up of columns

Wall Drug

Posted on August 24, 2017 by geek

If you are ever in South Dakota on I-90, probably for the entire distance of I-90, you will see signs for Wall Drug. Many of the advertisements were for coffee for five cents or free ice water. While driving from Rapid City to Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (about 70 miles), I saw a sign for Wall Drug at least every mile, probably more often than that. I went to Devil’s Tower today, and I saw a sign for Wall Drug while leaving Devil’s Tower before even getting on the interstate, a good 150 miles away from Wall. Clearly Wall Drug is a tourist trap, but if you try that hard to trap the tourists, I will give it to you. After visiting Badlands, I went to Wall Drug just to see what was so special that they would advertise that far away.

Wall Drug

Wall Drug is note really describable. There are several different stores within its complex, and the complex is so complex, they actually have maps of the store. There is the classic drug store, and many different stores to sell stuff to tourists. There is a cafe and a soda shop. Then there is all the other stuff. If you enter from one of the doors that doesn’t lead directly to a store, you enter a hallway of sorts that somewhat resembles a mall.

Wall Drug entrance hallway

The hallway is full of stuff I would expect an old amusement park. As well as other stuff that I don’t really know where I would expect to find such stuff.

Entrance hallway has all the classic amusement park stuff

It also has a chapel.

A somewhat out of place chapel

Then you can go out to the new back courtyard, where you are promised among other things, deluxe bathrooms. [The bathrooms were not especially deluxe, but they were big.] The courtyard has a jumping water fountain that children can play in and a tiny replica of Mt. Rushmore. Then, past the courtyard is another building with more stores and another soda shop. There is also a dinosaur for unknown reasons. In this building though, they do have an amazing collection of old photographs and historical information on the area.

Backyard building with more stores

Wall Drug is a tourist trap. However, it is a magnificent, somewhat confusing, overwhelming, trap that would surely win an award for tacky and kitchy if such as award existed. Also, they do believe in truth an advertising. You can buy a cup of coffee for five cents, and there is evidently free ice water.

Badlands National Park

Posted on August 23, 2017 by geek

After visiting Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, I then drove on to Badlands National Park, which is right across the freeway. Badlands is just gorgeous. The formations are dramatic. In many places you can clearly see the different sedimentation layers, including different coloring of the layers. The different coloring layers adds to the drama and beauty of the landscape. When I was there, it was a clear blue sky, which contrasted with the landscape coloring. It was fun to photograph. There were no bad angles, only trying to figure out the best way to capture the beauty, even though no photograph can.

Badlands National Park

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Posted on August 23, 2017 by geek

Today started with a trip to a bit of a hidden site, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. National Park Service offers tours of one of the launch control facilities that could launch the missiles sitting in underground silos. Above ground are the support facilities, which on the outside look a bit like a pre-fabricated house or some small commercial building. The underground launch control center was connected by cable to ten missile in underground silos that it could launch. The control center was also connected to other launch control centers that could launch its own missiles. I found the tour rather interesting, but I also found it somewhat unnerving. The visitor’s center has a nice exhibit about not only the site but also the arms race and the members of the military who worked at these sites. The visitor’s center also has information about close calls during the Cold War. I found it all scary. I also consider current events, and it still scares me.

Layout of facility

Inside, the above ground facilities pretty much resemble a dormitory. About the only way it differs from a dormitory is the security room, which is far more equipped than any college campus.

Above ground dormitory like rooms

Through the security room is an elevator and ladder to the underground portion.

Stairwell down to control bunker

The underground portion consists of a small locker area that then leads to a giant steel door to the launch control center.

Giant door to launch control center

The launch control center is enclosed in a giant steel cylindrical container.

Photograph of steel-covered control center being installed underground

There are numerous support utilities connected to the launch control center. The center was made to withstand a nuclear blast, although not a direct hit. Numerous cables connects the center to the missiles it could launch as well as the command centers. It has support utilities like electricity and air.

Support utilities connecting to control center

Inside is rather antiquated looking equipment that could have been used to start World War III.

Launch control desk

Launch control facilities

Toadstool Geological Park

Posted on August 23, 2017 by geek

After the amazing event that was the total solar eclipse, I headed north to continue my trip. I stopped at Toadstool Geological Park along the way. The area is small badlands landscape with several formations said to resemble toadstools. It is a nice area to go do a little hiking, but it should be noted that to get there requires a long drive down a dirt road, which is not so nice.

Toadstool Geologic Park

Solar Eclipse

Posted on August 22, 2017 by geek

The solar eclipse is the main reason I came out west for vacation. I have seen a partial solar eclipse before, but never a total solar eclipse. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. Shortly before totality, the Sun got less glaring, and the temperature cooled a little. About ten minutes before totality, it seemed the entire world went sepia. I don’t think I can properly describe it really. Totality was just amazing. It was night and day at the same time.

Edited to add: I viewed the solar eclipse at Scottsbluff National Monument. I really wanted some landscape photos with the beautiful topography of Scottsbluff. Unfortunately, because of the position of the Sun during the eclipse, I could only get a landscape photos, shot in portrait. However, I still got a few only not with some of the really pretty cliffs.

Below are some of my photos, and then at the end is a video slideshow of my photos. For the photography types, all the zoomed in photos of the Sun were taken with my Canon 6D Mark II with my Cannon EF 70-300mm zoom lens, zoomed in to 300 mm with a Formatt 67mm Firecrest Neutral Density 5.4 Solar Eclipse Filter. All landscape shots were taken with my Canon 6D with my Canon EF 24-105 mm lens. I had a timer on the camera for the zoomed in photos to take a photo every minute. I had to readjust the tripod the camera was on about every 5 shots due to the Sun moving. Hence, I ended up missing a few shots when the Sun moved out of focusing area before I could adjust the tripod.

The photo below shows the Moon just starting to obscure the Sun, but more importantly, those are not flaws on the photo. Those are sun spots.

Solar eclipse starting with sun spots visible

During totality, I had to quickly get the solar filter off. I then got a few photos right as the Sun reemerged before I got the solar filter back on.

Totality

Totality. I’ve played with the exposure and highlights a bit to show the density of the corona.

The diamond ring

Diamond ring. Sun is reemerging.

Also, a few landscape photos.

Scottbluff shortly before totality

I think this is either seconds before totality or just at totality.

Totality

Finally a video slideshow of all the zoomed in photos.

Scottsbluff National Monument

Posted on August 21, 2017 by geek

I went to Scottsbluff National Monument yesterday mostly to do reconnaissance for the eclipse. That was were I wanted to view the eclipse, so I wanted to check out the area and find out details of parking and opening and such. The area is beautiful. I always though of Nebraska as flat plains, but the western side at least is not. The topography of Scottsbluff is lovely, interesting, and definitely not a flat plain. I did end up viewing the eclipse at there, so a few of the below photos are from yesterday and a few from today. The last one is right before totality.

Cheyenne

Posted on August 21, 2017 by geek

I spent the night in Colorado, and then it was time to head off to Nebraska to prepare for the eclipse. I stopped in Cheyenne along the way. My initial intention was to walk around a little and see the Cheyenne Depot because I love trains. They also just happened to have an arts festival going on right when so many people were traveling through for the eclipse. Kudos to Cheyenne for timing their arts festival with a day of so much traffic. In any event, Cheyenne is a cute town with many old buildings that are neat to see.

I took a photo of this building, not because it is old because it clearly is not. However I was really impressed with how they made one big parking garage look like several buildings that would fit the architecture of downtown.