Category Archives: Travel

Pinal Air Park

Pinal Air Park is located northwest of Tucson. A number of business operate there. It used to be a location for Evergreen International. They carried out a number of programs of a spooky nature which meant there was strict security controlling access to the area. Evergreen have gone bust so now the airport is a lot less restricted. The hangars and ramp areas are still controlled but the roads around the field are now freely accessible.

The airport is used for active operators but also for storage of airframes. Some of these are planes that are clearly not going to be making it back into the air again. They are either old enough to not be in demand or of a type that has more value in the spare parts they contain than as a complete airframe. That isn’t the case for all of them though. Many of them are stored awaiting another operator finding a use for them. Consequently, you see a variety of aircraft from old TWA 747s to unmarked A330s.

While I was there, a Pratt and Whitney 747SP engine testbed was visible on one ramp while the Global Supertanker 747-400 was not far away. There were also some stored Grumman Goose aircraft (should that be Geese?) that looked like they weren’t moving for a while. A turbine Caribou was on the ramp obscured by a CASA 212. Plenty of variety. This would certainly be a fun place to tour with someone that has good access.

Hoh Rain Forest

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It rained when we went to the rainforest. What a shocker! Of course, it really added to the atmosphere. However, there is a limit to how much atmosphere you really need. Most of the time, we were doing just fine though. The Hoh Rain Forest is in the Olympics National Park and it is certainly worth the drive to get to. The growth of the plants in such a damp environment is impressive. Ferns that are huge, trees that dwarf everything, decaying material on the ground that is being recycled back into the ecosystem. It is all there to see. Seeing it when it is lush and damp is how it is supposed to be seen.

You do occasionally find yourself popping out of the vegetation and alongside a river. This comes as something of a shock after being immersed in the forest. The surrounding hills were shrouded in cloud since this is an area that takes a lot of the moisture out of the air coming off the ocean (and what results in the nice weather on the Gulf Islands that lie in its shadow). The clouds really add to the sense of the place.

We headed back into the forest and took a loop trail through the Hall of Mosses. The title might not be one that immediately makes you think you have to see this but I assure you it was quite a place to be. Everything felt like it was glowing. So much moss was hanging all over the forest and the dampness made the colors so much more vibrant. It really did cause you to stop and stare. Many people came through while we were there and they all seemed to have the same response. It was quite something. Shortly after this, the rain turned from steady into rather more persistent. By the time we got back to the car, our coats had done their work but everything else was pretty saturated. The drive back gave us plenty of time for the heater to do some drying!

Old Style Hotel in Pueblo

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Before the days of the big hotel chains, towns and cities used to have local hotels. These were in the heart of the city and dealt with travelers passing through or staying for a while. The level of comfort was a function of what you were able to pay but the nicer ones were pretty grand looking structures. If a city has enough traffic, places like this can still survive. They often go way upmarket to justify choosing somewhere different. Otherwise, they have tended to wither away. The buildings can live on though. The Vail Hotel in Pueblo now appears to have been converted for other uses. Some things seem to suggest it is still a hotel but I wasn’t able to verify this. Whatever the use now, a cool looking place has survived. So many of its like have been demolished over the years so it is nice to see that it is still being taken care of.

I Can Hear You Coming

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In the days before radar, there were other techniques that were used for trying to detect inbound enemy aircraft. One of them was the use of sound. Dotted along the southeast coast of the U.K. are a number of locations with devices for focusing sound. One of them is located in the hills above Hythe. This is one of the simpler forms that were used. Despite the age, the contract structure is still in good shape. With the introduction of radar, these sites were redundant but they do provide an insight into the trying of any idea to gain an advantage in another era.

Storms Over the Front Range

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When I arrived in Pueblo Colorado, the sun was shining and it was pretty warm. After our second day of testing, the weather had turned a bit and, as we headed back to the town, there was some storm activity over the Front Range. The road you drive out on is a federal facility so stopping to take pictures is not the best plan. However, once we got back to the more populated area, I did pull over and take a few shots. That night, there were some serious storms around us. I saw a few over the mountains as we drove but nothing too dramatic.

Going Around in Circles Quite Quickly

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A recent work trip involved some testing of a locomotive. The test track in use is just outside Pueblo Colorado. The testing program involves a ton of different tests, many of which are pretty boring to watch if you are not involved. We did get to do some high speed runs while I was there though. The locomotive is designed for 125mph so it has to be tested to 130mph. We got to blast around the track for a while. Wildlife would scatter as we approached – usually. The loco is a modern design so at this speed, things were really quite uneventful. The ride was smooth. The noise was pretty quiet and would have been better if we didn’t have instrumentation cables out of the windows breaking the normal seal. Soon you will be seeing these locos in service in a number of states across the US.

Pueblo Riverwalk

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For cities that are looking at redeveloping their downtown, it seems that a Riverwalk is a popular approach. Pueblo is one of the places that has gone with this approach. I checked it out when getting dinner one evening. There was a brewpub along the river and, after some food and beer, I took a walk along the river. This was an old path of the river but it has obviously been tweaked a bit. There do seem to be some businesses springing up along the river and there were certainly plenty of people out despite the heat and humidity. A lot of them were obviously hunting Pokemon. I wonder whether this will be the center of more development next time I go back.

Cottonwood and Truckee at Night

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We headed back in to Truckee one evening for dinner. We were eating at a restaurant called Cottonwood. It is only a short distance from the center of the town but it is up on a hillside so has a great view down to the main street. The sun went down while we were having dinner which was taken out on the terrace. The restaurant has a cool sign that illuminates when it gets dark. Meanwhile, the town lights up beneath you. It was a bit chilly – they didn’t turn on the outdoor heaters – but you could have a blanket if you wanted. We did fine without but, if it had got much colder, I might have taken them up on the offer.

Waiting for Amtrak

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While we were walking around Truckee, a UP freight train pulled in to the town just short of a grade crossing. At first I assumed it was going to head into the pass but it didn’t move. We then figured out that an Amtrak train was due in from the opposite direction but was running about an hour late. (The flight only started in the Bay Area so I have no idea how late it might have ended up being by the time it got to Chicago.) Since there is only a single track, the UP train had to wait until the route was clear. We left before it did so I hope they got on their way before too long.

Squaw Valley Aerial Tram

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If you want to go the top of the mountains, you might as well travel in style. An aerial tram (cable car for the Brits out there) runs from the center of the resort to the top of High Peak. We went in to buy our tickets only to find out that they were running a special for the last weekend of the ski season and both of us could go up for less than I was expecting to pay for one of us! Nice result.

Whenever I see these contraptions, I can’t help but think of them in the context of so many movies I saw as a kid. Invariably, someone would end up on the roof in a perilous situation. The real thing is of course a lot less dramatic. The larger these things are the smoother the run seems to be. The only disturbance is when you pass over the towers but this one was large enough that the transition was very gentle. The swing was nicely damped too so it was really a non-event.

The thing I find quite amusing is how the cables sag under the load of the car. As you get towards the steepest part of the climb, the car seems to head straight for the cliff face before it pulls up to the next tower. It is all very simple really but it still looks cool. Our trip up was pretty quiet because we were early. By the time we came down, things were quite a bit busier. I liked the display screen in the car that had all of the key parameters for the service so you could see that the loads and wind speeds were well inside limits. Just as well!