All posts by Arnie

Mercury

Places that you may have never heard of

As I was driving south on US-95 from Beatty, NV back to Las Vegas I saw this sign.

The name of the place was interesting so I took the exit.

Mercury has a name that is truly unique.I spotted this sign after visiting Death Valley National Park on the highway returning to Las Vegas.

Driving a few hundred yards down the exit road, I encountered this sign.

To comply with the terms of this sign I turned my car around, got back on the highway and made my way back towards Las Vegas.

The sign had already peeked my interest so when I got back to the hotel I did a little research about this place. Here is what I learned.

It’s suspected that mercury was discovered in the surroundings in the mid 1800s and the miners used a road through the area to reach the mines, thus the name. Characterized as a wasteland it went unsettled for a hundred years. The town sits just 5 miles from Hwy US95.

In 1950 the Atomic Energy Commission decided to develop Base Camp Mercury for atomic testing. Initially the AEC built office spaces and living accommodations for employees. Soon many more employees were needed requiring additional temporary facilities including housing, storage, schools, eating , church, banking, recreational and entertainment facilities. In 1954 Base Camp Mercury became Mercury, NV.

By the early 1960s there were more than 10,000 employees in Mercury. To accommodate the workforce the AEC undertook construction of more permanent facilities. The task of the AEC was to study and develop peaceful uses for nuclear energy. These activities continued for years but by the mid-1990s the nuclear testing was discontinued. As a result the town lost most of its population. Since then most of the facilities constructed for the workers have been demolished.

Mercury continues to be part of the larger Nevada National Security Site. Its mission is to operate multiple “facilities delivering technical and service solutions in support of national security”. The NNSS is overseen by the Department of Energy.

For reference this map shows Mercury (towards bottom) in relation to other military installations in southern Nevada. You can see that the map also shows the iconic and secretive Area 51 at Groom Lake.

Credit for this map:

By Finlay McWalter – USGS Topo mapsGIS data in NASA World WindNationalAtlasDreamland resortGroom Lake Desert RatGlenn CampbellFAA Aeronautical chartWikipedia maps of Nevada and the western USANevada DOT air transportation map The following will be corrected in a future version of this map:Indian Springs Air Force Auxilliary Field was renamed Creech Air Force Base in 2005The designation for Nevada State Route 374 should be drawn on the Nevada side of the border. The road’s equivalent on the California side, Daylight Pass Road, is unnumbered., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=310530

Other References:

Mercury, Nevada Wikipedia

NNSS – Nevada National Security Site


Still Interested?

Here are a few more places that you may never have heard of –

Argenta, Nevada
Aragonite, Utah
Dunphy, Nevada
Jackpot, Nevada
Rhyolite, Nevada
Vedauwoo, Wyoming
Wamsutter, Wyoming

Written by:

Arnie Lee

X-Country Drive

October Vacationing

Last year we found enough time to take two short vacations. The second one was in October which turned out to be a nice time to still enjoy the pleasant weather while avoiding the crowds.

Our itinerary was to visit our son and family in Reno, NV and then hop north to Grand Teton National Park and enjoy the outdoors. Our route to Reno was pretty straight forward – taking Interstate 80 for the first half of our trip.

Our home in Grand Rapids is a solid midwestern city. We’re used to the familiar surroundings – cities, farms and small factories. As we drove westward we could see changes to the scenery.

Black – Grand Rapids to Reno
Red – Reno to Grand Tetons to Grand Rapids
A noticeable change in scenery as we travel west . Here’s a feed lot in Ogallala, Nebraska
Wyoming is known for its oil production. This is the huge Sinclair refinery.
Captivating rock formations line Interstate 80 near Green River, Wyoming
We took this selfie at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
This downtown sign shouts to us as we arrive in Reno.
Tall trees characterize the Sierras close to Reno
A long coastline at King’s Beach along Lake Tahoe
A paddle boarder enjoys the cool waters of Lake Tahoe.
Posing at a pier.

Leaving Reno we head towards Grand Teton National Park. We backtrack on I-80 for a short distance and then cut through southeastern Idaho. It’s a 700 mile drive through some very unpopulated high desert terrain.

This encourages wildlife to crossing the highway using the bridge.
This is a solar farm in Rogerson, Idaho
The Snake River passing through Swan Valley, Idaho
We took in a colorful morning sunrise in Grand Teton National Park
We captured this bugling elk near Jackson Lake in the Tetons
This lady was taking a drink from the pond near the Park Headquarters
We took in a serene view of the Tetons at String Lake
We took a short hike along the Snake River at Schwabachers Landing
We spotted this bald eagle overlooking the waters at Colter Bay in the Tetons
The iconic archway was decorated for the Christmas season in Jackson

From Jackson we made our way back to Grand Rapids happy to have 10 days of relaxation and outdoor recreation in the west.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

Shooting Airplanes

with my camera

As a big fan of aviation I make sure that I have a camera with me whenever I’m near an airport. Sometimes I’ll even make a special trip to an airport especially if it has a viewing area.

There’s one such viewing area alongside Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. For those of you familiar with the city, the viewing area is on Sunset Road towards the east end of the airport. Here you will get a very clear view of aircraft landing on runway 26L. Below are a few shots that I captured recently.

Below is a short clip of my flight into LAS two days earlier


Hopefully you enjoyed seeing these airplanes as much as did.

Written by:

Arnie Lee