Author Archives: Terri Ralston

Turkey Thoughts

As you can tell, we so very much enjoyed our travels in Turkey. The sights were awe inspiring, but what has stayed with us after all this time is the people. The vast majority of those we spoke to were interesting, kind and helpful. We still talk about it, and talk about when we will go back.

The terror bombings have understandably scared off many travelers, and it is disconcerting to know that bombings have occurred in areas we visited.

Will we return? Yes, but probably not to Istanbul. But not because of the bombings but because we saw everything we wanted to see and there is much remaining to visit.

 

 

Long Time, No See

We’ve been busy (as everyone is) and our blog has been very neglected. I still need to get the rest of our Turkey pictures up and start posts about our India travels. In the meantime, it is baseball season and the College World Series begins today – all is right in my world!

Istanbul to Selcuk

We decided against paying for a ride to the airport and instead opt for public transportation. Taking the tram from Sultanahmet, we transferred and arrived at the airport stop. It was a long, long walk with two security checks. Total time from leaving hotel to arriving at gate was 1.5 hours.

We flew from Istanbul to Izmir, an easy one hour flight via Turkish Airlines. We were served a “picnic” on the plane, consisting of a little cheese sandwich, cucumbers, olives and yogurt. I asked for water and was given a crazy little plastic cup with a foil lid —

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What can I say? I’ve never seen anything like it.

Arrive at the Izmir airport and the airport itself seemed weirdly empty but I don’t know if that was just because of where our arrival gate was located since it appeared that a large expansion was under construction. Another long walk to the train, but it always seems long when wearing a heavy backpack. Had a little trouble figuring out how to buy the train tickets to Selcuk, but finally accomplished at a cost of 9 T.L. (appx. $4.50) for both of us. Way better than the 45 Euros our Selcuk hotel was charging for airport pick up. Although I did learn later that Atlas Airlines has a shuttle from Izmir to Selcuk, only available to passengers of their airline but I don’t know if there is a cost associated with it.

The train was crowded and we had to stand for the entire 1+ hour journey to Selcuk. Arrive in Selcuk and immediately find a place to eat before heading for hotel.

After settling in and taking a nap (we are on vacation after all!), we head out and walk around a bit before eating supper.

Small Mosque

Small Mosque

The restaurant we stopped at had outdoor seating in a large area surrounded by small businesses.

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I was highly entertained watching the three tiny alteration shops, next door to each other. All three seemed to have a lot of business. A customer would arrive and the owner would lower the shades and shut the door while the customer changed into the clothing to be altered. Presumably the clothing was pinned, the customer changed back to the clothes he arrived in, the blinds and door would be reopened and the customer would leave. If the customer was female, the owner stepped outside while the customer changed, and left the door open while pinning the clothing, then stepped back outside until the customer had changed back into her original clothes. I never saw a lone female enter one of these businesses, all female customers were always accompanied by another female. Some of the customers presumably wanted their alterations done immediately as we saw at least two drop items off and come back and get them while we were at the restaurant.

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Note the closed blinds of the business on the left.

All things considered, it was a pleasant, beautiful evening to have a relaxing meal and people watch.

Very Large Array (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)

We visited the VLA the same day we went to the Trinity Site, and it is a beautiful drive from Socorro, NM. This is an easy 2-for-1 trip, as the VLA hosts an open house the first Saturday of each month and staff scientists are the tour leaders for the April and October events. The VLA was featured in the movie Contact.

http://www.vla.nrao.edu/

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Spotted this antelope while waiting for the tour to begin

The tour started in the activity center with an overview provided by Rick Perley, one of the project scientists. Frankly, the information was way over my head and I zoned out during the technical discussion of how the 27 antennas work together. However I did find it interesting that when the antennas are in their largest configuration (as they were during our visit) they are actually viewing a smaller portion of the sky at a higher resolution and when in the smallest configuration a larger portion of the sky is viewed at a lower resolution. Completely opposite of what I thought it would be.

The tour then proceeded to the control building.

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The man working in the control room wasn’t too thrilled to be interrupted and grudgingly answered questions. It was the first Saturday of the month, surely he knew there would be tour groups coming through??

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Headed outside for a close up look at a working antenna. These things are HUGE! 10 stories tall and 230 tons.

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Transporter

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This was a worthwhile visit made more enjoyable by participating in the open house tour. I know I wouldn’t have learned as much if I had visited at a different time and walked the self-tour. I recommend stopping back at the visitor’s center after the tour to see examples of discoveries made by scientists using the VLA.

Trinity Site

The Trinity Site is the location of the first atomic bomb explosion, and as it is on an active military facility (White Sands Missile Range), is only open one day each year on the first Saturday in April.

http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/default.aspx

Visitors turn off Hwy. 380 and drive 5 miles south to the Stallion gate (12 miles east of I-25 or 54 miles west of Carrizozo, NM). Alternatively, visitors can meet up with a caravan in Alamogordo, NM.

We spent Friday night in Carrizozo at the Four Winds Motel, a traditional motor inn with very clean and recently renovated rooms, then made the drive Saturday morning.

The line of vehicles to enter was appx. 1 mile long when we arrived, around 9 AM. All visitors must stop at the gate and show identification. It is an additional 17 miles from the gate to the Trinity Site parking lot.

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Jumbo

Outside the outer gate is the remnant of the Jumbo casing – originally designed to prevent plutonium from being lost if the chain reaction failed to occur. However as the scientists gained confidence in the bomb design, plan to use Jumbo were suspended. (The ends are missing as the Army detonated eight 500-pound bombs inside it in 1946.)

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From the outer gate, it is a 1/4 mile walk to ground zero.

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Inner Gate

Inner Gate

Lava Rock Monument - Ground Zero

Lava Rock Monument – Ground Zero

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Radiation at the site is low, just 10 times greater than the area’s natural background radiation. A one hour visit to the Trinity Site is equivalent to 1/2 of one millirem.  By comparison, a coast-to-coast flight has an exposure of two millirems.

Fat Man Bomb Casing

Fat Man Bomb Casing

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Panorama View

Panorama View

In all, we spent around an hour at the site. Unfortunately, the military was not running the optional bus tour to the McDonald House, where the bomb was assembled.

Honestly, there isn’t a lot to see: Ground Zero monument, a metal footing from the tower, Fatman bomb casing, and a metal shelter protecting part of the original crater. There are also historical photos etched in metal around a portion of the fence. But this is more about the historical significance of the site than the actual things to see. There were people present from all over the world, as I heard German, Japanese, French and a Scandinavian language,

Am I glad we went? Yes. Will we go back? No.

Caprock Canyons State Park

Quick trip over to Caprock Canyons State Park. I haven’t been since it was newly established.

https://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/caprock-canyons

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Caprock Canyons is home to the official Texas Bison Herd.

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Just like cattle, bison follow the vehicle they recognize.

Path to Amphitheater

Path to Amphitheater

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It was a cold, windy day so we didn’t do any hiking but plan to return to take advantage of the many hiking trails.

There is also a trailway associated with the park, which extends 60 miles from South Plains to Estelline. On the way home, we stopped at the Monk’s Crossing trailhead. Appx. 4.5 miles west from the parking lot is an abandoned railroad tunnel, Clarity Tunnel. A colony of Mexican free-tailed bats inhabit the tunnel April – October. We are considering a return trip later in the year to see the bats exit the tunnel at dusk.