Kelly Mine | Magdalena, New Mexico

This old mining town now boasts two residents, who reside close to each other in their mobile homes.  One even has a wind generator.

 

I like old ruins and that type of history, so I made a short detour to see this site. 

 

I wish I knew what bird had been nesting in this structure, never saw any activity, but it was a large nest.

The little church nearby has been kept up and is very clean and in good condition.

 

 

 

There was one lone grave. I'm not sure of the origin, but he may be the founder of the area.

 

 

These structures were on the road out of the mine, and probably had something to do with transportation out and processing. 

 

While driving back to town, I just noticed one residence.  I was struck by the contrast - an expensive bus parked by a sad looking house as well as a sad looking little trailer.

 

Town was a bit interesting, quite a few old buildings.

 

It was closed, but the train station has been taken over by the library!

 

Artwork - Magdalena style. 

 

 

Of course, being New Mexico, we must have old, antique vehicles!

  

 



It was an interesting little side trip, but I'm not sure I would recommend that people take the trip just to see the town and ruins.  Besides, the RV Park left quite a bit to be desired!

 



Desert Critters and Other Stuff.

 

I was so lucky to get this photo of an owl.  It was dusk and I had just opened the door to my RV to go outside and saw him sitting this post, just about eye level with me.  Other birds were swooping down to try to get him to leave, but he just kept ducking and turning his head to watch them.  Then, he just stared at me and I took this shot. 

 

 

Saguaros have these beautiful blooms, and after the blooms die off, the seed pods start unfolding. The dark color on the top in the photo below was the bloom, the open seed pods are below.  This is what people harvest to make jams, syrups and other food.

 

This seed pod is fully opened. 

 

 

This really isn't a desert creature, but she's interesting.  She loves to stick her nose in the ground to smell the critters in there.  She will sit there for an hour, just snorting and sniffing.  Silly girl.

 

A month (or more) ago, I took a photo of this bird sitting on her nest.  It's in a cholla cactus, and I saw her numerous times just standing on the spines of this cactus. 



 

I checked the babies every day.  First, they just looked like little piles of fluff in there.  Then they started getting bigger and started watching me.  Mama bird yelled when I went to take photos, but she never got upset with me.

There are lots of bunnies around and lots of coyotes walking around.  Never did get a good photo of a coyote because I was either driving or didn't have my camera.  I'm sure some of these little bunnies were coyote snacks.

Another strange thing in the desert, people getting close to cacti to get photos.  I was hiking one day and - oh, wait, that's me!

It has been really hot here lately.   I left a pair of Crocs out one day after using the pool.  Didn't think anything about it until the next day - they were about a size smaller! 

This sunset is red because it was so hot that day.  Not technically, but just my observation.

Titan Missile Museum | Green Valley | Arizona

 

This facility is the only one left of the Titan ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) facilities around the States during the Cold War.  All the other ones were deactivated by 1981.  I guess we're not going to know what is in the Titan Time Capsule until a few years from now, quite a few.

 

These stairs going down into the earth lead to a set of stairways (or a slow elevator) to the command center, as shown in the next few photos.  Far underground and well insulated with thick cement walls, if the missile had been launched, you would not have heard a thing in this command center.  Above ground, the noise would be unbelievable.

  

 

The doors are incredibly thick, as shown in the photo below.

 

 

 

Hazardous material was avoided by these suits, but this emergency shower was available just in case. 

 

Following are photos of parts of the ICBM that is the only one left standing, others are in storage.  This is one of the most powerful built in the States.  It had a range of 6,000 miles, with a 9 megaton warhead.  It could travel at 16,000 MPH and when it touched down, it would destroy 900 square miles.  It is too massive to get in one photo.  And, of course, this is all behind Plexiglas.

 

In order to get a bird's-eye view, this was taken through plexiglass from the outside.

This engine is the Stage 1, and has 430,000 pounds of thrust.

 

 

This is the second stage.

 

 

This is an antenna, even though it may look like it's from outer space. 

 

 

Another antenna is for Amateur Radio Operators, and the second photo shows an invitation to operators to bring their equipment in to use the antenna.