Intergalactic Space Port

28 Aug 2014

Green River, Wyoming

When I spotted this label on my National Geographic road map,
"Greater Green River Intergalactic Space Port"
of course I had to have a look.....
Turns out it's just a long, graded airstrip in the desert, not even graveled and no runway markers....  Seems it was the wild idea of the mayor of Green River (12,000 pop) in 1994, in an attempt to stir up some tourist trade!  Hasn't seen any aliens yet, but it got me here, and must attract other tourists as well, because it seems that they keep stealing the signs that the council puts out here.....

On July 5, 1994 Resolution R94-23 of the Green River city council designated this landing field as the "Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport", for inhabitants of Jupiter who might wish to take sanctuary in Green River in the event their planet is threatened by collisions from comets or meteors,^[3] in apparent reference to the contemporary comet, Shoemaker–Levy 9. 
No spacecraft have used the 'spaceport', as yet........

But then I noticed this steel post in an unusual place.  Closer examination showed that it's a surveillance camera, with an electric eye that scans back and forth!  Then I noticed another such camera on the other side of the airstrip.....  I've never seen such things at an airstrip like this that has nothing to protect.....  Maybe there's more to this place than meets the eye after all.......
But no toilets for the aliens when they arrive, and we all know that a toilet is usually urgently needed after a long flight.....



But it's just the perfect airstrip for my use, so I came here and camped for the night, planning to fly this morning.  But it rained most of the night, and it's still wet and bleak this morning.....  The 'space port' runway is now sticky mud, so no flying there today....  So I'm still plagued by this persistent rainy weather, which is most unusual for this high desert country this time of year.  But at least it's prevented a lot of the wild fires this year....

The rear brakes on the van need attention, so a good chance to spend the day working on this blog and waiting for the repairs.....

New drums fixed the brakes, but as of evening, it's still raining....  Seems like a rain depression is following me.....  But I'll hang in here, cause the Labor Day weekend is coming up, and good weather is forecast.  Labor Day is the last holiday weekend in the US, before school starts.  I hear that there's a 'Mountain Man Rendezvous' happening at nearby Ft Bridger, and a real Wyoming rodeo at Evanston, so they should be good fun.

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Next morning dawned clear and sunny, so I unloaded and set up. The runway still had puddles and muddy places, but I only need a short strip, so found a dry patch.

This Green River gorge is nearby

Castle Rock and the town of Green River

 The rain has caused the desert to bloom already.