THE DYNAMIC EARTH: A BLOG ABOUT GEOLOGY AND THE EARTH SCIENCES

Monday, September 1, 2008

Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport

Howdy folks; well, the field season ends, and the semester begins, thus continuing the eternal cycle of academia, red in tooth and claw. It's always tough to leave the solitude of the field, but, such is life. It's especially tough to leave Wyoming, a state known for having a pretty rich crazy-to-citizen ratio.

The town of Green River has its very own "airport", just like it's rowdy, ne'er-do-well bigger brother to the east, Rock Springs. But, where the Rock Springs Airport is all glitzy and "show-business" (having obviously left its small-town, simple-livin' ways behind it), the Green River keeps true to the honest, western simplicity that made this country great. Eschewing new fangled concepts like "asphalt", "radio", or "buildings", the Green River airport is a simple dirt track, located a few miles south of the (mormon-)God-fearin' town of Green River proper.

Also, the airport is officially named "The Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport," in honor of the wind-driven madness that has affected Wyoming lo these many years. You can check out the official listing for the airport right here.

Of course, having been out in the wilds of Wyoming for months, I too was driven mad by the stark beauty of the windy high desert, so I deliberately went out to find the Spaceport, and provide some pictures for you.


The picture above is the only man-made structure at the spaceport, a windsock and windsock pole.


This picture looks North, up the gravel runway.


This picture looks South, down the gravel runway.

I felt closer to the cosmos just standin' there; we must all do out part for intergalactic peace and goodwill, even with the dastardly Reptoids of Alpha Draconis.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A month or so after visiting the GGRIS, while lying on my back staring at the ceiling, I came to the realization of its secret.

All of its vast facilities are cleverly concealed underground!

Not realizing this at the time of my visit (and in spirit of full disclosure, there was a cold November wind a blowin') we didn't get out of the car to use ground penetrating radar and seismic devices.

In rethingking the situation, however, perhaps our desire for warmth was actually subconscious wisdom. Undoubtedly such data acquisition would have stirred the interest of Spaceport Security, and we might not be here to plan further explorations.

Karen Mease said...

Airport Junkie, I'm so glad to hear everything's underground. Went there July 2010 for a burger and a beer and nothing was open. I mean NOTHING was there. I saw the spaceport on the map so I decided I must have been suffering altitude sickness. I live at 500 feet above sea level in Pennsylvania. Green River is more than 6,000 feet above sea level. Went back down town and found the burger and beer I was looking for. At least I didn't have to fight off any Denebian slime devils. (Just a couple mountain type bar flies.)

Maralyn said...

Goodness, there's a great deal of useful info in this post!

GeoPopID said...

I am literally blown away by the news that the Intergalactic Spaceport is so conveniently located out here in the west not 4 hours from my home in Idaho. I have been to, around, and through Green River many times. I had no idea until now that such a jewel lay hidden out there—until now!! I must make a point to explore this place the next time I am out there.

Johnsyed said...

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