Monday, December 9, 2024

Back Underground

It has been a while since I took the short drive over to work at "Sand Land", the astonishingly eccentric project some friends of mine have been at for a decade or so.  Not everyone understands Sand Land.  I mean...buy a ravine and bring in volunteers to excavate an underground tunnel system?  With stair cases, a spiral slide, a tavern, and...well I'm not sure what else is in there at the moment because I just came to work, not to take the latest tour.

So, its underground we go...


Hard hat, head lamp, respirator, coveralls.  More kit than most "pit ponies" had.  

It's always important to pay attention to signs..


My job was to load, haul and dump wagons of already excavated sand.  Yes, sand.  Its what you get, and get a lot of, when you excavate sandstone.



Here's a short video clip I took while running the wagon back in.  I don't go so fast when dragging it out.


Always nice to see the light of day at the end of  a day of hauling.  I'm told I set the one person record for loads hauled.  This sounds like flattery but is in keeping with what I usually do at Vindolanda or when working on the Homesteading project.  Digging is mostly just good mechanics and determination.


There is a lot of other eccentric stuff at Sand Land.  Just to the left of the tunnel exit is their rifle range.  This got me into a discussion about deer hunting there.  The property and sight lines at this spot are a bit cramped, but they have more "stuff" on top of the hill.


I could totally see setting up for bow hunting on top of the surplus McDonald's Play Land.  I would have to be careful not to put a hole in the geodesic dome salvaged from a Cold War radar station.....

Exercise and Eccentricity.  I need more of  both.

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