Back Underground - Plus, Redneck Space Program

It had been a while since I'd made it out to Sandland.  If you've forgotten, this is the mad, marvelous, unique project that friends of mine are creating in rural Wisconsin.  For the past 13 years they have been tunneling in a hillside, creating a "playground for the ages".  There are mazes, a slide, rooms with a sort of mirrored layout designed to confuse you.  And this being Wisconsin, of course there is a bar.  The location is mostly a secret, to be revealed only to the worthy.  At least its X and Y coordinates are, on the Z axis I can say that most of these pictures were taken at roughly -80 feet from the surface.

I went out there recently, figuring it was a good way to work off some Christmas cookies.  

Usual digging kit.  Head lamp (turned off for photos, but I prudently carry a back up light), respirator, coveralls.  Sometimes I wear a helmet, sometimes not.  Nothing is going to fall on you but there are a few low spots in the tunnels.  Hard hat makes them less jarring.  But it also makes you an inch or so taller, so you hit them with greater frequency.

The goal by the way is to create something that people can enjoy - and perhaps puzzle over - for a thousand years.  Geologically it should work.

I leave the actual tunneling - there are power tools involved - to the more skillful.  My job is running carts of sand down the long winding tunnels and dumping it off a platform to later be moved elsewhere.  One of these wagons holds three of the orange buckets for a light load, four or five for a heavy one.  My rough calculation is that I personally hauled and dumped at least 1.5 tons of sand over six hours.

Time for a break.  The "Sand Bar" is a nice place to sit down and enjoy a (non alcoholic in this case) beverage.  The decor is eclectic to say the least.

Rats playing pool.  A reimagining of Dogs Playing Poker.

I do recommend volunteering at Sandland for anyone in Western Wisconsin or adjacent Minnesota.  I could make introductions.  But to be honest....I overdid it this day and my back complained for a while.  But sometimes whimsy and magic come with a small cost.

As I trudged back to my car at the end of the day I went by this sight:

It's the discontinued monorail from the Minnesota Zoo, now an implausible accommodation.  But hey, what's that sticking up behind it?  Uh, that's a Hillbilly Space Ship.  'Cause it would be...