Radiation King and Queen

Promotional photo from "Lucy Hunts Uranium".  Seriously, Lucy and Desi go looking for uranium.

Hannah has a tremendous fear of nuclear explosions and radiation; it has seriously kept her up at times, especially when Fukushima happened.  A luck would have it, just before the disaster, I bought Hannah a old Civil Defense Survey meter and some radiation badges.  When the fallout finally reached Kansas, we were seeing the fallout on our survey meter and badges.  This started a little hobby and interest in radioactive materials that Hannah used to learn about and understand the object of her fear.  Since we are traveling through some of the country's radioactive sites, we decided to use it to explore the radiation that was left behind by America's nuclear early years.

CD-715 survey meter and badges

The first step was to acquire some actual Geiger counters.  The survey meter we had was good for Gamma radiation in fairly large quantities, but not good for looking for little traces.  It's low level readings are higher than the highest levels on the Geiger counter.  A survey meter measures in roentgens per hour (R/h) and Geiger counters measure in milliroentgens per hour (mR/h).   So, I started looking for equipment that would fit the bill and our budget.  The American made civil defense models are expensive; for the reason that they are of American historical importance, and that they look really cool.  They are also expensive with good examples costing over $200 a piece.  I discovered the Soviet models were very affordable, if a person could find one.  It seems that the Soviet DP-5V kits are all over the eastern bloc countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.

The DP-5V kit with extension wand, car adaptor, and carry case 

The Polish models were not complete and in questionable working order; a person of Polish origin apparently can't figure out how to test it.  The Russians want too much for them and the shipping is outrageous.  The Bulgarians seemed to have the right stuff, but couldn't seem to be bothered to answer their emails.  The Ukrainians were helpful, knew how to test the gear, could answer questions about the equipment, and the price was right.  I saved the money and sent off my order... then the truce collapsed and the fighting really heated up.  I sent a message to the company expressing my concern about their safety and encouraging them in their fight.  After a time of no contact, a message came across my email that thanked me for the support in their fight and informing me that they managed to get my order out.  Denis at www.sovtube.com has been nothing but friendly and helpful; I recommend him and his shop for all of your nuclear needs.

So we are going to be deploying the Soviet surplus DP-5V Geiger counters when we arrive in Moab, UT.  In Moab there are abandoned Uranium mines all over the place.  We are hoping to gather some fine examples of Uranium ore to  bring home with us.

Abandoned Uranium Mine in Moab, UT

Our second nuclear site is going to be North of Albuquerque, NM in a little place called Bayo Canyon.  Before they detonated the first atomic bomb they needed to test models of the bomb that were atomic in nature, but would not result in an atomic explosion.  These "test models" were essentially what we would call a dirty bomb today.  Some radioactive material and high explosives detonated in a little valley outside of Los Alamos, NM.  The site is open to the public and is a popular hiking and picnicking area, it is also completely covered in radioactive bomb fragments.  You aren't allowed to cut down the trees or use the wood in the area for a fire; everything is peppered with radioactive material and if burned put off radioactive smoke.  We are hoping to find some bomb fragments for the collection here while hiking.  Below is a marker on a concrete slab that they put the used radioactive big chunks in for safe keeping at Bayo Canyon; it gives the date when the area will be safe for general use.

Yes, it says do not open until 2142 AD

I love this aspect of our trip; it illustrates that Hannah and I are not afraid of anything.  We do not fear nature or mutants, we are visiting several sites that have been described as very "Hills Have Eyes" like.  We have our CCWs if we come across any cannibal mutants.

"The Hills Have Eyes"  He was the mayor of town... or the village idiot.

"How it Started" or "How Hannah Got Her Ring"

Some of you may already know this; a lot of people don't who might be reading our blog.  Hannah has an allergy to metal and cannot wear jewelry; the rivets in jeans can cause a small rash.  When a young woman is to be married and cannot wear any kind of conventional ring it can cause quite the conundrum.  So we decided that we would get tattoo rings as a symbol of our marriage.  That was until we went to Silver Dollar City, Missouri.   We went to SDC with another couple and while the girls were looking at baskets or something my friend Big Joe and I went to watch the blacksmith work.

http://www.silverdollarcity.com/

Joe and I were looking though the wares that the blacksmith had out and we saw a basket of rings made out of nails.  They were something like a couple of bucks and we each had one sized to our fingers.  The girls thought they were silly, that is until they got to looking at them.  That night Hannah kept going on about wanting to get one.  After some discussion about the fact she can't wear metal, I told her that it was only a couple of dollars and if she wanted one we would just get her one.  The next day we went straight to the blacksmith and had her fitted;  she didn't know that I was going to use this opportunity to propose to her and make it official.

To Hannah's delight I proposed to her in the square at Silver Dollar City and she got her ring; we thought that she would start to break out and have to keep it in her pocket.  However, much to our surprise, she didn't break out!  Turns out that she can wear iron as jewelry!   Also, this meant that Hannah got to finally wear a ring after all this time.  That is the short story of how Hannah found out what kind of metal she can wear and in the process got herself engaged in the bargain.

http://www.casabonitadenver.com/

I have decided to to highlight a place that I want to stop into and go into some of it's history and today's location is Casa Bonita Mexican restaurant. Casa Bonita was featured in an episode of South Park (Season 7 Episode 11) and was opened in Lakewood, CO in 1974 and has been a staple in family fun eating.  For those of you that don't know about it, think Showbiz pizza with a Mexican theme.  A lot of people will question the wisdom of eating cheap Mexican while on a motorcycle trip; not to worry, we won't be far from our first stop; Frisco, CO.

See the town here:  http://www.townoffrisco.com

Stereophonics - Long Way Round

This is the theme from the the series "Long Way Round" which was an epic show and an inspiration for this adventure.  I recommend that if you want to see a real reality show, pop some corn and curl up to be amazed. The Long Way Round

Another Brick in the Wall...

There was a sudden rush of questions about where Hannah was going to register.  As we have lived together for the better part of six years; we have our own stuff and we have always tried to buy quality when we bought things.  Honestly at this point there isn't a whole lot that we really need. Of course there are things that Hannah wants, but all of the places that sell those things do not have registries.  We discussed the idea of doing Wal-mart or Target, but there aren't a lot of things outside of motor oil or toilet paper that we buy at those establishments anyway.  Hannah wanted to register at IKEA; IKEA doesn't have a registry and won't be built until several months AFTER we get back anyhow.  So it was brought up that the real goal of our wedding and starting our life together is to begin our lives, as Mr. and Mrs. Turley, with an epic adventure.  I always thought that I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, and since the ending is always in the beginning, I want this new life to start out with a lot of momentum.



So it is that after weighing out our options, and trying to make life easier for everyone else; I introduce the PayPal button.  Yes, we are registered at PayPal... sort of.

The way that the budget works out is about a dollar a mile.  So every dollar that is donated is another mile that we roll down the road and another adventure.

We get to see another ghost town (which are really cheap to see it turns out).

Elvis can be even cooler with upgrades! (This will be webcast and you get to decide how cool the show is)

Another filming location becomes another check mark on the list of things we saw (also really cheap)

Gas station from "Easy Rider"

Various locales from "Breaking Bad"

We want to see a lot of museums (These can cost more than I would like at times, but not always)

Hannah also loves mushroom clouds... I know, don't ask.

So, as you can see, we are not looking to party hard the entire time; we are not that kind of couple.  We are the kind of couple that loves to experience new things and this entire trip will be new things for Hannah.  We are not asking the world to pay for everything we are doing on our trip; we are working people after all.  Instead we are just pointing out that you can help this trip be every bit as epic as it should and could be.  So over the next few months we will be describing another locale we hope to visit and let you all know how our plans are going.  Thank you again for all of your kind words and encouragement.

Best Laid Plans...

Hannah and I have been talking about this trip since the Fall of 2013 when we realized that we might be able to pull off this adventure.  Hannah expressed her desire to get married by Elvis, at a drive-thru, in Las Vegas.  After looking over the options I decided that if we were going to be doing that, then I wanted to do it on the back of a motorcycle.  After talking it over with my boss he said that I would need at least 10 days to do the trip right and we started to look at the calender.  It was decided that early Summer would be a good time to make the route I had planned as it would not be too cold in the Rockies and not too hot yet in the desert.

I have been spending so much time planning the trip that when Hannah's Mom asked about where we were registered it occurred to me that I hadn't thought of that.  So Hannah and I are still talking it over and we shall see what we come up with.  Honestly I am against registering someplace... I like to give people more options.  However, there ARE practical reasons for doing so and I don't know where we would put twenty toasters.

The route will cover 3352 miles as planned and will be going across some of the most amazing roads a person could ask for on a motorcycle.  We will be seeing man made and natural wonders of every size and shape... and some that will be beyond description.  Here is the link:

https://roadtrippers.com/trips/528c43b75c4c99a313000008

Please feel free to offer suggestions and thoughts!