Once More To The Lake

I never thought I'd be able to say it about this spot, but it came painfully clear from the first night: the glory days were over. Far from living up to its name, the 3rd½ Annual UR UrbEx Semi-Cold Sesqui-Awesome ExploroCamping Extravaganza felt like hollowly going through the motions of something that once was special. Gone are the hipsters and artists, here are the new order, the engineers. Even when it comes time for the traditions from old Concrete, the sausage roast, the pomegranates, tetherboating -- the rules are what they are, and rule us in our time of freedom…

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Home of the Wage Slave

Back to the familiar Sykes Datatronics building, with about 50 people from the UR group in tow this time! The biggest change from last year is the fresh graffiti, looks like the anarchists had something going here over the summer... I'm actually kind of sad I missed this Ancient keyboards are a pretty common thing here. They seem to have held up a lot better than any other computer parts. I think I found an internet! One imposing building from this side May '68 + January '07 = this Bad Business More HDR weirdness. Still not sure I like this...…

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Fluid Dynamics 101

I really needed a success today... Failmeet 2010 lived up to its name in so many epic ways, and it's looking like what was supposed to be my coming out as an explorer is actually about to be my disastrous fall from any semblance of respect. Took yet another temp-ban from UER today, and they gave me an ultimatum of explore somewhere new and quit or get banned. (Yes, you should be just as confused as me, this doesn't seem like a good set of options at all.) So I found a new place in Brockport, and convinced Ian to…

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Rico Cave

Does it still count when you can just tell they only met me out of pity? A cool spot but not much of an explore, which is probably the only reason two real explorers could be trusted to take me there. As expected, it wasn't much but awkward, Yield and CuriousGeorge curiously didn't want to be anywhere near me, being far above my level and loath to waste their time on someone so useless, in such a pointless place. I only took one photo worth saving (and experimenting heavily with HDR)

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Benson Mines

Benson's Mines wasn't anything new to me, I'd already been a few times last year, and seen most of the upper complex. But like any good location, it's full of secrets. This time, those secrets included an entire second complex on the other side of "Lake" Benson (the body of water created by the flooded mine). Much more isolated, this lower Benson would have survived in much better condition except for the out buildings being destroyed by fire in 1974. These leftover mine tracks go everywhere around the property, the particularly circular ones still hosting 4-wheeler racing, and the rest…

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