There isn’t much to Rachel, Nevada (population: 54), the town closest to the secretive Area 51 military base. Not even a gas station. And there’s very little else to see along the Extraterrestrial Highway until you arrive here, so the lights of the Little A’Le’Inn are all that illuminate this desolate stretch of Nevada outback.
Area 51 itself is difficult to find, as it’s not listed on maps, and the faint roads leading to its encircling barrier fences are rough and muddy. A traveler can only hope to spot something unexplained in the sky, but all we saw that day were thunderclouds carrying in a heavy rainstorm.
Today the Department of Extraordinary Upcycling salutes B&E, a pair of backyard farmers in Idaho who used a pair of old satellite dishes and a trampoline frame to construct an outstanding UFO chicken coop for their growing flock:
Although it doesn’t feature a tractor beam to lift the hens into their house, the coop is insulated, ventilated, heated, and equipped with surveillance cameras and LED lights throughout for that extraterrestrial ambiance.
Head over to Backyard Chickens for process photos and additional info about the creations of this geektastic chicken coop.
growing Giant Pumpkins is an intense and highly competitive practice as growers produce larger and larger pumpkins every year and enter them in various competitions.
the largest pumpkins currently top a ton in weight, and seeds from these prize-winning goliaths can sell for hundreds of dollars apiece proving there is indeed such a thing as a Pedigree Pumpkin.
Did you know that in Oregon there is a boat race where the boats are pumpkins? It’s called the Giant Pumpkin Regatta and it looks like this:
Damariscotta Maine also has a pumpkin regatta, most are like the picture above where paddles are the propelling force but a special section has engines attached to the pumpkins
the pumpkinfest also gives out giant pumpkin seeds (for free!) for people to grow. During the festival you can see the racers construct their boats
