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Lilah and I lucked out with the first sunny day in a week as we headed up to White River Junction for a mini-escape.

We spent most of the day at the Montshire Museum of Science - there's a new exhibit about the engineering inside toys.

Before the sun disappeared, we hiked down to the waterfall which was a bit of a slippery challenge with wet leaves and mud. I was really surprised to see the lake was mostly empty, must be a dam somewhere? We could walk right out onto the lake bed!

I was mesmerized by this sand machine I found near the back wall. I spent about an hour adjusting the dials and watching the sand bubble up, then fall. It was like a volcano. I was trying to make the sand in the center fall in without taking all the side walls with it. I had it figured out when a kid walked up and started randomly turning the knob... AAAAHHHHH!

I really want one of these in my studio. I felt so calm... I wonder if there are instructions on YouTube. All I can figure out is it has different weights of sand granules, between two pieces of glass, lit from behind (just a strong spotlight in back) and the dial controls the flow of... water? air? that sends bubbles through the lighter sand.

I hope to get back up here again soon - and, fingers crossed, work on some more science kits for the museum!