Our RV Adventures

I came across this website that has almost 200 photos taken between 1887 and 1892, mostly in the Black Hills of South Dakota that I thought you might like to see.

Ever wonder what Sturgis looked like before motorcycles clogged the streets? Well, back then it was teams of oxen, the 1880’s equivalent of today’s semi’s, moving freight across the plains.

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This is not a wagon train of settlers, but a line of ‘freighter’s’ moving between Sturgis and Deadwood. It turns out that there were long lines of these teams moving goods back and forth across the country.

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And here’s the Devil’s Tower taken in 1888. Note the bulge on the left side of the base.

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And here’s our photo taken 120 years later in 2008. I took this from the RV park where we spent the night before visiting the Tower the next day. Looks like we were kind of close to the same position.

You can view all these photos here. South Dakota 1888

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On another note, some of you might be interested in checking out this book.

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch

It’s a survivor’s guidebook, not covering actual survival skills, but it’s a discussion on ‘how to orchestrate the rebuilding of a technologically advanced civilization’ after a world-wide catastrophe, i.e., asteroid impact, global plague, nuclear war, etc. I just started it today, but I like it so far. Very interesting.

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I don’t know where our niece Christina keeps digging up these old photos, but they bring back a lot of memories.

These are our kids, Chris and Brandi, in the back, and Jan’s sister Debbie’s kids, Tana and Christina sitting on their laps, and Jason in the foreground. Jan thinks this was taken here in Houston when they visited us in July 1983. We think.
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I came across this article talking about a 2 year technical school education being worth a lot more money than a 4 year liberal arts college degree, especially in the old fields.

A company working in the Ohio Marcellus Shale area has 60 pipeline welders making over $150,000 a year, and 2 making over $200,000. And they don’t have enough welders to cover all the work they have. And that’s just one company.

I’ve always thought it was a mistake for high schools to drop the many technical classes they used to give. Most people have no idea how much money a good mechanic, plumber, electrician, or an HVAC guy can make. And in many cases, if you show an aptitude, the company will train you.

Tomorrow Jan and I are going to do a daytrip up through the Brenham-Hempstead area to check out the bluebonnets, and of course, the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.
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Thought for the Day:

“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; moderation in principle is always a vice.” – Thomas Paine

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