Monday, June 30, 2014

My Most Useful Christmas Present

My Most Useful Christmas Present :

Lebanon, MO, Library

 

    On Christmas 2012 my brother gave me a Torch Crank Light, engineered by GoalZero of Utah. I've used it at night virtually 95% of the time since.
    It has 18 bright, white LEDs.

 

 

 

    It can be charged in several ways: via 1)sunlight, 2)12v d.c., 3)110v a.c., or 4)hand crank.

 

 

 

 

 

     From left to right: the box with a $30 price tag on it, the torch solar crank light, on top, the a.c. adapter, and the d.c. charger curled around a small operations booklet.

 

 

Torch Technical Specs     Charge Times
  • AC/DC Adapters: 6-7 hrs
  • Solar Panel: 9-10 hrs
  • Hand Crank: 1 min = 10 min light
Additional Specs
  • Weight: 11.2oz (320g)
  • Dimensions: 10x2.5x1.5 in (25.4x6.35x3.3 cm)
    • Address:

    Goal Zero

    675 W 14600 S Rd

    Bluffdale UT 84065

[Return to the top of the page]
Links:
Routes:

T 5 Aug Actual Route: Bolivar Walmart - Buffalo - Two Lane - Lebanon Lib - Walmart

W 6 Aug Actual Route: Lebanon Walmart - Lebanon Lib - Springfield - Kearney St Walmart

Th 7 Aug Actual Route: Springfield - Kearney St Walmart

F 8 Aug Actual Route: Kearney St Walmart - Hardees - Seymour - Mountain Grove - West Plains, MO, W/M

Sa 9 Aug Actual Route: West Plains, MO, W/M - Doniphan - Pocahontas, AR, Walmart

Su 10 Aug Actual Route: Pocahontas, AR, W/M - New Madrid, MO - Sikeston W/M

M 11 Aug Actual Route: Sikeston W/M - Cairo, IL - Clinton, KY - Fulton, KY, W/M

T 12 Aug Actual Route: Fulton, KY, W/M - Union City, TN, Lowe's - Reelfoot State Park

W 13 Aug Actual Route: Reelfoot S. P. - Tiptonville - Dyersburg Lowe's - Dyersburg W/M

Th 14 Aug Actual Route: Dyersburg W/M - Hayti McDs - Scott City McDs - Cape Giradeau Lowe's - Walmart

Finding Campgrounds:

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Fort Union, National Monument, New Mexico

Fort Union, National Monument, New Mexico :

Independence, MO, Midwest Genealogy Center

    The remnants of Fort Union, once the largest military post in the SouthWest, as seen from the road to the Visitor Center.
    Even with the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1879, there were a few such as my great-grandfather, George Thomas Lemmon, who still made the trip because they owned a wagon and stock.

 

    Several other locations of note according to this plaque are 1)the Samuel Watrous Store, 2)Las Vegas, NM, where Gen Kearny claimed the NM Territory for the U.S. in 1846, 3)Kearnys Gap, where, in 1821, after Mexico's independence from Spain, trading was opened up in the area, 4)Bernal (aka Starvation) Peak, 5)San Miguel del Vado, first Hispanic Church, and 6)Kozlowski's Stage Station.

 

 

        A view of what's left of Fort Union from just behind the Visitor Center. [Photos Taken: early June 2014]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Zooming in....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    "Six wards, 36 beds with a maximum capacity of 60 or more, a surgeon and assistant surgeon with a staff of 8, made this one of the best hospitals in the West." [Supposedly the best hospital in 500 miles.]

 

 

 

 

    Another view of the remainder of the post from behind the Visitor Center.

 

 

 

 

 

    It's unclear when this photo was taken. Was it by balloon sometime after the Civil War? As stated, some of the ruts you see are still visible today.

 

 

 

 

 

    Indeed -- some of those ruts are visible just over the top of the plaque.

 

 

 

 

 

    Don't know where the loudspeaker was (on the flagpole?), but it was sufficiently loud to raise the dead. [What? Union soldier vampires?!?!]

        The only way for an enlisted man's wife to live with him was to agree to do not only his laundry but that of 18 other soldiers as well.

 

 

 

 

    The Stockade -- from which many miscreants were unlikely to escape once the missing iron doors were locked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Ah Ha! There's that aggravating speaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    An 1866 photo of Post HQ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    "Who gathers the wood for all these fireplaces, Captain?
    Now that you asked...."

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A plaque explaining the third and final Fort Union, which was built in 1863 and abandoned in 1891, 12 years after the railroad to Santa Fe was completed.

 

 

[Return to the top of the page]
Links:
Routes:

Sa 26 Jul Actual Route: St Joseph W/M - Rushville, MO - Atchinson, KS, Lib - Walmart

Su 27 Jul Actual Route: Atchinson, KS, W/M - Library - Leavenworth Lib - Leavenworth W/M

M 28 Jul Actual Route: Leavenworth W/M - Leavenworth Lib - Kansas City, KS - KC, MO - Independence W/M

T 29 Jul Actual Route: Independence W/M - Blue Sprs RV CG

W 30 Jul Actual Route: Blue Sprs RV CG - Independence Midwest Genealogy Ctr - Walmart

Th 31 Jul Actual Route: Walmart - Independence Midwest Genealogy Ctr - Walmart

F 1 Aug Actual Route: Walmart - Independence Midwest Genealogy Ctr - Walmart

Sa 2 Aug Actual Route: Walmart - Independence Mid-W Gen Ctr - Blue Sprs - Butler - Nevada W/M

Su 3 Aug Actual Route: Nevada W/M - Ft Scott, KS - Nevada McDs - Walmart

M 4 Aug Actual Route: Nevada W/M - El Dorado Sprs -Humansville - Bolivar Walmart

T 5 Aug Route: Bolivar Walmart - Buffalo - Two Lane - Lebanon Lib - Walmart

Finding Campgrounds:

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

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Friday, June 20, 2014

Pipestone National Monument, Minnesota

Pipestone National Monument, MN :

Beatrice, NE, Library

    The Sioux story of Creation as recorded by George Catlin in 1836 speaks of a large bird calling all the tribes around him, breaking out a piece of red stone formed into a pipe and smoking it, the smoke rolling over all those gathered there.
    The plaque explains that because clay was between the layers of quartzite, it eventually became compressed into the souce of pipestones for many tribes. [Photos Taken: 8 Jul]

 

 

    An active quarry where you can see much quartzite but virtually no pipestone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Another bigger quarry which is also still in use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        At last some evidence of the mottled pink to brick-red rock which the Indians seek for their pipes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A close-up of the rock layers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A small lake which, along with the stream feeding it, contained small trout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The high point, literally and figuratively, of the 3/4-mile Circle Trail as well as the source of water for the small lake: Winnewissa Falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A different view of the falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Where??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Look closely near the center; the nose points right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    OK. Here's a close-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    I would have guessed Apache Lake; the park service employee who named the lake must have been from the East Coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Unless you're a buffalo, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER.

 

 

 

 

 

    Finally, the Three Maidens. [Three Glacial Erratics.]

 

 

 

 

[Return to the top of the page]
Links:
Routes:

M 21 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Beatrice W/M

T 22 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Arby's - Beatrice W/M

W 23 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Salvation Army - Beatrice W/M

Th 24 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Marysville, KS, Lib - Walmart

F 25 Jul Actual Route: Marysville W/M - St Joseph, MO - Mound City - St Joseph W/M

Sa 26 Jul Actual Route: St Joseph W/M - Rushville, MO - Atchinson, KS, Lib - Walmart

Su 27 Jul Actual Route: Atchinson, KS, W/M - Library - Leavenworth Lib - Leavenworth W/M

M 28 Jul Actual Route: Leavenworth W/M - Leavenworth Lib - Kansas City, KS - KC, MO - Independence W/M

T 29 Jul Actual Route: Independence W/M - Blue Sprs RV CG

W 30 Jul Actual Route: Blue Sprs RV CG - Independence BR Lib - Walmart

Th 31 Jul Route: Walmart - Independence BR Lib

Finding Campgrounds:

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

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Monday, June 16, 2014

North Dakota Badlands: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND :

Beatrice, NE, Library

 

    I chose site #1 in the Cottonwood CG, separated from the garbage cans by some wild roses. Note the lack of defense against "garbage bears" -- a problem in other Natl Parks but not here. [Photos:19 & 20 Jun]

 

 

 

 

    A grzzley might like buffalo meat, but they apparently prefer the more mountainous states to the west. [Incidentally, don't stand too close to a bison with an arched tail or your shoes will be in the splatter zone.]

 

 

 

 

        I drove the Scenic Loop Drive in the counter-clockwise direction; the photo may be from may be from the Soria Pt Overlook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

        No, not an ant hill, but an unusual case of nearly uniform wear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Panning left....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A "cool," dark-haired mound with shades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    More Mounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The first of several shots from the North Dakota Badlands Overlook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Panning right....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Panning right yet again....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Yet more evidence of the lack of animals of the genus Ursus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A plethora of colors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    From near the Buck Hill Road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Zooming in....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The first of several shots from Boicourt Overlook, which is reputed to provide the best views of the North Dakota Badlands.

 

 

 

 

 

    Believe I walked a ways left or right before taking this photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    I continued my counter-clockwise loop in the South Unit.

 

 

 

 

 

    Though I did not walk it, the Coal Vein Trail visited an area where a fire burned from 1951 to early 1977.

 

 

 

 

 

[Return to the top of the page]
Links:
Routes:

Sa 12 Jul Actual Route: Council Bluffs W/M - Percival, IA, Wendys - Auburn, NE - Beatrice W/M

Su 13 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Arby's - Beatrice W/M

M 14 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Arby's - Lib - Beatrice W/M

T 15 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Lincoln - Omaha VA Hosp ER - Council Bluffs, IA, W/M

W 16 Jul Actual Route: Council Bluffs W/M - Omaha, NE - Lincoln - Beatrice Lib - Beatrice W/M

Th 17 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - Fairbury McDs - Hebron Trk Stop

F 18 Jul Actual Route: Hebron Trk Stop - Geneva Lib - Geneva Cemetery - Beatrice W/M

Sa 19 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice P.O. - Beatrice Lib - - Beatrice W/M

Su 20 Jul Actual Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - - Beatrice W/M

M 21 Jul Route: Beatrice W/M - Beatrice Lib - - Beatrice W/M

Finding Campgrounds:

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

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