Republican State Legislatures Assume Leadership of Insurrection.

NiftyNiblick said:
Actually, I was serious about the transfer station, Rev.
What exactly is that?
I assume that it's not a station where you can transfer from one train line to another.
That's what a transfer station is in my town.
Click to expand...

Oops…sorry about that. In rural areas in most counties in Oklahoma we have no trash pickup service. To help people sort and handle their trash better most counties passed a county tax to provide dumpsters in rural communities for household trash and a transfer station for larger, sorted stuff…household stuff, recyclables, hazardous stuff and metals. Then they transfer it all to the proper places. I’m happy to pay the tax and happy to have a place to take my larger stuff. I have an old air conditioner that I’ll take, some old cans of paint and lots of scrap metal. Wouldn’t have any place to take it if it weren’t for the transfer station.

When I was a kid we had two trash cans in our house…burning and non burning. I was in charge of burning the trash in the burn barrel out back of the house. Dad took the non burning trash to my uncle’s place where he had a pit that he eventually covered. Probably wasn’t the best thing for the environment. This is a much better system.

My tribe also provides re-cycling bins just up the road from the transfer station. I have to take the stuff to the appropriate places but it’s good to have a place to take it.
 
leaningright said:
Oops…sorry about that. In rural areas in most counties in Oklahoma we have no trash pickup service. To help people sort and handle their trash better most counties passed a county tax to provide dumpsters in rural communities for household trash and a transfer station for larger, sorted stuff…household stuff, recyclables, hazardous stuff and metals. Then they transfer it all to the proper places. I’m happy to pay the tax and happy to have a place to take my larger stuff. I have an old air conditioner that I’ll take, some old cans of paint and lots of scrap metal. Wouldn’t have any place to take it if it weren’t for the transfer station.

When I was a kid we had two trash cans in our house…burning and non burning. I was in charge of burning the trash in the burn barrel out back of the house. Dad took the non burning trash to my uncle’s place where he had a pit that he eventually covered. Probably wasn’t the best thing for the environment. This is a much better system.

My tribe also provides re-cycling bins just up the road from the transfer station. I have to take the stuff to the appropriate places but it’s good to have a place to take it.
Click to expand...

I see.

I have never in my life lived in a place without trash pickup, which probably explains why I've never owned a pickup truck.
If one is used to carting one's own trash to the dump, I suppose that it's just a part of life.
I, of course, can't even imagine it.

Similarly, I'm sure that there are aspects of my life that wouldn't sit well with you, Rev.
Nevertheless, I suspect that you could adapt to the city lifestyle easier than I could adapt to the rural one.
Going from hard to easy is always easier than going from easy to hard.
 
Vacation starts tomorrow. Will rise at 3:30 am and catch a plane at 6 am. Flying into Sioux Falls, SD via Dallas layover. Have a rental car waiting for a 12 day drive and see tour of SD, ND, WI and MN. Never been to any of these states so I’m looking forward to it.

Also, since we will be spending so much time on the road this is the first time I will be transporting my CC weapon via air travel. After reading and re-reading the material of what type of container to use and what to do upon arrival at the airport, I am hoping to have dotted all of my I’s and crossed all of my t’s. If y’all read of a preacher being jailed for taking a gun into an airport, I may have to set up a Venmo account to collect donations for my bail. :)

We have some DDD places picked out to eat at. We let the son do the picking so we’ll be eating a variety of foods. Always enjoy trying the food when we travel and see new places.

I have hoed the garden and am in the process of mowing the yard. I have a young man (11 year old son of a friend) lined up to take care of our critters while we’re gone. That’s always an issue when we go away for several days. Someone has to feed my dogs and the wife’s cats. Happy this kid has gotten old enough.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Now that virtually all the Republican controlled state legislatures, with the complete blessing of our pig shit constitution,
are dismantling the democratic republic of the United States of America by taking over complete control of who votes
and whose ballots get counted,

storming the capitol should no longer be necessary.


They have discovered how unnecessary it was to start the previous civil war by firing on Fort Sumter.
They could have just stayed home and done it in a perfectly constitutionally compliant way.

Rural Christian conservatives are able to destroy the republic as a minority
because the genius founders provided them the right to do it.

What's worse, the confederates are not merely seeking separation anymore.
Now, they want to take over the whole thing.
That, however, they can only do with our help.
Blue States have legislatures as well. Also, a fuck of a lot more money.

Civilized progressive liberals have got to wake up.
We no longer have the luxury of believing in the idyllic America that we were told about by clueless grade school teachers.
It was a nice thought, but it was total bullshit. We should be easily able to see that now.

There are people in the middle of this country who hate us,
who hate our modern and humane ideas,
who worship a magic man in the sky,
and who believe that the magic man wants them in charge.
They have lots of guns.
They have no brains whatsoever.

The centrists and fence-sitters among us are not neutral;
they're clearly on the side of the shitkicker crackers.
They're all Joe Manchin without the expensive haircuts that they wouldn't be able to get back in their home states such as West Virginia.

So now, non-devolved, still with functioning brains humans, what do you plan to do about it?
You're not all pushing seventy-five.
Most of you will have to be here for a long, long time.
Do you wish to live like a human being,
or like a devolved mutant trumpanzee?

I have been the only contributor on this forum to remind you of what should have been obvious.

We have radical problems,
and there are NO moderate solutions to radical problems.

You can continue to be panty-waists fellating your precious constitution,
or you can decide that you'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES
to not live like some drooling cracker like the ones you've met here at JPP.
Click to expand...

Pick up your Rifle, traitor.
 
leaningright said:
Vacation starts tomorrow. Will rise at 3:30 am and catch a plane at 6 am. Flying into Sioux Falls, SD via Dallas layover. Have a rental car waiting for a 12 day drive and see tour of SD, ND, WI and MN. Never been to any of these states so I’m looking forward to it.

Also, since we will be spending so much time on the road this is the first time I will be transporting my CC weapon via air travel. After reading and re-reading the material of what type of container to use and what to do upon arrival at the airport, I am hoping to have dotted all of my I’s and crossed all of my t’s. If y’all read of a preacher being jailed for taking a gun into an airport, I may have to set up a Venmo account to collect donations for my bail. :)

We have some DDD places picked out to eat at. We let the son do the picking so we’ll be eating a variety of foods. Always enjoy trying the food when we travel and see new places.

I have hoed the garden and am in the process of mowing the yard. I have a young man (11 year old son of a friend) lined up to take care of our critters while we’re gone. That’s always an issue when we go away for several days. Someone has to feed my dogs and the wife’s cats. Happy this kid has gotten old enough.
Click to expand...

Your upcoming "vacation," Rev,
sounds like harder work
than anything I've ever had to take vacation from!!! This is not hyperbole.

You have on your itinerary not one destination that I have ever once considered as a holiday destination,
and what's more,
were I ever asked to take on such a trip,
it is I who would expect substantial remuneration for doing so.

Nevertheless, I've taken on recreational jaunts in which you'd be extremely unlikely to show interest as well.
I had fun, and the important thing is that you have fun as well.

On the one hand, I can't for the life of me imagine how you could,
but that's not for me to imagine.

On the other hand, you've generously shared insight into your interests with me,
and so without being able to actually imagine it,
I have every confidence that you know how to enjoy yourself.

I hope that you do, even beyond your expectations.
Have a fun trip and then get home safely. But really...the Dakotas?


Best,
Nifty.
 
First three days of the trip … we’ve logged just over 500 miles with sight seeing added in to highway miles. I’ve seen some things I’ve only read about in history books, as I do every trip I make. The people here are very friendly. Went to church in Pierre, SD Sunday morning then headed to the Badlands. Then on to the Wounded Knee memorial. Made the late drive to Custer State Park after that and spent two nights, seeing the normal sights like Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore and Needles Highway. That would have only been better if I had ridden my motorcycle up here. The plan is to be heading into North Dakota in the morning.









They’ve been working on Crazy Horse for 75 years. It won’t get completed in my grandchildren’s lifetime…but it is impressive. By comparison, Rushmore was completed in 14 years. Having great fun so far.

Edit: My son says I should talk about the food for future reference. We’ve hit a few greasy spoon diners that have been on DDD but today we went to a German restaurant…Schnitzel, Spaetzle, and if it ended in “wurst” we probably tried it. Bread pudding and apple streusel for dessert. Good stuff. This evening, a late supper (8:00) at an Indian/Nepalese restaurant. Chicken curry, lamb korma and momo dumplings … really fine.
 
Started the day visiting an old Army fort in North Dakota. It served as an Army post and was then used for (and continues to be used for) a Native American school. Reading the different placards as we went around the facility looking at what has been preserved since the mid to late 1800’s I am reminded of two things…

1. Education is absolutely a way to shape the minds of kids to teach them to accept or not accept certain things. Most of the early days of the “Indian School” were spent teaching the children whom the government had separated from their parents not to be “Indians” anymore.

2. Some Natives were actually grateful for being taught how to live in white man’s world and some were defiantly angry.

Both of those things of which I was reminded were absolutely true of the Natives in my neck of the woods in Oklahoma. My ancestors were put in boarding schools, separated from parents and siblings, and were “encouraged” to not speak Choctaw anymore…only English. They were encouraged to abandon several cultural idiosyncrasies as well.

Many of the people in the boarding school (which is about 40 miles from my house) were resentful but some were happy to have been given a way to succeed in the land of the white man. I never argue with them about which side is right but try to learn as much as I can about our Native culture. I find it to be very intriguing.

We then traveled to Minnesota where I walked across the Mississippi at Lake Itasca. I could have waded but I didn’t bring my wading shoes. It was great to see the start of the great Mississippi. Such a large, daunting looking river where we cross most of the time at Memphis, TN.

Spending the night in Grand Rapids and plan to meander our way to Minneapolis tomorrow. Putting a lot of miles on the old rental car, a Chevy Traverse, but it’s a good, comfortable ride.
 
leaningright said:
Started the day visiting an old Army fort in North Dakota. It served as an Army post and was then used for (and continues to be used for) a Native American school. Reading the different placards as we went around the facility looking at what has been preserved since the mid to late 1800’s I am reminded of two things…

1. Education is absolutely a way to shape the minds of kids to teach them to accept or not accept certain things. Most of the early days of the “Indian School” were spent teaching the children whom the government had separated from their parents not to be “Indians” anymore.

2. Some Natives were actually grateful for being taught how to live in white man’s world and some were defiantly angry.

Both of those things of which I was reminded were absolutely true of the Natives in my neck of the woods in Oklahoma. My ancestors were put in boarding schools, separated from parents and siblings, and were “encouraged” to not speak Choctaw anymore…only English. They were encouraged to abandon several cultural idiosyncrasies as well.

Many of the people in the boarding school (which is about 40 miles from my house) were resentful but some were happy to have been given a way to succeed in the land of the white man. I never argue with them about which side is right but try to learn as much as I can about our Native culture. I find it to be very intriguing.

We then traveled to Minnesota where I walked across the Mississippi at Lake Itasca. I could have waded but I didn’t bring my wading shoes. It was great to see the start of the great Mississippi. Such a large, daunting looking river where we cross most of the time at Memphis, TN.

Spending the night in Grand Rapids and plan to meander our way to Minneapolis tomorrow. Putting a lot of miles on the old rental car, a Chevy Traverse, but it’s a good, comfortable ride.
Click to expand...

A vacation without cocktails and showgirls is still a vacation, I suppose,

but it's hard to imagine all that driving being relaxing.

Is this one of those vacations from which one needs to take a vacation afterward?

Hope the good Rev is having fun.

I've spent almost no time in the interior of our big nation; changing flights at O'Hare is not really immersing oneself in the culture.
All the attractions are on or near the two coasts, I thought, but apparent this is not so.


My daughter, the lieutenant-detective, has attended conferences everywhere. She tells me that the heartlands seem more foreign to a Bostonian
than the UK does in some respects. Owl has told me some harrowing stories about what going to school in Missouri was like when she was a little girl.
Some girls were made to kneel on the floor to see if their skirts were too short. That would have gotten a teacher fired in Boston at the same point
in time, and probably sued if not arrested.

Then again, it's all in the way the stories are told. I imagine some of Middle America's kids have heard horror stories about Boston and New York and Philadelphia,
and if they never get around to coming here, think that its Sodom and Gomorrah.

That's just an expression to me, though; I've never actually heard the story about
Sodom and Gomorrah, so I shouldn't really comment. Was it sort of like Vegas?
I was raised Catholic, and Catholic Christianity is far less Bible-oriented than the other denominations.
I went to public grade school, but even at Catholic school, the curriculum is all New Testament oriented.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Have fun, Rev.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
…

Then again, it's all in the way the stories are told. I imagine some of Middle America's kids have heard horror stories about Boston and New York and Philadelphia,
and if they never get around to coming here, think that its Sodom and Gomorrah.

…

Anyway, I'm rambling. Have fun, Rev.
Click to expand...

It was great fun. One of these day when I have time I’ll try to chronicle the event for posterity. ;)

And the part that is bolded above is true … maybe both ways as you indicated. But I have done my best to take my boy to as many places as possible and expose him to as many people as possible, even Boston and New York City. I want him to know that people are people and there’s good and bad all over the world.

Edit: Oh, I could tell you about Sodom and Gomorrah but I don’t want to bore you too much. ;)
 
Vacation 2023...Day 1 - flew into Sioux Falls, SD on Saturday June 10, drove to Pierre and this was my supper... A wonderful bison burger with the works nestled between two grilled cheese sandwiches with onion rings on the side. Yes, I ate it all. Delicious.



Vacation 2023...Day 2, Sunday, June 12 - attended morning worship service in Pierre then started our tour of four states I had never visited. Sloppy joes at a local diner then on to the Badlands by way of an 1800's town where the offspring had a Sarsaparilla. Wonderful touring, saw some Dahl Sheep and other critters. It is great to drive and watch the change of landscape. Went to Wounded Knee late that evening … such a surreal feeling standing there overlooking where the massacre took place … then on to our hotel in Custer State Park. Got there at 10:30 pm MDT.





Vacation 2023...Day 3, Monday, June 12 - can't go to South Dakota without seeing Crazy Horse and going on a chuck wagon adventure. This year is the 75th anniversary of the start of Crazy Horse. Consider that Mount Rushmore was completed in about 14 years. There are lots of reasons for this but the Crazy Horse project not being willing to take government funding is at the top. In these pictures you'll see a completed sculpture of what they want in the foreground with the actual mountain sculpture in the background. This won't be finished in my son's lifetime.



Vacation 2023...Day 4, Tuesday, June 13, - Walking up to the initial Rushmore viewing area all I could do was stand there and stare. I know pride is not a positive thing most of the time but I couldn't help but feel proud when I looked at those images of those great contributors to the founding of our country. We made the 1.5 mile walk around and I was able to get a couple great shots of George Washington. After leaving there we made the drive through Needles Highway. Took a short train ride in Hill City, SD. We also had one of my favorite meals here at Alpine Inn...true German cuisine. Then we headed north to our next destination...Rapid City, SD.





Vacation 2023...Day 5, Wednesday, June 14, - Spearfish canyon in the Black Hills National Forest. More beautiful scenery, sheer cliffs and waterfalls. Then we made a stop at Bell Fourche in far northern SD, the geographical center of the USA. Had to think about that one but don't forget Alaska and Hawaii. We then visited Theodore Roosevelt State Park in ND where we saw the Painted Canyon and took a short hike. Visited the Fairview lift bridge over the Missouri...a lift bridge that was built and they only used the lift once, and that just to test it. Stayed the night at Wilson, ND.



Vacation 2023...Day 6, Thursday, June 15, - Went to Fort Union, a trading post where the Native Americans traded peacefully with the whites for several years. Then we visited an old army outpost called Fort Buford. After this we trucked off to Minot, ND. You might think that town is pronounced "men-oh," which is how we were saying it. But when we visited the Scandinavian Heritage Center there we listened closely to the locals. It's pronounced "my-not." From there we headed to Devil's Lake, ND to eat supper by the lake and spend the night.





Vacation 2023...Day 7, Friday, June 16, - Visited Fort Totten in North Dakota. It's a historic Army fort transformed into an Indian school. Then we went to Lake Itasca and the head of the Mississippi River. It's really something for us who mostly see the Southern portion of the river and how mighty and wide it is, to see the river used as a wading pool where you can wade across it or cross it on a foot log. I opted for the foot log. Finally we went to Bemidji, MN where we found Paul Bunyan and Babe.





Vacation 2023...Day 8, Saturday, June 17, - This was a big travel day as we made our way to Minneapolis. We saw a lot of country, a lot of little lakes (and some big ones), some dead porcupines and a few deer. Made our way to Duluth...because we wanted to. Went to Two Harbors and saw Lake Superior. Then on to Minneapolis where we visited the giant mall thing. Was glad to leave there though I did like seeing the Nickelodeon Theme Park.

Vacation 2023...Day 9, Sunday, June 18, - Went to morning worship in NW Minneapolis, had lunch at a Swiss restaurant then went to the Minneapolis Zoo. It was a good zoo but nothing really special. Supper that evening was surprisingly good. My son was in charge of choosing places to eat and he chose Moscow on the Hill in St. Paul for this evening. Russian food ...? ... ? Oh well, I tried it. Borscht, a Russian, beet based soup is all I had ever heard of as far as Russian food was concerned. I'm not fond of beets any way except pickled but this stuff was really good. My entree was some meat wrapped in cabbage leaves cooked in a tomato sauce of some sort. Mom used to make a similar dish so I ordered that and it was great. Tomorrow we make our way to Wisconsin.

Vacation 2023...Day 10, Monday, June 19 - By now I'm ready to be back home...but the tour of Lambeau Field was great. I'm not a Packers fan but I am a football fan and was indeed a Brett Favre fan. Such history. We then made our way from Green Bay, WI to Sheboygan (I love to say "Sheboygan") by way of a cheese shop or two. Saw Lake Michigan and walked out to a lighthouse. Drove to Milwaukee where I had to draw the line on the son's choice for evening dining. It was some tavern and grill that looked to be more tavern than grill. I said no way we were going in there. His alternate choice was a nice outside restaurant by the Kinnikinnick river. Super good fish ... Specifically a Grouper Reuben sandwich. Nice sunset as well.





Vacation 2023...Day 11, Tuesday, June 20 - We went to the Wisconsin Dells. It was a very developed, touristy place but the countryside was beautiful here. By the way, we saw upwards of 70 deer in Wisconsin that were dead...hit by vehicles, not to mention all of the live ones we saw. The wife had set up a boat tour of the Dells along the Wisconsin River. Very interesting scenery with a nice, relaxing ride and a couple of short walks. We had also planned on a wagon tour through some of the canyons but the hour wait would have made us very late getting to our hotel for the night at Rochester, MN so we opted to not take the wagon tour. Headed to Rochester for the night.



Vacation 2023...Day 12 (last day before heading home), Wednesday, June 21, - Went to Walnut Grove, MN. I've been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's little house books ever since I could read. Loved watching the TV series with my mom and don't watch a single one without remembering her. First though, we had lunch in Nellie's Diner. Then on to Sioux Falls, SD where we toured the city's namesake...the falls on the Big Sioux River. Then we took in some scenes from a walk in the Japanese gardens before supper at a restaurant Guy Fieri featured on one of his shows...Urban Chislic. We had Chislic, of course.





Vacation 2023...Day 13, Thursday, June 22 - The trip home. The flight from Sioux Falls was delayed for 1 1/2 hours. But gladly our connecting flight home was also delayed so we were able to make it. Yay! Got home about 9:30 pm. Drove the rented Traverse about 4400 miles by the time it was over. The garden is a jungle of tomato and squash vines…but we’ve been eating well since we got home. Love the fresh vegetables.

The states I’ve visited are in blue. My favorite states are states in which I could see myself living if I was ever to be displaced from Oklahoma. South Dakota is now on that list. I loved my time spent in that state.

 
leaningright said:
Vacation 2023...Day 1 - flew into Sioux Falls, SD on Saturday June 10, drove to Pierre and this was my supper... A wonderful bison burger with the works nestled between two grilled cheese sandwiches with onion rings on the side. Yes, I ate it all. Delicious.



Vacation 2023...Day 2, Sunday, June 12 - attended morning worship service in Pierre then started our tour of four states I had never visited. Sloppy joes at a local diner then on to the Badlands by way of an 1800's town where the offspring had a Sarsaparilla. Wonderful touring, saw some Dahl Sheep and other critters. It is great to drive and watch the change of landscape. Went to Wounded Knee late that evening … such a surreal feeling standing there overlooking where the massacre took place … then on to our hotel in Custer State Park. Got there at 10:30 pm MDT.





Vacation 2023...Day 3, Monday, June 12 - can't go to South Dakota without seeing Crazy Horse and going on a chuck wagon adventure. This year is the 75th anniversary of the start of Crazy Horse. Consider that Mount Rushmore was completed in about 14 years. There are lots of reasons for this but the Crazy Horse project not being willing to take government funding is at the top. In these pictures you'll see a completed sculpture of what they want in the foreground with the actual mountain sculpture in the background. This won't be finished in my son's lifetime.



Vacation 2023...Day 4, Tuesday, June 13, - Walking up to the initial Rushmore viewing area all I could do was stand there and stare. I know pride is not a positive thing most of the time but I couldn't help but feel proud when I looked at those images of those great contributors to the founding of our country. We made the 1.5 mile walk around and I was able to get a couple great shots of George Washington. After leaving there we made the drive through Needles Highway. Took a short train ride in Hill City, SD. We also had one of my favorite meals here at Alpine Inn...true German cuisine. Then we headed north to our next destination...Rapid City, SD.





Vacation 2023...Day 5, Wednesday, June 14, - Spearfish canyon in the Black Hills National Forest. More beautiful scenery, sheer cliffs and waterfalls. Then we made a stop at Bell Fourche in far northern SD, the geographical center of the USA. Had to think about that one but don't forget Alaska and Hawaii. We then visited Theodore Roosevelt State Park in ND where we saw the Painted Canyon and took a short hike. Visited the Fairview lift bridge over the Missouri...a lift bridge that was built and they only used the lift once, and that just to test it. Stayed the night at Wilson, ND.



Vacation 2023...Day 6, Thursday, June 15, - Went to Fort Union, a trading post where the Native Americans traded peacefully with the whites for several years. Then we visited an old army outpost called Fort Buford. After this we trucked off to Minot, ND. You might think that town is pronounced "men-oh," which is how we were saying it. But when we visited the Scandinavian Heritage Center there we listened closely to the locals. It's pronounced "my-not." From there we headed to Devil's Lake, ND to eat supper by the lake and spend the night.





Vacation 2023...Day 7, Friday, June 16, - Visited Fort Totten in North Dakota. It's a historic Army fort transformed into an Indian school. Then we went to Lake Itasca and the head of the Mississippi River. It's really something for us who mostly see the Southern portion of the river and how mighty and wide it is, to see the river used as a wading pool where you can wade across it or cross it on a foot log. I opted for the foot log. Finally we went to Bemidji, MN where we found Paul Bunyan and Babe.





Vacation 2023...Day 8, Saturday, June 17, - This was a big travel day as we made our way to Minneapolis. We saw a lot of country, a lot of little lakes (and some big ones), some dead porcupines and a few deer. Made our way to Duluth...because we wanted to. Went to Two Harbors and saw Lake Superior. Then on to Minneapolis where we visited the giant mall thing. Was glad to leave there though I did like seeing the Nickelodeon Theme Park.

Vacation 2023...Day 9, Sunday, June 18, - Went to morning worship in NW Minneapolis, had lunch at a Swiss restaurant then went to the Minneapolis Zoo. It was a good zoo but nothing really special. Supper that evening was surprisingly good. My son was in charge of choosing places to eat and he chose Moscow on the Hill in St. Paul for this evening. Russian food ...? ... ? Oh well, I tried it. Borscht, a Russian, beet based soup is all I had ever heard of as far as Russian food was concerned. I'm not fond of beets any way except pickled but this stuff was really good. My entree was some meat wrapped in cabbage leaves cooked in a tomato sauce of some sort. Mom used to make a similar dish so I ordered that and it was great. Tomorrow we make our way to Wisconsin.

Vacation 2023...Day 10, Monday, June 19 - By now I'm ready to be back home...but the tour of Lambeau Field was great. I'm not a Packers fan but I am a football fan and was indeed a Brett Favre fan. Such history. We then made our way from Green Bay, WI to Sheboygan (I love to say "Sheboygan") by way of a cheese shop or two. Saw Lake Michigan and walked out to a lighthouse. Drove to Milwaukee where I had to draw the line on the son's choice for evening dining. It was some tavern and grill that looked to be more tavern than grill. I said no way we were going in there. His alternate choice was a nice outside restaurant by the Kinnikinnick river. Super good fish ... Specifically a Grouper Reuben sandwich. Nice sunset as well.





Vacation 2023...Day 11, Tuesday, June 20 - We went to the Wisconsin Dells. It was a very developed, touristy place but the countryside was beautiful here. By the way, we saw upwards of 70 deer in Wisconsin that were dead...hit by vehicles, not to mention all of the live ones we saw. The wife had set up a boat tour of the Dells along the Wisconsin River. Very interesting scenery with a nice, relaxing ride and a couple of short walks. We had also planned on a wagon tour through some of the canyons but the hour wait would have made us very late getting to our hotel for the night at Rochester, MN so we opted to not take the wagon tour. Headed to Rochester for the night.



Vacation 2023...Day 12 (last day before heading home), Wednesday, June 21, - Went to Walnut Grove, MN. I've been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's little house books ever since I could read. Loved watching the TV series with my mom and don't watch a single one without remembering her. First though, we had lunch in Nellie's Diner. Then on to Sioux Falls, SD where we toured the city's namesake...the falls on the Big Sioux River. Then we took in some scenes from a walk in the Japanese gardens before supper at a restaurant Guy Fieri featured on one of his shows...Urban Chislic. We had Chislic, of course.





Vacation 2023...Day 13, Thursday, June 22 - The trip home. The flight from Sioux Falls was delayed for 1 1/2 hours. But gladly our connecting flight home was also delayed so we were able to make it. Yay! Got home about 9:30 pm. Drove the rented Traverse about 4400 miles by the time it was over. The garden is a jungle of tomato and squash vines…but we’ve been eating well since we got home. Love the fresh vegetables.

The states I’ve visited are in blue. My favorite states are states in which I could see myself living if I was ever to be displaced from Oklahoma. South Dakota is now on that list. I loved my time spent in that state.

Click to expand...
Looks like you’re having a great time and nice weather. You really must visit Alaska.
 
Phantasmal said:
Looks like you’re having a great time and nice weather. You really must visit Alaska.
Click to expand...

Alaska is on my bucket list … and it needs to be soon so I am physically able to enjoy it. I love off road and off trail hiking. My wife is slowing down though…it is getting rougher on her. Yes, we need to go to Alaska sooner rather than later.
 
The weeks since our vacation have been busy and there are no signs of slowing down. I’ve been harvesting garden vegetables, canning pickles and pickled jalapeños, freezing squash and giving away all sorts of tomatoes. I have about a 1/2 bushel of squash to get ready for the freezer today.

It is an unpleasant time as we are going to have to get a “new” vehicle. I put “new” in quotes because we always buy used. I’ve only bought two actually new vehicles in my life. One was a bust … I hated it and the other was great … I still have it. Anyway, I don’t like the bother of having to go to a dealership and haggle with the salesmen. Besides the $40K-$50K I’m going to have to pony up, I have to get used to driving something else. I hope the newer Tahoes drive well.

Also, we are getting ready to have some re-modeling done on our house. Making a bathroom more old person accessible, repairing some tornado damage to drywall caused by flex, and readjusting piers under the house. This will run about $10K. I know I should be more grateful for being able to afford everything but I know how hard I worked to save what we have. But when you own a house there’s always going to be a need for repairs/upgrades. I used to do most of this stuff myself but I simply do not have time now.

Summer is quickly winding down as I will have to start back to school in early August. It’s crazy how fast time goes. I heard a preacher describe it saying that life was like a roll of toilet paper … The closer one gets to the end of the roll the faster it spins. That’s definitely proving to be true.
 
leaningright said:
The weeks since our vacation have been busy and there are no signs of slowing down. I’ve been harvesting garden vegetables, canning pickles and pickled jalapeños, freezing squash and giving away all sorts of tomatoes. I have about a 1/2 bushel of squash to get ready for the freezer today.

It is an unpleasant time as we are going to have to get a “new” vehicle. I put “new” in quotes because we always buy used. I’ve only bought two actually new vehicles in my life. One was a bust … I hated it and the other was great … I still have it. Anyway, I don’t like the bother of having to go to a dealership and haggle with the salesmen. Besides the $40K-$50K I’m going to have to pony up, I have to get used to driving something else. I hope the newer Tahoes drive well.

Also, we are getting ready to have some re-modeling done on our house. Making a bathroom more old person accessible, repairing some tornado damage to drywall caused by flex, and readjusting piers under the house. This will run about $10K. I know I should be more grateful for being able to afford everything but I know how hard I worked to save what we have. But when you own a house there’s always going to be a need for repairs/upgrades. I used to do most of this stuff myself but I simply do not have time now.

Summer is quickly winding down as I will have to start back to school in early August. It’s crazy how fast time goes. I heard a preacher describe it saying that life was like a roll of toilet paper … The closer one gets to the end of the roll the faster it spins. That’s definitely proving to be true.
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To me, summer is just starting. It ends third week of September.
I would have to swallow my entire Prozac bottle if I thought summer were almost over so soon--
especially considering how much I hate winter [although our autumns are beautiful in New England].

We always started school in early September, the Wednesday after Labor Day.
I would have absolutely hated to go back to school before Labor Day.
Labor Day was always the "good bye" bash when we bode farewell to our friends at the beach,
and when some of us faced the reality that our summer romances were ending.

Labor Day was similar to Prom Night for kids experiencing the "first time,"
and it was often melancholy "break up sex" that sticks in your head forever.

I doubt that I would have survived youth in Middle America.
In any case, my entire life would have been different.
I wouldn't have memories on which I count now to tolerate being in my dotage.
 
It’s 10:15 pm and I just came in from feeding the dogs after returning from Siloam Springs, AR, where we went to purchase a used Tahoe this afternoon. It’s a 2 hour drive and by the time the missus could get loose from work we couldn’t leave here until about 2:30. The drive there, test driving the vehicle, making the deal, getting supper and then driving home took a total of 7 hours.

Oh well, it’s done and we have a newer vehicle as our main one. A GM certified 2020 4WD with a towing package, just over 50K miles for $40,000. It is black with a gray interior. We go back to pick it up Monday as they hadn’t detailed it yet. I paid an extra $3200 for a 4 year, 48K mile warranty. I’ve never used a vehicle extended warranty yet but have never regretted purchasing them either.

Glad to have that summer project completed. Now Monday the remodelers are supposed to be here to start our other summer project.
 
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