I took my little family to our favorite secluded sandbar spot tonight, and it was a win on all counts. Wading in the river cooled us off in the warm early evening, a bonfire allowed for heat as dark approached and provided opportunity for lessons in fire safety while letting the boys poke sticks into the fire, and we got to watch the die-hards in the area continue to light off expensive fireworks.
One of the best parts was dancing with my wife. After a while one of the boys came up and pointed out that we were making a circle with our feet, which was pretty cool too.
I have fond memories of going to the sandbar under the Memorial Bridge in the 80s, especially in the evening after various practices would get over and we’d get a group of guys assembled for some frisbee. We’d have some fusion jazz going on a big boom box and hang out at sunset until we couldn’t see the frisbee anymore, then jet up the hill and eat insane amounts of A&W food. So to be able to share the music, the sunset, the frisbee and football with my sweetie and my little guys brings back old memories even as we forge new ones.
That’s right: I didn’t say “July 4th” – it’s Independence Day. I was hoping to walk in the parade today, but my knee said otherwise. So it was painkillers, Ace bandage, and sidelines. But I did get to spend the time with my oldest boy and some friends in town from Idaho, so that’s a plus. Here are some photos of things I found interesting:
The colors. It was nice to see people rise and salute the flag, hands over their hearts, without anyone having to tell them.
Bismarck High School football carrying Old Glory. The parade’s in Mandan, but we’re one big happy Bis-Man community.
Serving and Protecting. Morton County is going back to silver vehicles again, which is too bad – I like the way their white and blue ones look. Especially the reflective blue stripe.
Since the liberals are fighting pipelines and now oil by train, this is how Bakken crude is going to make it to market.
Because it’s in North Dakota, the parade requires a Zamboni. The folks accompanying this parade entry were on roller blades. Cool, but probably spooky if one gets horse poo on those wheels.
I can’t see this without thinking about this song by They Might Be Giants. It’s a beast like this which helped assemble that giant weather vane construction crane at St. Alexius.
My friend and karate training buddy Nathan Toman, who I believe is running for reelection to represent Morton County. Please give him your vote.
One of the most colorful entries every year from ACE towing. I did happen to notice something on the side of this tow truck I hadn’t seen before, though:
A little tribute to the law enforcement officers we lost a few years back.
There’s only one way to heaven, and that’s through being born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Good to see a church proclaiming it!
This was one of the coolest entries I saw: pedal powered! Plenty of people shared the responsibility of propulsion duty.
The pedals turned a shaft which went to a gearbox and turned the rear wheels. I never did see how the front wheels steer, though.
Any event which has a bubble machine is a fun time in my book. This float actually had two, but it was the other components of the entry that caught our eye:
I’m going to resist any puns here. This looks like it was a lot of fun to drive. Note the wheelie bar. I never saw that part put to use. But that’s not all…
Rub a dub dub! This tub gizmo, along with the motorized toilet and outhouse trailer show a commitment to putting on a good display for this year’s parade.
One participant to keep an eye on every year is Butcher Block Meats. They always do what I wish more Mandan parade entries would do: make an actual FLOAT. They always motorize something, too – and this was no exception:
It’s good to see they wanted to keep up the creativity this year. Now I’ve got to show my kids some Yogi and Boo-Boo cartoons – I really haven’t shown them much from the Hanna-Barbera catalog.
And finally, the Bowdon Meats folks decided to do a little Beverly Hillbillies thing. Although they’re not necessarily in a part of North Dakota where the ground is “a-bubblin’ crude”.
At this point the heat was getting to my little guy, even though we had shade nearby for an occasional respite, so I honored his wishes and packed up for home. Looking down the line I could see that the next several entries were mostly vehicles, not actual floats. Although I have no doubt there were some occasional gems in there, nothing within view caught my eye, so it was easy to pry myself away. In future parades it would be cool to see more bona fide floats of clever design rather than vehicles with logos plastered on them. But for the time we spent today, the photos prove that we saw plenty of cool stuff on parade for Independence Day.
I was originally going to title this post, “I finally found a Fallen Farm I didn’t like”…but darn it, the place actually has a lot of character. The old camper is certainly retro cool, and the boat lying in the grass could come in handy if that pond overflows. While originally I just thought this was a junky mess, I now think it’s more of a funky one.
Normally it’d be impolite to point outs omething like that, but in this case I don’t think my subject will mind. This barn has fascinated me for a long time, but I’ve never tracked down the owners to ask if I can approach it more closely. The land it’s on is posted, and as you know I have a general rule about obeying other people’s property rights. Thankfully it’s photogenic from the road, too!
I spotted this attachment along the road near Fish Creek Dam last weekend and had to stop for a shot. My hope was to catch the butte in the background along with the beautiful blue sky, and I did accomplish that. Not really sure what I think about the fence posts, though. I scooted back and forth and couldn’t quite get things to line up the way I wanted. If I moved so the front post wasn’t in front of the attachment, I lost the butte. If I moved back, I lost the perspective. So I decided to just center the post on the equipment and shoot it this way. I think it turned out pretty well considering it wasn’t my original vision.
We were treated to quite a show here in Bismarck-Mandan tonight. I was on the east end of Bismarck when I spotted this building cloud to the west. The sun had just moved behind it, making that “silver lining” glow like a bolt of lightning. And oh, the rays!
My little boy thought it looked like God was playing hide and seek behind the cloud, and I couldn’t argue that assessment.
Before long it was in full bloom and moving overhead, so I grabbed my camera from the back of the truck (the previous photos were from my iPod) and snapped one more shot before the cloud dissipated even more.
If you find yourself in the northeastern part of the state and need to suds your duds, consider stopping by this quaint little display along Highway 1 north of Lakota. Better wear skeeter repellent though!
Which reminds me of my preferred method of dealing with mosquitoes, a la 1990s:
Here’s a panoramic photo of Planes and Pancakes, the aerial version of Buggies ‘n’ Blues. If you follow my blog’s Facebook page you saw a pinned post with a copy of their poster listing all the various attractions during the day. One of the highlights of this event for me, though, is the breakfast. The breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, country style sausage, and fresh pancakes. Yum. It’s free with a request for donation, which I think benefits the local EAA club.
What’s cool about this is that Dave from A&B Pizza, an aviator himself, puts on the breakfast as a way of supporting the aircraft organization and helping assure the event’s success. I wanted to issue a public “thank you” last year and never got around to it, but this year I’m giving props where they’re deserved.
This weekend I finished the last thing on my list as far as my Cold War Mancation series. I’d visited many military and historic sites around North Dakota, but one was missing: Cavalier Air Force Station. I’d actually had one opportunity to visit, four years ago, then one of my kids took a tumble and had to go in for a possible concussion. I was twenty miles down the road when my wife called, and I had to do an abrupt u-turn and abort the trip. No such interruption this weekend.
Cavalier AFS had an open house with a bunch of cool stuff and activities, but I didn’t take many photos of that. I arrived later than I’d hoped but with plenty of time to look around. The point of the trip: tour the building above. It’s an enormous Phased Array Radar (PAR), the most powerful space radar in the nation’s arsenal and capable of spotting a softball or smaller object (depending on who you ask) coming over the North Pole.
No electronics are allowed in the building, so naturally photography was out of the question. In fact, that’s kind of the point. I had lots of egghead questions for the various people who presented on what they do, and it was absolute geek heaven. Everything I’d hoped it would be.
Of course I had to stop in by the giant pyramid in Nekoma, part of a decommissioned system that worked with the PAR during its original configuration to launch and guide nuclear-tipped missiles to intercept ICBMs inbound from the north.
There is so much fascinating history about these two sites that my head starts spinning when I begin to think about regurgitating what I’ve learned about them. Instead I think I’ll simply but emphatically suggest that you do your own research. They are very fascinating places, and the Cavalier Air Force Station site still performs extremely valuable service to our nation.
This should get you started: www.srmsc.org. Have fun!
I had an equine audience for a second as I roamed my favorite area of rural Morton County – let’s face it, most of it is rural – last weekend with a friend who was in town from Philly. I only had a second or two to try to get this shot, because they obviously figured I had food. Right after I took this photo they began working their way down the long hill toward the truck, obviously hoping for some goodies. Maybe I’ll have to take a bag of apples with me next time!
I took my little family to our favorite secluded sandbar spot tonight, and it was a win on all counts. Wading in the river cooled us off in the warm early evening, a bonfire allowed for heat as dark approached and provided opportunity for lessons in fire safety while letting the boys poke sticks into the fire, and we got to watch the die-hards in the area continue to light off expensive fireworks.
One of the best parts was dancing with my wife. After a while one of the boys came up and pointed out that we were making a circle with our feet, which was pretty cool too.
Click for larger version.
