WINDMILL VIDEO

WINDMILLS, WINDMILLS, WINDMILLS

As we were heading south through Western Minnesota, we passed through the small town of Jasper.  Unbeknownst to me, Jasper is home to The Windmill Man, Terry Rodman.  On the outskirts I spied some windmills of various types and sizes.  I told Cathie that after setting up camp nearby we just had to go and take a look at them.  The next day, Cathie opted to stay in camp, but our camping buddies, Len and Joe agreed to go and have a look.

The windmills, we later learned there were 44 of them, were all set up in the yard of a lone house in the corn fields.  No fences and with a pathway through them, it was as though we were being invited to go and admire them.  There were tall ones and short ones, there ones from different counties, China, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Netherlands, and Argentina.  There ones with huge fans, and small fans.  There were ones with wooden fans and one with two fans.  I was being overtaken with Windmill Envy.

After, we headed back to came driving through the small town.  We came upon, The Windmill Man shop and with the door open, we took that an invitation to stop and take a peek inside.  There was someone inside with his back to us working at a work bench.  “Hello”, I said and didn’t get a response.  I repeated my greeting and still, no response, so we walked in getting closer to the man, and upon my third, “Hello”, he slowly turned around.  I asked if he was the Windmill Man, and he said that he was an employee.  His name was Paul and was definitely past his prime.  He explained that he was the Windmill Man’s only employee and that the boss was out for the day.  At some point in the conversation, he told us that he was 94 years old and had been working a long time in the shop.  He explained that the boss was much younger and in his late 70’s.  Once we got him talking he showed us around the shop and explained how some of the mills worked.  There were two giant wooden wind mill fans that he had help restore and having painted each vane 3 times knew exactly how many vanes there were.  94!

The next day knowing that Cathie would also appreciate seeing the windmills, she and I went back.  As luck would have it, the Windmill Man, Terry, happened to be there.  He told us about his collection and shared with us how some of the worked.  He even demonstrated a tilting windmill for us.  I asked how he got started collecting them.  He said he wife asked for a Dutch Windmill, you know the small ones you see in people’s yards.  He told her that if she wanted a windmill, he would make her one, but it had to be a real windmill.  He explained that his shop roll up door had and opening of 16 feet.  So, he built the windmill in three separate sections, each being 15’ 9” tall, trucked them to the house and put them together with a crane.

Of, course I had to tell him that I once had a windmill, but it stayed at our house when we sold it.  I asked if he had any for sale, and he pointed to the field across the road where he had stored numerous windmill towers and various parts.  He said he could restore on for me for what I considered was a very reasonable price. All I had to do is get it to Arizona.  We shook hands and I said I would consider his offer.  We shall see it there is a new windmill in the cards.

GRANDKIDS, A GREAT MUSEUM AND MORE

We’ve been moving right along, Bluff, UT for a night, two nights in Meeker, CO and on to Lander, WY to meet up with grandkids, McKyle and Aislynn.  Kyle having obtained his Bachelors Degree in Wild Land Management and Wildlife Biology has landed a job with the Natural Resources Conservation Service-Sage Grouse Initiative.  Basically he works with the BLM, Forest Service, state agencies and area ranchers to maintain the Sage Grouse’s range.  If this sounds like keeping people out, it’s not.  It’s goal is to maintain a healthy Sage Grouse population to keep them off the endangered species list.

Aislynn, drove up from Denver where she is attending collage studying crime scene forensics.  We all spent the weekend doing tourist stuff, visiting and eating way too much.  

One of the the highlights was visiting the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois.  This museum opened in 2020 and houses a collection of military vehicles and weapons.  Over 500 tanks, trucks, jeeps, and various speciality vehicles, all of which have been restored and most are in running condition.  The museum is divided into galleries, each representing a different war.  At 160,000 square feet under one roof, with technical descriptions of each vehicle, displayed in ways depicting how many of them were used.  So, who collected all these machines?  They are the collection of one man.

Dan Starks, is the retired CEO of Abbott Laboratories and is on the board of directors for St Jude Hospital.  He didn’t start out collection military vehicles with a museum in mind, but as his collection grew, he began showing his collection, which at the time, was housed in two barns.  There was so much interest that he built the current building at a cost of 100 million dollars.  In the town of Dubois, he  built a facility to restore the vehicles and employs 6 full time employees for that work.  If you go to the museum you just might meet Dan as he routinely acts as a tour guide.

One of the galleries holds small arms including some historic guns.  General Pattons pearl handled Colt 45 semiautomatic pistol, a revolver owned by Wyatt Earp, and a .79 caliber Dutch flintlock musket which fired the first shot at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution.  This musket was owned by Private John Simpson, who upon hearing the order, “don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes”, immediately stood up and fired the first shot.  He was later court marshaled for disobeying an order, but received little or no punishment.  He continued his service till the end of the war.  His musket was recently sold at auction by his descendants and the winning bid was a whopping $492,000 and shortly thereafter it went on display in a prominent display at the museum.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY VEHICLES

Our next stop was just a short way up the road to the Wind River Gorge for an overnight stop in a state park campground.  We managed to snag the same spot we’ve stayed in before with a view of the gorge and river.  The next morning we continued north with another overnight stop at Devils Tower.  This was a disappointment as the place was packed.  The campground was full due to half of the spaces closed.  There was an hour wait for a parking spot at the visitor’s center, so we made a U-turn and found a small RV camp with a view of the tower.  Next on the agenda, we headed east into South Dakota then north to Bismarck, North Dakota.  We stayed at General Sibley Campground, a beautiful park on the outskirts of the city.  Big spacious campsites under an umbrella of mature trees, and grass all around.  Turns out Bismarck has miles of paved and designated bike paths, so I finally got in an early morning ride.

Of course being in the state capitol, while Cathie stayed behind, I paid a visit to the capitol building. Unlike many capitol buildings, North Dakota’s has no dome.  Completed in 1934, after the original building burned to the ground, the new building was built in the Art Deco style and is 18 stories tall.  The next day, Cathie joined in and after doing the laundry took a tour of the former governors’ mansion.  Built in 1883 as a private residence, the State bought the home and it served as the Governors’ residence from 1893 to 1960.  During it’s restoration, 13 layers of wall paper was discovered on the ceiling in the living room.  As in all of North Dakota’s state historic sites and museums, admission is free.

You’re all caught up now, but stay tuned for the next episode,

WE CAN'T SIT STILL

 

It's been awhile since we've been anywhere, like 3 months is a long time to stay still, so we're going on the road again.  Only the first three weeks are planned, with the remaining 3 to 4 weeks left up to our imagination.  Heading to Wyoming first to see a couple of grandkids before heading east for a meet up with my Camino Brother Len.  Len, from Canada, and I met on the Camino in 2015 and we have stayed in touch since then.  Len and his wife, Janet, will meet us in Minnesota with their RV and we'll camp together for about 10 days.  Tagging along will be Len's brother Ron and his wife Lorraine in their 5th wheel.  Hope they're ready for all the Camino stories.

Next we'll head south into Missouri so I can check out the KATY TRAIL The trail is a "rails to trail" trail about 240 miles in length generally following the Missouri River.  Primarily a bike trail, but walkable too.  Perhaps an American Camino is in the works. Continuing in a southerly direction, we intend on visiting a friend from work who lives in Eastern Tennessee.  After that we have no definite plans other than to head in a westerly direction.  Maybe a stop in New Orleans so we can finally visit the World War II Museum before taking the slow route home through Texas.  As with most all of our RV trips, we leave open the possibility of changing our minds and direction if we don't like where we are or hear of some must see place.  Or some currently unnamed hurricane that makes us skedaddle north.  We will be flexible as that is the way we travel.

So, follow along and I'll post from time to time.