Rambling Thoughts Blog, Probably Boring

One of the dangers of long distance driving is the time you have to think, mull, ponder, and observe, I rarely have the radio on or listen to music. Drives some passengers crazy.

Yesterday, was a relay driver for a load of emergency repair parts to a strip mine in Wyoming. The parts left the factory in Illinois and were driven directly to Denver non stop. I took over and delivered the parts in Wyoming. The cost? Don’t know; don’t want to know. Ask those kinds of questions and you can find yourself in management. Guess the cost of having a machine go down is far more than the cost of the freight when you are operating something this large.

http://www.mining-technology.com/projects/thunder/

Random thoughts and sights from a thirteen hour, five hundred mile, day.

Saw the California Zephyr Westbound in to Denver, at dawn,  with the Rockies already sunlit in the background.

About 50-60 bison by the “Fort” just South of the Wyoming line in the early morning light. The “Fort” is a series of weathered limestone outcroppings that make a group of natural forts. Seeing the bison, and ignoring the fence and wind farm in the distance, you could imagine yourself transported back 150 years.

Right on Interstate 25 at the Colorado border is the Terry Ranch. They have one of the largest herds of bison anywhere. Lots of other critters including several different kinds of dromedaries. The place is a tourist attraction, to be sure, but true to the Western experience. Good place for a holiday dinner, served bunk house style, with traditional Western Ranch cuisine. Hell of a feed.

North of Douglas, saw a “modern” ranch operation cow herding. A one ton flat bed pickup with a round hay bail in the lead, about twenty black face cows following, and an individual on a ATV in trail. On the back of the ATV was what my sister calls a “right and proper dog”, a black and white border collie. I’m sure the dog was ready to school any cow that didn’t want to get with the program.

Turning off US 93 onto WY 410, saw the resident Pronghorn. He seems to hang around this intersection.  I suspect the Wright, WY Chamber of Commerce is paying him to be a tourist attraction.

Always impressive to see the Union Pacific and BNSF railroad operations in the area. There are six rail lines going into Black Thunder and four parallel lines elsewhere in the area.  A coal train is 110 - 120 coal cars with up to four locomotives, two at each end. Should you want to count them, there are probably around 1,500 cars in a forty square mile area. Between Bill and Wright, WY there is a eighteen unit track build/repair operation. Can’t tell from the highway but it looks like they are building even more track. I wonder how many hundreds of million dollars all this costs.

A word of caution to those driving  through Wyoming. The Wyoming Highway Patrol, though few in number, are very good. The state provides them with the very best of equipment and trusts them to do the job. Each officer’s vehicle is also their take home car and is equipped, for the most part, to their specifications. All vehicles are under 100,000 miles and in top condition. As an aside, Wyoming has a law about passing any emergency vehicle. You will slow down, unless on a four lane highway where you can move over a lane, to 20 mph. I would advise you not to find out if they a serious about enforcing the law.

One of my driving techniques is to spot a “rabbit” and fall in behind them about a half mile. A “rabbit’, of course, is a speeder. Now my employer has put GPS units in the fleet, the “rabbit” is academic but old habits remain. (GPS is like having Officer Friendly on your left shoulder watching your speed all the time). Southbound of  Douglas on I-25, spotted the perfect “rabbit”, a late model Ram 1500, red, with New Mexico plates running about 85 mph.  About ten miles North of Wheatland saw him pulled over with the red and blues behind him. Stopped in Chugwater for fuel/pit stop. He passed me again just before the Colorado line. Still speeding. Silly boy, you have 300 miles to the New Mexico line, the Colorado State Patrol are no slouches, and many of the municipalities and counties along the way have their units sitting on I-25. Did I mention, it is Labor Day Weekend?  Then, you have your own New Mexico State Police. I think they are extra mean because they are forced to wear the ugliest uniforms ever. Think most of his big paycheck will already  be spent before getting  home.

So ended a perfect trip. Boring and uneventful. Just the way I like them.

Thought a lot about politics. Recently went door belling for a local candidate with a female friend. We were all Democrats and most are party “stalwarts”, the ones that do the grunt work year in, year out. The ratio was about 70%-30% female. (Why do you think I get involved?) In contrast to four years ago, their enthusiasm for Obama was tepid. “I think he has done a good job for us” was the strongest statement I heard. The women were pissed, really pissed, with the GOP’s position on “women issues”. Right or wrong, these women are ready to go to war. In a swing state like Colorado, they could well make a difference.

End of the ramble. If you are still reading, thank you!

About the photographs. All are from Google Images. Any copyright violations are unintentional.