Sat In Des Moines

American Towns - Des Moines Iowa

I got into Des Moines a little early so on the way in i stopped and took a look at the history of the place. The various state highway commissions tend to put information up in rest areas spo the traveller canlearn or take an interest in where they are driving thru.

You will notice that the names Lewis and Clark have been mentioned quite a few times in this blog. They were famous explorers who opened up much of this land.

I will leave it to the Information Boards to explain.........................

The Crap Lyndon Keeps In His Cab

States Visited Update

Heres a quick update, ive been here 6 months now and this is a map of all the states ive visited, i reckon ive seen more of Canada and the USA than most Canadians or Americans.

Random Pictures From Today

Now is this something to do with Lot Lizards

Parked next to me at the Cardlock

See I was there

H&R owner driver, nice paint job

This dinosaur was cross eyed, its called a "Dyathinkysaurus"

Er, okay you might be working for our lord and saviour and you may be the son of God but i dont see an up to date IFTA decal on the side of your truck, explain that to the scale officer

oh omnipitent one !!!
Went down to the truck lot this afternoon and just couldnt make my mind up which one to buy.

Nice

Nice effect i think!

Yes weve all been there havent we????

American Towns - Butte Montana

The place is Butte (pronounced byoot) in Montana, a great little town with a fascinating history, its basically a mining town thats had more than its fair share of fortune and disaster. Heres the pics of the information boards.

Evel Kenevel was born here !!!!!

H&R Drivers - Finch

Finch is a Canadian H&R driver who was 3045's first driver and is responsible for putting in the carpet and a few other nice touches and now drives 3132.

We first met up in Nipigon Ontario on my last little run round North america and i scooted passed him again the following day, Dryden i think that was.

Anyway, on Friday i was hooking up to a trailer and this truck came passed me and tooted the horn, i didnt realise who it was till we met up at the scales, he had a bonded (passing thru the states and into Mexico) load which was too heavy on the trailer axles and he had to go back to the yard and dump some trailer fuel.

The following day i was at Great Falls and found out that the back road was closed so i diverted down the I 15 towards Butte. I noticed a scenic overview that i hadnt photographed yet so i pulled in and guess who was there.........

Anyway we drove on down towards Butte, chatting on the CB and Finch told me about a figurine in the mountains, anyway the pics of that are in the next article.

Finch has been with H&R for a couple of years but before that has spent some time in law eforcement and is also a Calgary Flames fan, he's a great guy with some fantastic stories so if you see him out on the highways gve him a shout or a wave.

He will be starting up his own blog soon so check it out for a Canadian perspective...

Snowy roads & side winds

South Dakota High Prairies

Return To Des Moines

Were back rollin' again, i got back to 3045 pretty late yesterday (Friday am) as i had things to sort out and people to see. Not a problem as the trailer was in the shop anyway.

We got the static shock thing sorted, 3045 had been down to Penske during the week and i now have a brand spanking new tripac with all the bits that go with it. Not sure using the word "spanking" was a particularly good idea, hope it doesnt get picked up by the search engines hehe.

Anyway no more shocks, no more smokey exhaust and the night heater is 10 times better.

Well im down at Great Falls (could be a clue to something) now, had a great nights sleep and in about 10 mins im going to make my way to Rapid City.

More to follow...........................

Question

Im surprised why no one has asked me why im wearing a hat an beard.

Canadian Cell Phones 10-4

I am going to expand on this article about Canadian cell phones and their use both in Cananda and the States as it is not as straight forward as back in the UK and can work out quite expensive if you learn by trial and error.

Please remember as always i am not an expert but i will share what have found out and i hope it will be a usefull guideline.

I need to get back to my truck shortly so i will finish this article over the next cople of days.

A Shocking Result

I popped into H&R this morning to get some stuff and thought it would be a good idea to speak to Penske about the static problem. They tell me it could be a grounding problem so they sent her round to ThermoKing to have it looked at and some more grounding straps put on.

I also spoke to Steve Whittaker who tells me you can get (anti-static bracelets) we went down town this afternoon but couldnt find any but we will keep on looking. I am also going to fit grounding straps but i am going to see how it goes this week.

I was told that the problem is not the truck its me (see its always my fault LOL) One of the problems is that is very dry round here which makes the static more of a problem.

A few of the other british drivers have mentioned this, especially when they first come over so i think it also might be something to do with the european clothes and soles on the shoes.

Anyway more to follow on hat one........................

Wooden Framed Houses

First of all i have to point out that i know nothing about house construction, if any of you look back into the blog to when we sold our house in UK you will also note that i am no expert at DIY either.

So having said that....................

We were driving around Raymond this afternoon and noticed that a lot of new houses were going up on the south side of town. Now practically all houses round here are of wooden construction not of bricks and mortar which can be a little unsettling to most Europeans.............

Remember the story about the three little pigs ?

Okay first of all the design..................

Back in UK you tend to have a ground floor and a first floor,with a set of stairs that separates the two. Over here, our house for example, is on half levels.

What i mean is we have got 3 bedrooms upstairs, you come down half a staircase and you have the main lounge, dining room and the kitchen, you go down 7 more steps and you have the second lounge, utility room and door to the double garage. Then you go down another 7 steps and you have the games room and 2 separate basements, it sounds strange but it works great.

The house feels very solid and no different to the ones in UK except its a lot bigger. The pics im sharing with you are houses in various stages of construction and ive also shown you the insulation stuff they put on them and the chipboard they are made out of. I have also included pics of our furnace (central heating) system and water boiler.

Hope you also like the Raymond Sunset.........................

Coz "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Legends & Traditions - The Dream Catcher

Legend of the Dream Catcher

Dreams have always had many meaning to Native Americans.

One of the old traditions was to hang a dream catcher in their homes. They believe that the night air is filled with dreams both good and bad. The dream catcher, when hung, moves freely in the air and catches the dreams as they float by. The good dreams know the way and slip through the center hole and slide down off the soft feather so gently the sleeper below sometimes hardly knows he is dreaming. The bad dreams, not knowing the way, get entangled in the webbing and perish with the first light of the new day.

It was traditional to put a feather in the center of the dream catcher; it means breath, or air. It is essential for life. A baby watching the air playing with the feather on her cradleboard was entertained while also being given a lesson on the importance of good air. This lesson comes forward in the way that the feather of the owl is kept for wisdom (a woman's feather) and the eagle feather is kept for courage (a man's feather). This is not to say that the use of each is restricted by gender, but that to use the feather each is aware of the gender properties she/he is invoking. (Indian people, in general, are very specific about gender roles and identity). The woven dream catchers of adults do not use feathers.

The Legend of the DreamCatcher

A spider was quietly spinning his web in his own space. It was beside the sleeping space of Nokomis, the grandmother.

Each day, Nokomis watched the spider at work, quietly spinning away. One day as she was watching him, her grandson came in. "Nokomis-iya!" he shouted, glancing at the spider. He stomped over to the spider, picked up a shoe and went to hit it. "No-keegwa," the old lady whispered, "don't hurt him." "Nokomis, why do you protect the spider?" asked the little boy.

The old lady smiled, but did not answer. When the boy left, the spider went to the old woman and thanked her for saving his life. He said to her, "For many days you have watched me spin and weave my web. You have admired my work. In return for saving my life, I will give you a gift." He smiled his special spider smile and moved away, spinning as he went. Soon the moon glistened on a magical silvery web moving gently in the window. "See how I spin?" he said. "See and learn, for each web will snare bad dreams. Only good dreams will go through the small hole. This is my gift to you. Use it so that only good dreams will be remembered. The bad dreams will become hopelessly entangled in the web.

Another Legend of the DreamCatcher
Long ago when the word was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers,horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web.

He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life; how we begin our lives as infants, move on through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the cycle. "But", Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "in each time of life there are many forces; some good and some bad. If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can help, or can interfere with the harmony of Nature." While the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web.

When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole." The elder passed on his vision to the people and now many Indian people hang a dream catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their dreams drops through the hole in the center of the web and is no longer a part of their lives.

It's said that the dream catcher holds the destiny of the future.

The dream net has been made
For many generations
Where spirit dreams have played.
Hung above the cradle board,
Or in the lodge up high,
The dream net catches bad dream
While good dreams slip on by.
Bad dreams become entangled
Among the sinew thread.
Good dreams slip through the center hole,
While you dream upon your bed.
This is an ancient legend,
Since dreams will never cease,
Hang this dream net above your bed,
Dream on, and be at peace.
Anon

First Nations Of Canada - The Huron (Wendat)

Introduction
At one time there existed an Aboriginal people who lived in what is now central Ontario between Lake Simcoe and Lake Huron. French explorers called them "Huron" because the bristly way the men wore their hair reminded the explorers of wild boar, which were called "hure" in French. The Huron referred to themselves as Wendat, which means "people who live on the back of a great turtle." The Wendat believed that the back of this great turtle was an island that supported the whole world. After the Wendat were forced from their land, some of them called themselves Wyandot, meaning "floating islanders", because they no longer had a homeland to live on. Today the descendants of the Wendat have a community just north of Quebec City in the province of Quebec. The Wyandot live in the state of Oklahoma in the United States. Others live in Southern Ontario and Kansas City, in the state of Kansas, without an established community.

Origins
No one knows for sure when the Wendat arrived in the traditional territory they inhabited, around Lake Simcoe, in what is now central Ontario. There are some oral and written traditions that say they were living along the St. Lawrence River and fled the Iroquois who lived south of them. Another tradition says that they moved west after being attacked by Algonquin peoples. They finally made an alliance with the Algonquins and were allowed to settle in their territory. Even before this, some traditions say the Wendat moved up the Mississippi River with other Iroquoian peoples, heading north and settling in their territory

Creation Story - Aataentsic
The Wendat have several versions of the story of how they came to be. This is one of them. There once were two worlds. One of the worlds was up in the sky. The other world was the Earth. At that time the Earth was covered with water. The only beings that lived on the Earth were those that could live in or on the water. The sky world, on the other hand, was inhabited by beings that could walk on land. Some of these beings were like humans. These people would pick the corn from one patch of corn to get their food. Each day they would take corn from the stalks. One day, a young woman decided to cut the corn stalks, instead of simply plucking the corn. Once the corn stalks were cut down they could never grow again. Some of her brothers became angry and threw the young woman down through a hole in the sky. In her hands were the corn stalks she had cut down, as well as beans, squash and tobacco.

As the young woman fell through the sky, some of the water birds looked up. They were ducks, herons and loons. They decided to help the falling woman. They flew up and surrounded her and were able to cushion her fall. However, their wings were getting tired of holding her. Great Turtle arrived and told them to put her on his back. He said he would hold her. Toad arrived and said he would dive down into the water and get some earth from the bottom. When he came back up, he had a mouthful of dirt and he spat it out on the turtle's back. He told the young woman to sprinkle the dirt everywhere she walked.

As the young woman walked round the turtle's back, she planted the corn, beans and squash everywhere she went. However, the woman was lonely. One day she discovered twin boys. These boys grew very quickly. One of the brothers created all of the living things on earth, including humans. The other brother tried to do the same thing and made monkeys instead. Each brother made different things. The first brother made everything that human beings could use. The other brother made things that would harm the things created by the first brother.
The Wendat refer to the woman who fell from the sky as Aataentsic, meaning "ancient one."

Clothing
Wendat men wore loincloths made from deer or beaver skin. In the winter they would wear shirts with sleeves, and leggings, also made from animal skins. They wore fur cloaks for warmth. On their feet they wore moccasins. The women dressed much the same as the men, with skirts instead of loincloths.
They often painted their bodies with paint, especially red, and decorated their clothes with beadwork, porcupine quills and feathers. They sometimes wore jewelry made from glass beads or shells and hair combs carved out of bone.

Shelter
The Wendat lived in longhouses. Longhouses were made of cedar slabs tied together on an arching wooden frame. A longhouse could be over 100 feet long. It could hold as many as ten families or more. A fire would be placed between two families living on opposite sides of the longhouse. There was a raised platform, which the people would sleep on. Bearskins were used as blankets, especially in the cold winters. There was also a storage room at one end where preserved corn could be hung. During one period in history when they were at war, the Wendat built palisades (fences made of spikes) around their villages of longhouses to protect them.

The Wendat Today
The Wendat of Wendake are usually referred to as Huron. Much of their language and traditions have disappeared over the years. There has been a lot of intermarriage between the Huron and the French. Nonetheless, they have survived and are very involved in Aboriginal politics in the province of Quebec.

One of the great advantages they have over some other Aboriginal groups in Quebec is that they are fluent in the French language and many are bilingual, speaking both English and French.
In 1990, Conrad and George Sioui, brothers from Wendake, became involved in an important Supreme Court decision that would involve all of the Aboriginal people of Canada.

The Sioui brothers had set up camp in de la Jacques-Cartier Park, north of Quebec City. They cut down some trees, made a fire and camped. They were then arrested for camping and cutting down trees without a license in a provincial park. The Sioui brothers went all the way to the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court of Canada, to fight the charges.

They said that as Huron people they had a treaty right to practice their traditions. This included camping, building a fire and cutting firewood for their camp. This was based on a treaty between the English and Wendat in 1760. The Supreme Court of Canada said that according to the law, Aboriginal people couldn't be stopped from practicing their traditions as long as they could prove that their ancestors had done the same.