Monsoon-Musings-Bob Davis Podcast 1066

Monsoon Musings

Late summer means the Monsoon season out west and that means it’s time for some Monsoon Musings. In my case that means midnight between downpours. Up in the mountains in Monsoon-Musings-Bob Davis Podcast 1066.

Monsoons Are Not Created Equal

Firstly every year out here is different when it comes to the Monsoon.

Bad Monsoon

Secondly this is a bad Monsoon.

Above all it seems like every afternoon the thunderheads come up and the downpours start.

Spectacular Storms

Certainly the storms are more spectacular in the deserts down toward Phoenix.

Utah Monsoon

However I am in Utah.

And Utah has its share of summer storms.

Flooding

For example it doesn’t take much rain to produce flooding and a lot of mud.

Campsite Flooded

In fact my campsite was flooded when I recorded Monsoon-Musings-Bob Davis Podcast 1066.

Stay On The Black Top

On the other hand that is why nomads avoid sandy and dirt roads this time of year and park on the black top.

Reflections

But it’s a great time for reflections.

Musings

Monsoon Musings.

In the same vein I have been up in Salt Lake for a lot longer than I would have liked.

Consequently I have a few stories from my truck stop and Walmart parking lot stays.

In addition I had a chance to scout the whole area for great campgrounds.

Bryce Canyon

Finally I headed up to the Bryce Canyon area and camping at King’s Creek in the Dixie National Forest.

[Editor’s Note: Of course I called it King’s Crossing in the podcast!)

Dixie National Forest

To clarify this campground is about nine thousand feet up. When it rains there it’s cold.

Fog!

And foggy.

Red Rock Road

Therefore I was happy to get back down to the desert near Red Rock.

Two Takeaways

To clarify there’s two takeaways from this podcast.

Desperation In The Truck Stops and Parking Lots

Firstly I don’t think I have seen this many homeless and desperate people in the truck stops and parking lots in my travels.

And Utah has services and plenty of room for broken down car dwellers.

Nomads Have A Dream

Secondly it’s been my experience that nomads have a dream.

That is to say many nomads dream of a piece of land somewhere in the mountains.

Or beaches.

Forests too.

In short we talk a lot about what one would need for the perfect off grid ‘cabin in the woods’.

My Heart Is On The Road

But on the other hand my heart is not in those discussions although I don’t mind having them over a fireside steak and a piping hot cup of coffee.

My Cabin In The Woods

In conclusion Mobile Podcast Command is my cabin in the woods, mountain or beach.

Gratitude

And I am very grateful to stay on the move.

Sponsored by the Independently Owned And Operated Refueling Station in South Minneapolis 36/Lyn

Monsoon-Musings-Bob Davis Podcast 1066

 

Podcast 538

Western Minnesota Road Trip. Freestyle talk about my travel in the last last 6 weeks. My reflections on a weekend jaunt to Western Minnesota’s New Ulm and Walnut Grove, tying in the talk about technology threatening jobs in the future. Recent road trips have intensified my interest in the history of the Western United States. There is a lot of significant western history in Minnesota. We often think of historic topics like Indian Wars and Pioneers has happening further west, but one of the bloodiest clashes between settlers and American Indians happened in New Ulm in 1862, when the mostly German townspeople had to barricade the streets of their town to fight off attacks by the Dakota. Further west is Walnut Grove, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the famous ‘Little House On The Prairie’. While the museum in Walnut Grove could use a little bit better curation, some of the artifacts in the museum are interesting, especially grasshoppers or Locusts the size of a man’s hand, which plagued the settlers of Walnut Grove. When you examine items in a museum, it’s easy to think about how old they are. For the people of the time though, it was new technology. It’s fun to flip the script and wonder what our descendants will think of the artifacts of our time in a museum at some point a hundred years from now. Today, supposedly new tech like robotics and autonomous machines and software threatens millions of jobs. Proposed ‘solutions’ to this ‘threat’, like guaranteed minimum incomes and job retraining programs don’t make much sense. When people came west for opportunity, 140 years ago, they didn’t have job retraining programs. They couldn’t have known they’d be plagued by grasshoppers the size of a man’s hand. Yet they came anyway. We need to start thinking about the opportunity new technology provides us in building a new world, and stop being so negative all the time. Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Hydrus Performance.