TruckStop-Washday-Four-States-24hours-Bob Davis Podcast 905

Seven States

First of all after hitting seven states in less than three weeks, it’s time for a break. Learn more about my latest mega trip in TruckStop-Washday-Four-States-24hours-Bob Davis Podcast 905.

Questions About Travel

These days I am asked a lot of questions about my travels.

Food and Laundry

Certainly the best questions are about simple stuff. What do you eat? Where do you do your laundry? Is Mobile Podcast Command an RV?

Truck Stops

Let’s start with two friends of the traveler. WalMart and Truck Stops.

Pilot!

When it comes to Truck Stops I have my favorites. Flying J, Pilots, Loves and T/A’s. Even more, some of the truck stops with names I can’t remember are great. Pilot is my favorite.

Wash Day At The Truck Stop

In TruckStop-Washday-Four-States-24hours-Bob Davis Podcast 905 we spend wash day at the Pilot south of San Antonio, Texas. The music’s classic rock, the People’s Court is on TV and there’s a full range of stuff to look at.

Travel In An America You Don’t See On TV

In addition in this podcast I make some observations about travel in an America saturated with political ‘news’ coverage.

Stressed Drivers and Travelers Need Calm

In contrast at most of the truck stops there’s no CNN, or Fox News or talk radio. There’s country, and classic rock, and a generally calm atmosphere for stressed truckers and travelers.

Back On The Road

Fill up. Get Something to eat. Take a shower. Do some laundry. Back on the road.

24 Hours of Driving and Back To Minnesota

Four states in one day in this podcast. From San Antonio to Dover, Oklahoma, and then onto Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, to finally end in Minnesota on an unusual sunny and warm day in February.

Unsung Heroes

Here’s to the unsung heroes on the road. The drivers, the people at the Pilot, the WalMart, the guy in Oklahoma who stopped to talk to me about my T-shirt.

No Academy Awards Here

Especially relevant is the fact that none of these people will probably ever win an academy award, run for congress, or even make a speech beyond funerals or their kids’ birthday parties.

On The Job

Above all though, they’re back on the job every day. All across this vast country.

Real America

Finally it was a great relief to see real America after two weeks of speechifying and media coverage of politics in Iowa.

Sponsored by the Strategists at Virtus Law

TruckStop-Washday-Four-States-24hours-Bob Davis Podcast 905

Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749

In my line of work every now and then you come across something amazing. I spent a weekend at the Pioneer Power Show and had a blast. Check it out in Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749.

Living History

If you want to see living history the Pioneer Power Show is the place.

Every development in farming technology is represented here.

Back Breaking Work Brute Strength

Most noteworthy more than a century ago brute strength powered the farm. Men and animals cleared land, planted crops and harvested. Mechanization of the farm was a revolution for farmers and consumers.

Steam Power Revolution

Portable Steam power represented a revolution in agriculture starting in the 1870’s. As a result of steam power farmers could do more.

Today’s Tech Is Invisible

These days we tend to ignore the impact of technology because we can’t see it working. Steam was a huge source of motive power in America a hundred years ago. Gas and diesel eventually replaced steam and those developments are at the show but you can’t miss the huge, belching steam engines.

Hear the steam engines. Meet the people who work on them. Learn how they were built and how they worked in Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749.

Anger Emotion And Loss

Finally a personal note. I find emotions like anger and the feeling of loss at the root of what is going on in this country today. Everyday it gets harder and harder to shout into the noise. Furthermore advancing the story or thinking on almost any issue is just about impossible.

There’s Still An America with Passion and Character

In conclusion I have learned finding and talking to people doing something they love and learning while they do it is a powerful reminder that whatever is wrong won’t be wrong forever. Especially relevant is the character of people doing something they love, teaching others about it, and having fun while they do it.

Thanks to everyone at the Le Sueur, Minnesota Pioneer Power Show for a great weekend.

Sponsored by John D Scott Personal Injury Lawyer at Hoffman Hamer and Associates and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

(Editor’s Note: In this podcast I suggest the first steam engine was made in 1867, and I am referring specifically to portable steam power for farming and other uses. Obviously the steam engine was invented many decades before 1867.)

Real Machinery Hill-Pioneer Power Show-Bob Davis Podcast 749

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast 394

The EAA Air Show Gets Me. Live at Osh Kosh, and despite the plane crash, this is an event that reaches out and grabs you. Acre after acre of all kinds of planes, many with pilot’s tents beneath their wings, four hangers full of aviation equipment, pilots and aircraft enthusiasts all over the place. Warbirds, jets, brand new airliners, seaplanes, experimental planes, workshops, even massage chair demonstrations! It’s all a little overwhelming for a podcaster who doesn’t fly and doesn’t know anything about aviation, except that it’s pretty cool. Then there was the speech and presentation by Bert and Dick Rutan. One comes away with a message that needs to be heard these days. A message of living your dream, maybe taking the road less traveled to try to accomplish something that changes the world, or maybe an industry. EAA began as a community of homebuilders, and aircraft enthusiasts and there are still workshops and demonstrations for people in this tribe, but the event obviously has grown over the years to become one of the country’s premiere attractions, all in Osh Kosh, Wisconsin. All the big companies are here; GE, Boeing, Airbus, Honda, Bendix King, and Alpha Systems, to name a few. Medium and small vendors of all shapes and sizes are represented too, selling all kinds of tools for pilots, and all kinds of aircraft. If the original intent of designers and kit builders was to democratize flying — because 50 years ago the only way some people could acquire an airplane was to build their own — then they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Let’s hope it continues in this vein. In the end, it’s the people — the flight community — that makes this event so special. If you fly you already know. If you don’t, EAA is something to see. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: I mentioned Bert Rutan’s best friend and pilot of Spaceship 1, Mike Melville and got his name wrong. Mike was part of the presentation that night at EAA, and has his own list of impressive aviation accomplishments.)