What The Hell Is That? Part 2

As I mentioned in an earlier "What the Hell is That" rambling, we get to see a lot of really strange things - some are subtle, and some just smack you in the face. I'm not going to try to explain all of the things shown here - I'll just throw in a little commentary, and at least tell you where we found these curiosities. 

The first photo is of the Wild Horses Monument in Washington State. Beth is standing by the lead horse with the Columbia river Gorge far below. And, just as an early experiment, below is a brief video we shot after climbing a fairly steep hill to get a better look at the artwork.

Photo taken at a rest area in New Mexico. At the time I was in desperate need of a rest stop, so I heartily approved of this location. I'm sure the good citizens of New Mexico were greatly relieved upon hearing of my approval.

The designers of signs in Massachusetts have been getting really creative lately - they also apparently have inordinately long left arms.

Not quite sure what to make of this sign we found in Portland, Oregon. I've never seen a detour for bicycles before.

We saw this "thing" on the Beltway around Washington D.C. - we're pretty sure it has something to do with Martian weapons systems and Dick Cheney.

This one doesn't need much explanation. It's a billboard near Clinton, Montana.

Proof there are still dinosaurs living on a defunct Miniature Golf Course in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Spotted at a Service Plaza along the Ohio Turnpike. Your guess is as good as anyone's.

Also proof there are over-sized sculptures of oriental figures with targets on the backs of their heads near a U.S. Xpress drop yard in Stockton, California.

Always good words to live by.

A real buffalo chip on the floor of Painted Canyon in North Dakota (note the clip-on sunglasses nearby to give you a reference for size). Another good reason why not to approach wildlife.

 

This was also taken through the fence at our company's drop yard in Stockton, California. It's really quite a place - you should plan a visit or two.

Well kids, that's all the time we have for head-scratching fun today. See you next time with more "Places You Can Actually Visit, But Don't Really Want To."

What The Hell is That? Part 1

There are a lot of strange things in this country - and they're out there on public display. Some of the things we've run across over the past 20 months ultimately have sane and plausible explanations; actually most of them do, but they still leave you scratching your head and thinking, "Seriously, is that what you really meant to do?"

Take for example this monstrosity we found being used as an entryway art piece to a warehouse and distribution complex in Paris, Texas. We both both walked around it once or twice and tried to guess as to its purpose. Then, we started asking employees around the area if they knew what it was - and they all had to scratch their heads, too. Eventually we found a guy who said, "Yeah, I think it's some sort cotton press." Ah, but of course! How could we have missed that?

How could we have been so stupid? Just look at the size of the thing compared to the cars and buildings in the background. I'll bet the whole thing has to weigh 100,000 pounds. But, it is indeed a cotton press - Google would never lie to us. My guess is that some of the old Southerners had some German engineering in their blood. You could probably melt this thing down and build a bridge across a small river with the all the metal they used.

I'm not too sure exactly why they needed this much engineering to bale cotton (and, I can't help but wonder how many of these things were actually built - maybe it's just one of those "Texas" things). There is actually a wooden beam missing from this device; it sat across the top post, much like the blade of a helicopter. Apparently some horses, maybe three or four, were somehow hooked up to the top part of the contraption and they circled around it, turning the center post, which lowered the top "jaw" of the press and formed tightly packed bales suitable for shipping. I guess it took a zillion pound machine to do this properly.

Anymore, cotton baling machines are made offshore - mostly in China - and are powered by hydraulics and pneumatics. They still weigh more than a fully loaded tractor/trailer rig, but they are not nearly as interesting looking. And, somehow I have to believe that in 150 years, no one will be using one of the new machines as a piece of outdoor art to decorate their distribution center complex.