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Are We Wizards? of some sort-


rjfranken

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Well, I went to Kansas to get my 88 last weekend. Didn't see the wizard, but even after many hours of driving, I still couldn't say "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!". Was thankful to get back to some rolling hills on the MO side of the border finally.

Of course, there is a rather blue stretch of I-70 where there are nearly more adult entertainment stores than billboards (and if you know Missouri's love of billboards, then you know that is saying something) so I guess I can't be too critical of Kansas now, can I? I am beginning to wonder how much time farmers spend on the farm after driving that stretch, since there is nobody else out there to frequent these places.

KDirk

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Kansas has nothing on North Dakota.

A few years ago Domenic Clemente flew to Duluth from Long Island and he and I drove out to the BCA meet in Seattle. Domenic had never been in this part of the country and only knew NYC and the drive from NY to FL. When we were crossing ND he just couldn't believe his eyes.

The stories are true. A telephone pole is the state tree in ND and there are times when in all directions you can see the horizon and not one tree or building.

Jim

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...The stories are true. A telephone pole is the state tree in ND and there are times when in all directions you can see the horizon and not one tree or building...

Kinda like Highway 50 through Nevada and western Utah. There are signs like "Next services 105 miles". Visibility down the road is 15-20 miles. Lots and lots of prairie dogs. (Those that aren't squished like to stand like little 6" telephone poles next to the road.) You can drive for miles before seeing another car.

Or at least used to be. It has been about 25 years since I have driven it. :(

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Anyone that thinks the US is running out of room only needs to visit the states just east of the Rockies...... from Canada to Mexico there is plenty of land and few cities of any size.

Take away Denver and Albequerque and what is left?

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Running out of room, no. Water maybe. 35" annual rainfall line runs just west of Ft. Worth.

Phoenix, Tuscon, Salt Lake, Reno, Vegas, Casper and a few others. Not counting the Northwest where you can take your goldfish for a walk.

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On the water situation, yes indeed. I fully expect this to be a battle in the not too distant future. Colorado is pretty much supplying water for nearly everything to the west. I know people there who are already resentful of the water use limitations they are sometimes placed under due to demand from points to their southwest. These palacial cities in the desert will find themselves wrangling for water (heck, they already are) with residents of states to their east where the supply originates. As with all such hot button issues, I figure it will eventually get nasty, and in some cases it already has caused lawsuits and political skirmishes. Seems the only answer is large scale desalinisation of seawater from the Pacific.

Yes, it is expensive, but it will ultimately prove the only viable solution, short of vacating large swaths of what are presently considered some of the most desirable places to live by a good many people [California, Phoenix and Vegas most notably].

But, insofar as running out of room, not really. The issue is that most of the spare space is not in places a lot of people want to live - yet anyway. Of course, people settled St. Louis, and it is brutally hot AND humid in the summer, bitterly cold in the winter. I often wondered what caused people to setup in a place like this and say "Yep, this is a good as it gets, may as well not go any further". Could say the same about Alaska, and much of Canada. I guess some people like the cold and snow, however I tire of it quickly.

KDirk

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Here in the upper midwest we have the Great Lakes. Plenty of water, but we have formed an alliance to control the use of water. No piping of water to other states. One day the water that is in the Great Lakes may be more valuable then fossil fuel.

It makes me glad that I can drive my Reatta less then 1 hour to see one of the worlds largest bodies of fresh water. [Meantioned the Reatta to be forum compliant].

However I am getting tired of the brutal winters as well. All that snow, means salt on the roads, which corrodes our Reattas faster...

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a) Shouln't that be branes ?

B) St. Louis is easy - NS it is on the junction between Ol Miss and the Missouri (original reason for being as the first civilized place a southbound trapper saw) and E-W it is on a direct line to Denver though later (i.e. 1800's) St. Jo become popular as an outfitting stop for points west.

c) Denver is little more complicated. First and foremost it has water courtesy of the South Platte River but the main reason is that after travelling thousands of miles across the plains, the intrepid pioneers took one look at the Rockies and said "We're stopping here" (actually for the gold that wasn't there but this sounds better).

Bottom line, in the east it is "follow the money", in the west "follow the water".

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Whoa Greg,

I wasn't disparaging Canada (well, maybe the climate in some parts) so please don't think I'm bashing your fine homeland. Your supply of outstanding comedians alone makes it a great country IMHO. Plenty to like up there, I'm just not a fan of harsh winters; and that is a subjective thing anyway, eh?

KDirk

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