I came across this little item during our recent travels. It has an interesting purpose.

What do you think it is?  Include the interesting purpose, if you can.

I’ll provide the answer later in the week if no one gets it correct.

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Commentary and images from the road
September 9, 2009

This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About.

Madison River
September 15, 2007

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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“Around the Lower Loop” Yellowstone gallery September 15, 2007

check out our Yellowstone information page
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Haw Creek galleries

Day Use Area
Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas
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Lake Fort Smith State Park images
Lake Fort Smith State Park information

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Haw Creek galleries

Daughters of a Tygart Valley homesteader.
House and factory in background.
West Virginia

June 1939

John Vachon, photographer

Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection
(Library of Congress)

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8a04289

This image was shot from on top of the Big Dam Dridge, the largest bridge in the world specifically designed for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. It was built over the Murray Lack and Dam on the western side of Little Rock and North Little Rock and connects in to a system of trails on both sides of the Arkansas River.

Big Dam Bridge

Pulaski County Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge – Murray Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River May 12, 2007
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Big Dam Bridge images
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Haw Creek galleries

People on horseback going up mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

between 1909 and 1932

National Photo Company Collection.
(Library of Congress)

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c00923

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
May 5, 2009
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park images
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Haw Creek galleries

[continue reading…]

I will be quite busy for the next few days so posting of material from our Colorado trip will be delayed.

Most of my posts have been delayed, partially as a result of not being in a location with wifi or, when we do have wifi, having difficulties with it.  I will continue to post material from our trip to Colorado.  The posts will be in sequence and will have a date appropriate for the activities and photos being described and/or used.

We used to use a portable satellite dish for internet access.  It could be a real pain to set up, but, when it was up, it was only a little slower than our DSL at home.

When we went to a smaller recreational vehicle, our storage options became much more limited.  On our first long trip, we took along the portable system, but I forgot the alignment instructions.  We still had to deal with the dish when we moved stuff around and it took up a significant portion of our storage space.  When we went on our trip in May, we left the dish at home and decided to rely on wireless whenever it was available.

Unfortunately, the wireless  circuits in Karen’s computer stopped working.  We’ve tried two different USB wireless adapters for her computer.  The results have varied from campground to campground and wireless location to wireless location.

Some of the places we’ve stopped at have had a great wireless connection.  The KOA in Ouray, Colorado, however, is terrible for wireless.  It would run just fine and, then, it would seem to stop completely or just plain crawl very slowly.  I guess it has some kind of limiter that limits traffic if too much bandwidth has been used. However, in today’s internet world, where most websites are going to have a combination of pictures and text, that is just NOT satisfactory.

It was certainly more enjoyable when we were in the National Parks or Corps of Engineers parks where there was NO wireless available at all.

I will be replying to most of the comments when I get a chance, especially those who have asked questions.

The bad part of this trip, though, was looking forward to going back to work at the end.

Note: While I will not be posting material from the Colorado trip for a few days, other pre-published material will be posted.

This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About.