Idiots Out Wandering Around

Youngest Son had a gift card and some Christmas cash just burning a hole in his pocket, so he wanted to go trade it for something fun.  I wanted to go check on this. A quick check shows that the Wally World in Maryville MO has "limited stock" of the item in question. So, off to Maryville we go!

Voila, the store does indeed carry this rifle, in both collapsible and non-collapsible stock form.  The price tag was in the $850 range, and I was tempted, but (probably fortunately for my budget) I can't buy the gun in Missouri because I don't live in a neighboring state. That's OK though, cause the store in Henderson says they have limited quantities as well!

There was also a .22 long rifle M4 look-alike for about half the price. I'm curious to see if it is available in Henderson, too.

On the way back I wanted to see the windmills. These giants are located astride Highway 59 just north of the Missouri border, about halfway between Tarkio MO and Shenandoah IA, running in a roughly east to west line.

Iowa's agricultural production used to mostly be used  for food (either in vegetables or in feed stock for cows or pigs), but more and more it is being diverted to energy production. The corn is being used for ethanol and now a new form of

produce stands in the fields.

These machines are a funny looking crop, but their output feeds the grid of a power hungry nation. On this cold 36 degree day, even though the wind was blowing, the machines were all still.

Just east of the windmills on the county road, at the junction to the road that leads into tiny little Northboro Iowa, stood a sign pointing to the North Pole. Of course we had to follow the arrow into town to see what it was all about.

I didn't see any snow at the North Pole, but the display was nice anyway.