This area also has lots and lots of pecan trees.

Today we made a lot of headway.  We left Kansas and went through Oklahoma and Texas.  While in Texas we saw Feed lots and it reminded me of the movie An Officer and a Gentlemen.  "Boy there are only two things that comes out of Texas.  Steers and  xoxoxox and you don't look like a steer.  Don't know why I was thinking about that I guess I have been in the car too long.  So we finally arrived in Vaugn, New Mexico for the night.  We do have internet but can you believe my Verizon phone has no service.  We did gain a hour today so what should I do with the extra time?????

September 19, 2012

We left Iowa and headed to Kansas.  We spent the night in Lyndon, Kansas.  These trees were at our campground.  David said they were Hedge Apples or Monkey Balls!! 

Maclura pomifera, commonly called Osage-orange, hedge-apple,^[1] Horse-apple, Bois d'arc, Bodark, or Bodock^[2] is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8–15 metres (26–49 ft) tall. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. The fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, but bumpy, and 7–15 cm in diameter. It is filled with a sticky white latex sap. In fall, its color turns a bright yellow-green. It is not closely related to the orange: Maclura belongs to the mulberry family, Moraceae, while oranges belong to the family Rutaceae.^[3]
Maclura is closely related to the genus Cudrania, and hybrids between the two genera have been produced. In fact, some botanists recognize a more broadly defined Maclura that includes species previously included in Cudrania and other genera of Moraceae.
Osajin and Pomiferin are flavonoid pigments present in the wood and fruit, comprising about 10% of the fruit's dry weight. The plant also contains the flavonol morin.
It was once thought that placing an Osage orange under the bed would repel spiders and insects. This practice has declined with the rise of synthetic insecticides. However, scientific studies have found that extracts of Osage orange do repel several insect species, in some studies just as well as the widely-used synthetic insecticide DEET.^[4]

HEDGE APPLES

SEPTEMBER 20, 2012

Not a big ball of Yarn but it is something BIG


The Big Well, in Greensburg, Kansas, USA, is a water well that was designed to provide water for the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads.^[2] It was built in 1887 at a cost of $45,000, and served as the municipal water supply until 1932.^[2]
It is billed as the world's largest hand-dug well, at 109 feet (33 m) deep and 32 feet (9.8 m) in diameter.^[3]
The Well of Joseph in the Cairo Citadel at 280 feet (85 m) deep and the Pozzo di S. Patrizio (St. Patrick's Well) built in 1527 in Orvieto, Italy, at 61 metres (200 ft) deep by 13 metres (43 ft) wide^[4] are both actually larger.
It was designated a National Museum in 1972;^[5] in 1973 it was awarded an American Water Landmark by the American Water Works Association.^[6] Under the name of "Greensburg Well," it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972.^[7]
Visitors entered the well for a small fee, descending an illuminated stairway to the bottom of the well.^[2]

The well is located inside this building.