March 23

 We arrived back home around 3 pm.

Great trip

March 20 Walmart Museum

Walmart was founded by Sam Walton in Bentonville Arkansas. In one lifetime it has prospered and grown to be the largest and most successful retailer in the world. This museum in built in down town Bentonville in the site of Sam's original store

 

The history wall

Any one who was in retail in this era will appreciate this picture. 
It is the the formal lay out for where the tables and merchandise
goes in the store. Drawn on a piece of paper with a ruler and a pencil.
I did quite of few of those myself. 

The financial report from his first month of sales

a Replica of Sam"s office

Every one who has followed Walmart and Sam Walton knows
 the story of this pick up truck.

A display of items that had been returned and the reason

George Bush went to Bentonville to present Sam with the presidential medial of freedom.

March 19 Bill Clinton Presdential Library , Little Rock Arkansas

 The William J Clinton Library was built along the Arkansas  River in Little Rock. When you stand on the front steps of the library you see numerous bridges crossing the river so the building was  constructed like a bridge with cantilevered portions of the building on both ends. This was to remind us of his  election theme  " bridge to the 21st century"  

This was the armored presidential limousine at the time. It was built in 3 separate parts in 3 different factories and assembled in a 4th factory so no one would know the complete plan of how it was constructed. This is the last presidential limousine that is on display. Since this one, they are destroyed when they are no longer in use.

This is an exact duplication of the oval office.

The cabinet room is also an exact duplication. The chairs all had the name plaque on the back identifying the position of who was sitting in it.

Bill Clinton was the last President that every record was kept on paper. There is some thing like 80 million documents in storage. From the next  president going forward they transitioned to digital. Apparently by the time it got to Obama there were almost no paper records.

All of the displays are behind glass so photos are of extremely poor quality. They are just a small representation. There was a complete section , showing all of the world leaders at the time, Jean Chretien for Canada.

A lot of personal memorabilia from his early years as well as while he was governor of Arkansas.

The library was divided into sections that were a priority the time.

What a different time, there was a constant theme through that period where free trade and removal of tariffs and trade barriers were a priority. Now the times have changed and it is the opposite.

One of his election promises was to reduce the size of the federal government which he did.
Many of the goals and objectives were the same as today. It all sounded so familiar.

Clinton produced the last budget surplus in the USA , in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. He was president from 1993 to 2001.

Note: Canada had a budget surplus from 1997 to 2008, and again in 2014-2015. In 2000-2001 Canada's surplus was 17.1 billion.

When the economy rolls every one does well.

In 1993 the US government only had 50 websites, total. Today they have hundreds of thousands of websites where you can find information

doesn't this sound familiar

Times have not changed, the US has tried to impeach and dig up dirt on just about every president, 

March 16 to 18 Texas to Little AR

 

Cotton, Solar pannels, wind mills, and oil wells

there are 1000's of acres of cotton grown in the area  east of Hobbs.

a lot is irrigated, but in some areas the fields of cotton were also

 full of windmills. and  oil wells. 3 crops from one field

It is interesting for a red state, like texas which is renowned for its oil, when you drive through the north part of the state you see wind mills in every direction for as far as you cans see.  This year we are passing through the souther part and it is pretty much the same. Wind mills every where. They had over 15,300 wind mills in 2023. Texas is the top wind power state in the USA , generating 28% of its power from wind in 2023. 

Bad picture of the solar field, but it covered a few square miles along
 highway 20. Texas got 6 percennt of its power from solar in 2023

We didn't see many cattle until we got closer to the north east part, past Dallas , Fort Worth area where the terrain is more rolling ,and not sutable for crops. 

This camper pulled in beside us for the night. The couple live and work full time in it. They built it with a 1994 army truck but bought the camper to mount on the truck. It had every gadget and rack imaginable, and was designed to go over virtually any terrain and 5 feet deep water.

not sure he had a very clear vision while driving.

March 15 Carlsbad to Hobbs NM

Carlsbad is a hub for potash mining, petroleum production, and tourism.In 1925, potash was discovered near Carlsbad, and for many years Carlsbad dominated the American potash market. Currently, Carlsbad has experienced a "boom". The city is leading in the production of oil and natural gases across the entire area. 42% of the population is Hispanic or Latinos.

Many ot the people do not speak english. I asked a worker in the Walmart where I could get my 1 gallon water jug filled and she didn't understand until I took the cap off and showed her it was empty.  She immediatelt solved the problem along with a big smile.

I was standing in line at the gas station and I asked the guy infront of me about the high winds, just to make conversation. His response was " no mucho english" my response was " no mucho spanish" . We had a big laugh and he gave me a high five. 

There were lots of these housing units build by the oil companies. 6 units per building and 5 or 6 buildings end to end and about 10 rows.

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Typical example of the terrain , virtually no vegitation.

Lots of oil wells   and they also two potash mines here.
A significant amount of the US potash comes from this area, but 
the US does not produce a lot of potash

We saw a number of signs along the road for "fresh water " stations.
98 % of the fresh water for this part of the country comes from 300 foot
deep wells in the Sheep Draw Well field.

Population 40,000, 60 percent Spanish or Latino
They have Cigar parlors, in the down town. 16 US states still allow smoking
 in both bars and restauants.It appears the in Hobbs it is only in certain
 areas of a bar or restaurant

I am always comparing prices to the prices at home. a 2x4 x96 
 select is 3.74 here at Lowes and 3.98 at Home depot in Ottawa today

A dairy Queen smoothie 16 oz is $3.39 in the US and $ 3.00 in Ottawa today.

Generally I find the prices for food and other products are pretty much
the same here as at home , except that they are in American dollars which
makes them almost 50% more expensive in the US.