Cooler Crew Pictures

Now that fall is almost here - it's time to think about a classic fall sport - pumpkin chucking!

Mommsen's Produce Patch - Rice Lake - Pumpkin Launchers

Here's the one I'd really like to see, though...

Aludium Q-36 Pumpkin Modulator

This pneumatic cannon can launch a pumpkin over 4800 feet - 9/10 of a mile!

The guy that built it is out of Morton, Illinois - but he travels all over the midwest doing demonstrations and entering contests.

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I saw one of those for the first time last year out at PineHaven. At the time all I could think of was ... what did someone run out of canon balls and decided to use pumpkins instead whats the point of said pumpkin cannon?

I think because it's there?

And I suppose there are a lot of rotten pumpkins around and you might as well put them to some use...

because its more legal than blowing something up?

Lots of produce are used as ammunition. People have been making spud guns for years too...

Tomatoes are a favorite to toss at the bad comics on stage... newton got hit on the head with an apple and came up with the laws of gravity...

besides it provides nutrition for all the distant forest creatures :smile:

Provided they aren't in the path of the projectile.

In which case they become nutrition for a larger forest creature.

exactly.

nutrition whichever way you slice it.

Oh so its a food chain/pyramid of life type thing... ooookaaay

exactly!

I'm glad I have you as a friend ... you've explained a lot to me today!

It just so happens that particular food "delivery" system could clear all the great pyramids in Egypt with about 1/2 mile to spare...

Apparently you cannot use it for rotten pumpkins, though - The Q-36 uses so much compression to fire the thing, that a "weak" shell just turns into mincemeat in the barrel. Then - about 1/2 mile away - orange rain.

There's tons of YouTube videos of Pumpkin launchers - I like the ancient Trebuchet catapult type ones - they can hurl a melon at over 200 mph to distances around 400-500 feet.

Some of the videos show the air guns launching a melon THROUGH a car - now THAT has some velocity!

35W Bridge Cam

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This webcam page keeps updating the still image about every 5 minutes - I dunno if it will embed properly in here, but I think it will update if you "refresh" the page... See what happens.

Huh.. they have traffic moving on it now? cool

when did it re-open?

so we can take that now?

very eeerie...not sure I could right now anyhow.

The bridge in the foreground is the 10th ave bridge. The 35W bridge is the one in the background with all the construction stuffs on it.

im staying off of it, even if it is open.

My wife says the river banks will fall before the bridge does....really strong design...sounds like it could open as early next week for traffic... : :lipsealed:

So now they'll start concentrating on finishing the never ending project called the Wakota Bridge, right? We only need half a bridge completed. Should be done by February or so then. :cool:

im not staying off of it, because I think it'll fall again....

other reasoning, that'll probably only make sense to me...

Why take the bridge - if you have the BatPoles to the BatCave... Right?

http://wcco.com/contests/fall.colors.forecast.4.805176.html

Every Thursday this fall, the WCCO 4 Weather Team will present the Fall Colors Forecast highlighting the best places to find Minnesota's brightest fall colors. And WCCO 4 is looking for viewer photos of fall foliage.

Your photo could be featured in the Fall Colors Forecast, and you could even win great prizes from Explore Minnesota Tourism and Gutter Helmet of Minnesota!

Each week, 4 viewer photos will be randomly chosen to appear on-air during one of the Fall Colors Forecasts during the Noon, 5 p.m., 6 p.m. or 10 p.m. News on Thursdays this Fall (pending breaking news).

Plus, each of these qualifying winners will be eligible to win one of three great prize packages!

Hmm.. odd prizes. Thanks for the info Kitch!

Something else to do when I'm out hitting the road. I'm guessing the north shore should start turning any time now. I noticed a few little hints of it last weekend. I'll be up there in two weekends again, then hitting up the southwest through the end of October. Hopefully I get some good shots in.

We went there on our honeymoon the last week of September. It was beautiful. I usually try to get up to northern Wisconsin the first weekend of October. That's the weekend I'm most likely to catch the cranberry harvest.

we're planning on being up on the north shore the first weekend in october visiting my grandparents. should be gorgeous then.

I'd rather not get 1st prize....I'll take 2nd or 3rd...thanks

I like 61 south to Lacrosse the 2nd week in October. Need to drive before noon so you can see both the Wis and Minn bluffs before the shadows set in. It's a very nice drive.

Hwy 95 from Taylors Falls towards Princeton - climb the big hill just past the Root Beer drive-in - there's a scenic overlook of the whole Taylors Falls Valley on the right side. Outstanding in a couple weeks.

GrandDad Bluff in LaCrosse gives a HUGE vista - 962 feet? - allegedly you can see three states from there. It's not so pretty for fall because most of the immediate area in your view is the city itself - most of the trees are on the Minnesota side of the river about 3 miles away.

I love the view from that place...

yeah... you can see, MN, Wisconsin, and Iowa, from the top...

my step dads parents live in LaCrosse... he told us recently, that they shoot fireworx off, from the top of it, on the 4th of July, too...

That has been a fall destination of ours for years. Very nice

A sight for sore eyes....

Watched the live coverage this morning of the bridge opening. Historic and emotional to say the least.

http://www.wcco.com/video/?id=47618@wcco.dayport.com

I still stand by my earlier statement.... I wont use that route. I refuse to drive over that bridge.

I drove over it today into work - NICE... flew into work in no time with the exception until I hit 94 grrrr - still backed up.

MPR said the DOT plans on leaving in the extra lanes on I-94 for now.

is it just me or does the color of the bridge make it look like a ghost?

I agree, the white makes it stick out like a sore thumb. I wish they could have kept the grayish color of the old bridge, it was much more organic looking.

One coat of winter road salt and it will look just a grey as the rest of the concrete.

I think it looks kind of angelic, like a remembrance of those who perished.

Here is a picture of what the walls look like

Here is the bunkbed I had to disassemble and reassemble.

Nice job, L and A Mommy! Doesn't that feel great to have your hard work acknowledged?

yes actually it does. I was worried the kids were going to not like it or say something like I wanted it Blue, red or something else. I knew I'd cry (in privacy) if the kids didn't like it (it was a lot of work and I don't want to paint for a long time). I didn't think I'd get much of a reaction out of Mike other than yeah looks nice. I think he was more impressed that I moved the furniture than anything lol.

disassemble??

NO DISASSEMBLE!!!!

LOL!!

HOLY MAGENTA, BATMAN!

If you stare at those pictures long enough, they burn into your retina and when you stare at a blank page it looks like a blue and green room.

Geez, I need to find something to do - can you tell work is a little slow today? :asleep: zzzzzz

Is it really that bad...(sniffle sniffle)

I'm planning on painting the dresser and bookshelf white and I'm thinking about the bed but I don't want to ruin it so that nobody else wants it when we are done with it....

Looks really nice LA Mommy!

Looks great LAM! I'm glad your work was appreciated. A little goes a long way when it comes to praise in a relationship.