Al's Oasis in Oacomo, South Dakota

Eric & I arrive at Al's Oasis.

Eric & I will spend the night with the Tractor Trailers across the street from Al's.

Time for selfies...

Eric & me with the 

Welcome to Oacoma sign.

A shot of us with the Buffalo statue.

Al's Oasis looks like an Old West Town.

Al's Oasis Coffee is still

5 cents a cup.

The Bakery Case

We are here for Coffee & Pie...

Eric has the Strawberry Cream Pie.

He is trying Cinnamon Ice Cream. 

I get the Apple Pie A La Mode.

I like this overnight spot.  Spacious parking and delicious food.  If we need anything, there's a Grocery Store and Gift Shop.

The Chamberlain Rest Stop in South Dakota

Staff at The South Dakota Tractor Museum recommended Eric and I stop at The Chamberlain Rest Stop on our journey.

  

The Dignity of Earth & Sky Statue

dominates the bluff near

Chamberlain representing the

courage, perseverance & wisdom

of the Lakota & Dakota People.

The Crops of Discovery II

Peace & Friendship

200 Years to the Future

marker commemorates the

Bicentennial of the

Lewis & Clark Expedition

of 1804.

President Thomas Jefferson tasked Meriweather Lewis with exploring the lands west o the Mississippi River in 1804.  Lewis chose William Clark as co-leader for the mission.  The men recruited the Corps of Volunteers for the Northwest Territory.  The group set out on May 18, 1804, from Charles, Missouri.  The Corps mapped over 8,000 miles; named mountains, rivers, and other geological features; collected and sent back botanical and animal samples, and initiated peaceful relationships with dozens of Native American Tribes.  They were gone for so long that the group was feared to be dead.  Lewis and Clark returned to Washington, DC in the fall of 1806 and made their report to the President.  

I step inside the Visitor Center

for South Dakota Brochures.

Our view of the Missouri River

from the bluff.

Eric and I are just a few miles from Al's Oasis in Oacomo, where we will spend the night.

South Dakota Tractor Museum: The Balster One-Room Schoolhouse

 

Balster One-Room Schoolhouse

Local residents furnished

this one-room schoolhouse.

Eric sits & looks through

a Scrapbook while I

take pictures.

Eric and I stopped at the South Dakota Tractor Museum to look at Farm Tractors and are delighted to see the span of rural South Dakota History on display.

South Dakota Tractor Museum: Homelife Through the Years

Home Life in the 1800s in South Dakota

The evolution of Clothes Washing

from a Tub & Wash Board to

the early 1900s Wooden Washer

to a 1940s Maytag Wringer Washer.

 

Life before Rural Electrification

A Quilt covers an Open Trunk

A Crank Victrola Phonograph

A Peninsular Heater Stove

A Smith Corona Typewriter

A Toy Bull Dozer

The Shelving Unit has Vintage

 Cameras, a Home Movie

 Projector, Tabletop Radios,

 & a Portable TV.

The Player Piano was very

popular in the early 1900s.

A 1920s era Kitchen

Women wanted fashionable curly hairstyles in the early 1900s.  The Electronic Permanent Wave Machine was available to create the latest hairdo.  

 Realistic Permanent Wave

 Machine

It looks like this type of

perm would be a

hair raising experience.

South Dakota Tractor Museum: The Cars & A Truck

Praire Treasures has Cars,

a Truck & lots more.

I focused on the cars and the truck first because I love old cars and trucks.

1925 Ford Model T Roadster

1966 Austin- Healey

This model is sleeker than the Austin-Healey 3000, from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

1929 Chevrolet Coach

1956  Pontiac

1948 Kaiser

Seeing a Kaiser is a rare experience.  I spent my time admiring it.

1971 Mercury Marquis

I got me a car, it's as

as a whale...

The truck in this collection is the star of the gas-powered vehicles that are licensed for the road.

1917 Denby Truck

One Ton Truck

I've never seen a Denby before and look it over carefully.  Its utility and lack of comfort are obvious.  

Your eyes do not deceive you.

The Gas Tank is in front of

the Steering Wheel.

What else is in the Family Memories Building.

South Dakota Tractor Museum: Non Motorized Farm Equipment

This Dog Powered Treadmill powered small pieces of Farm Equipment.

John Deere Corn Sheller

John Deere 15 Foot Single Disk Tiller

McCormick Corn Picker

& Mandt Wagon

Cultivator

Manufacturer unknown

Working in the fields is hard work...

This late 1800s Cook Wagon was

 built to bring meals out to the

farmhands.

Work Crews ate here instead of

walking back to the farmhouse

to eat during harvests.

Fewer daylight hours were wasted during the time sensitive harvest season.

Cistern Chain Pump

Movie Equipment...

Arc Light to Illuminate Filming

Film  Projector with Sound

Capability

Film Repair Machine

Extra Film Reels

Linotype Typesetting Machine

This smaller Printing Machine

was used by businesses that 

printed small batches at

at time.

 

I learned a lot while reading about these non-gas driven machines.  Did you know that dogs were used to power Farm Equipment.

South Dakota Tractor Museum in Kimball, SD: The Tractors

 

The South Dakota Tractor

Museum has a LOT 

more than Farm Tractors.

A row of John Deere Tractors

from the 1940s through the

1950s.

1946 Farmall B

1952 Co-Op E 4

1950 Ford Tractor

Theismann Model A

1951 Oliver Model 77 D

1947 Cockshutt 30

Eric's fourth grade sense of humor lit up when he read Cockshutt.

1954 DC Case

1937 Minneapolis Moline ZTU

1954 Massey Harris 33

1942 Toro

1960 Cub Cadet

There are many more tractors at the museum.  This is just a sampling...