well there are some photos of the last few weeks. sorry there hasnt been more posts. as you can see by the pictures we made it to mt rushmore, allbeit with a few car troubles along the way, then made it home last monday. i did a day and a halfs work then drove over to calgary by myself (9 hrs fun fun) and met up with 3 other trainees. went to the stampede for threes days which was an experience, lots of cowboy hats and boots and wranglers!! on the thursday in calgary i also went to the warped tour. i was lucky enough to arrive just as relient k started there set and they were kool (managed to get them to sign a hat to!) also saw MxPx, awesome they were. also a few other bands. i am now back workin hard. all the crops have grown heaps in the 3 weeks i was away, everything is flowering already and the countryside is simply awesome. i got to do some spraying for the first time today in the big willmar, we have to spray the canary for aphids (otherwise known as aff-ids over here). well i gotta get up at 3 or 3 and spray so i am going to sleep now, bye daniel 

the chuckwagon races, very entertaining, people and horse going everywhere, ask me to explain it when i get home!! 

half of the calgary stampede grandstand, good times. 

we went to a wildlife park at rapid city near mt rushmore, one of the ones where you drive around in your car, twas pretty kool. we got up close and personal with some black bears and saw a grizzly in a cage, poor fellar. 

oops! ( this photo means no disrespect to any american president, nor does it means they picked there nose!) 

angus and i at mt rushmore 

me going up for a short helicopter flight over the black hills and mount rushmore, twas quite a good view. 

the Crown Victoria didnt like the south dakota heat, it was bout 38 degrees C and i got a little warm which caused it to keep shutting down, it did this for most of the day, i cant blame it, 38 C and 85 mph and a radiator the size of a VP oil cooler, not a good combo. but a quick radiator flush at a servo helped a little and we didnt have anymore trouble after that 

The Badlands, as you can see they are, bad! 

this is sioux falls, south dakota, we stayed here last night and went down to the falls after tea and threw a footy and the had a light and sound show on the falls which looked pretty kool. 

me at the tractor factory with a brand new 8000 series track tractor 

a train leaving the factory, we reakon its worth about 8 million canadian dollars.  

inside the combine factory, it was the only one we were allowed to tack photos in. this is the back end of a rotory combine 

corn, corn soyabeans, corn corn corn corn soyabeans corn............

you get the picture. it is called the corn belt for a reason, just wall to wall corn an soyabeans, planted as thick as an irrigated crop, but grown dryland.
after the motocross we headed south west to peoria illinious, where we spent july 4th, the fireworks were pretty kool, about 25 minutes long off a barge in the middle of the river. there were heaps of people around and as soon as the last firework went off they all disappeared straight away. we did a tour of the caterpillar dozer factory which was kool too see how those big things go together, we have also been through the john deere combine factory at moline, also the museum, pavillioin and gift shop there, then we went to waterloo iowa where we went through the tractor plant and the engine works, all of them were really good to go through and also free!!

we are now heading north west back to canada via mount rushmore. we are in souix falls 2night then hopefully driving the 6-7 hours to mount rushmore tomorrow and having a look around there for a day or two then heading north back to our respective places around canada for a day or too.

well thats what i've been doin so have fun and God bless, daniel

the start, twas a fun weekend 

a 120 foot massive jump 

the current motocross and supercross champ, riding a suzuki, the only bike hey matt!! 

one of the many big jumps on the track 

happy independence day!!

howdy, well it is the day of independence in the country that controls the world and they sure let you know it too. there are more flags waving than citizens around the streets !!
Mum and dad left me i chicago last thursday and headed for alaska, while i stayed an extra night and met up with 2 other trainees on friday. since i last posted i have done a fair few miles around the country, going from niagra falls to see dads auntie in columbus ohio, then up to detroit where we did a tour of the ford factory and museum, then headed to chicago and went onto the floor of the futures exchange which was very interesting, and hard to understand. on friday i headed east again to an american motocross event right a the south west corner of michigan in a country town called buchanan. that was a great weekend, i will put a photo or 2 up for matt!
we are now in a city called peoria about 2-3 hours south west of chicago, and are hopefully trying to have a look in the caterpillar factory tomorrow and go and celebrate independence day tonight down on the river where there is apparently the traditional july 4 fireworks display, if it stops raining. we were talking to a police officier earlier in the day and he said he would rather the rain than the fireworks which is obvious driving across the country side. the corn is just starting to tassle and most of it is starting to curl up cause of the dry, the soybeans dont look overly exciting either.

so happy 4th of july and talk to you all again soon, daniel