Creative parking and other random fair highlights

On our way inside the Pioneer Hall Sunday morning, I spied this creative parking job and couldn't resist snapping a photo. It was too good to pass by. As I waited for the camera to turn on and focus, a voice behind me said, "That's a great shot, isn't it. Never seen a parking job like that before. Good for them."

Nothing compares to enjoying church Sunday mornings inside Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair. The first Sunday of the Fair, Pastor Leroy Perkins led the ecumenical service in Pioneer Hall. We arrived just in time to slip into a couple of the last empty seats. Pastor Perkins has a talent for incorporating the theme of each year's fair into his sermons.

The Hairball concert was packed around the Susan Knapp Amphitheater for the Hairball concert Sunday night. We enjoyed the view from atop the newly renovated Eco Hill.

The skyglider sunset made for the perfect end to a really good day :)

Counting cows

I should have known I'd get hooked. It all started when I arrived at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Thursday evening, walked towards the Administration Building, and saw three painted concrete cows.

Awhile later we walked past the giant pumpkins outside the Ag Hall, and saw a few more concrete cows. Turning to my hubby, I asked, "What's up with all the cows?" And he told me there are over 60 all over the fairgrounds in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the first butter cow.

[Read Abigail Livingood's blog about the concrete cow she painted here, pictured above]

Mentally adding up the half dozen we'd passed in the last half hour, I thought, Hmmm...Sixty. I've seen about ten percent of them already. Finding the rest can't be that hard. And it'll be a fun way to explore the entire fairgrounds. Cool. Let's do it! And so the challenge was on. I started counting cows and taking photos of each.

  
As beginner's luck would have it, it started strong and as soon as I was hooked, my luck ran out. Before long I was stuck. After the first dozen and a half of the easy-to-find cows, I didn't know where to look next to find the rest. Thankfully I wasn't stuck very long. A good friend shared a photocopy of her Concrete Cow Locations map and I was back in business.

Each day I've been to the Iowa State Fair, I've scoured right and left in hopes of spotting more concrete cows. Saturday we counted several more. Yesterday I enlisted my parents' help and together we found more than a dozen.

Tonight Jamie joined in the adventure and we found a bunch too! We're nearly two-thirds of our way to all sixty. And it's a good thing too because the fair's halfway over and we're running out of time!

So if you'd like to start counting your own concrete cows at the fair, be sure to visit the Butter Cow page on the Iowa State Fair website where you can learn all sorts of cool butter cow facts, print your own Concrete Cow Locations map, and start enjoying the thrill of crossing off those cows from the list, one by one as you find them. And who knows? You may discover new parts of the fair you haven't enjoyed before! Happy counting! Moo!

It's only just the beginning

Hooray! It's here! After all the waiting and much anticipation, I'm thrilled to inform you the Iowa State Fair has arrived! Today marked Day #2 of the ISF and the 100th Anniversary of the Butter Cow.

What better way to start our adventures at the Iowa State Fair than to stop for a gander at the Big Pumpkin Winner.

A friend was sporting this custom number. Too. Cool. And so very creative! 

All over the fairgrounds you'll see these super neat-o cow sculptures. There are 60 in all. As soon as I learned that I decided right then and there that I must find all 60 of these cute little critters or my fair experience won't be complete. With patient help from my hubby, we found 14 tonight already!

The midway was lit up brighter than our Christmas tree and the crowds were pouring in to enjoy the rides and games. I'll let you in on a little secret: One of our favorite places to watch the fireworks after the grandstand concerts is from the Big Wheel in the back of the midway. When the wheel comes around and you're at the top, it feels like you could reach out and touch the sky and tickle your toes on the fireworks in the infield.

The poultry were arriving tonight for the big show tomorrow. This classy fella was strutting his stuff around and around inside his enclosure. I hope he'll do well in the placing tomorrow.

Be sure to visit the Museum when you get to the Fair. The butter cow display on the main floor is really neat. And you can even pose for a photo with a life-size butter cow replica!

We ended the evening with the Tonic Sol-fa concert. Mark, Jared, Greg & Shaun - you're the best! Looking forward to your Christmas concert and can't wait until you're back at the Iowa State Fair again!

Hope you enjoyed the quick tour. Now - hurry out to your car and drive as quickly as you legally can to the Iowa State Fair and experience your own grand fair adventure!

You know it's bad when

After the hottest July on record for the state in which I currently live, it's nice to remember back a few months and appreciate summer because it can always be worse.

Case in point: March 23, 2011 was the day of the worst blizzard I've had the priviledge of driving in yet. What started as an angry gray sky and skiffs of snow blowing across the road in North Dakota quickly became more.

More, you say? Yes, I say. As in much more. Think thick slush in the good parts of the road and black ice in the bad coupled with blinding snowfall, mind-numbingly cold temps and treacherous winds. Sounds nice if you're curled up inside in front of a roaring fire with a mug of hot cocoa warming your hands, under a pile of blankets with nowhere to go for the next 2 days. Not so nice if you're 2 hours from your destination and your eyes are bugging out from all the strain from trying to see where the sides of the road end and keep your vehicle on the straight and narrow between the edges.

You know it's bad when the good, hardy people of North Dakota are cancelling school mid-morning because of the blizzard you're still driving through hours later.

Yup. This is what the aftermath on the good part of the road looked like the next day when we were one of the first vehicles to brave venturing onto the newly opened mostly one-lane Interstate. Not pretty.

So the next time you hear me say I'm too hot - please remind me that on March 23, 2011 I was telling myself that summer couldn't come soon enough.

Butter cows and fun fair trivia

Question: In addition to the Butter Cow, another companion sculpture also graces the Agriculture Building coolers. Name five creations from past years.

Answers:

1996: Grant Wood's famous "American Gothic" (honoring Iowa's Sesquicentennial)
1997: Elvis Presley
1998: An American eagle
1999: Her own version of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
2000: Christian Peterson sculpting "The Gentle Doctor" statue (Petersen was Duffy's mentor and teacher.)
2001: John Wayne
2002: Peanuts Gang
2003: Harley-Davidson motorcycle (in honor of the company's 100th anniversary)
2004: Birthday cake in honor of the Fair's Sesquicentennial and an Iowa barn
2005: Tiger Woods
2006: "Mr. State Fair" Bill Riley (in honor of his 60th Fair) and Superman (Norwalk, Iowa, native Brandon Routh)
2007: Harry Potter
2008: Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and a tribute to four Iowans who changed the face of the world’s agriculture:  Etta May Budd, George Washington Carver, Henry Wallace and Norman Borlaug.
2009: Tribute to the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon
2010: 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham

(Source: the Trivia page from the Iowa State Fair's website: http://www.iowastatefair.org/fair-attractions/trivia/)


How well do you know the Iowa State Fair? Care to be tested? If trivia tickles your fancy, check out this fun page on the Iowa State Fair's website. It's filled with questions and answers like the one above and is sure to test even the most experienced fairgoer's knowledge of the Iowa State Fair.


And if you're interested in more butter cow lore, be sure to visit the Blue Ribbon Foundation's blog, where they posted several cool (Get it? Cool? As in the butter cow is kept in a cooler? Ha! I crack myself up!) facts about the butter cow.

Get your tickets now

Ah, yes. It's that time of year. The ads on TV and the banners lining the streets in downtown Des Moines signal it's time for lots of fun, food on a stick, animals galore, and even a butter cow! Did you know the butter cow turns 100 this year? A fun twist to this year's Iowa State Fair theme, Nothing Compares, is Nothing Butter. I love it!

After all the anticipation and preparation, the Iowa State Fair is only days away. Since I know you won't be able to miss it this year, you may want to purchase your tickets in advance - and enjoy a pre-fair discount when you do. How? you ask. Go to the Iowa State Fair's website where you can purchase your gate tickets and even concert tickets online and print them at home for speedy and fee-free delivery. You'd butter, ahem, I mean better act fast because online gate ticket sales end August 10, and concerts are selling out fast!

Wild water adventure

Two weeks ago today we tried something we'd never done together before. We went canoeing. On a river full of moving water. In the hottest part of July. What could have been the perfect recipe for disaster turned into the most beautiful fun day.

Now, we've both been canoeing before - but with other people. And so this time we we not only got to go together for the first time, we got to go in the same canoe, and learned how to paddle together in unison. As we were starting out on the trip, I was wondering if this was something we should have done first as part of the pre-marital counseling - just to be sure we were compatible enough to work through our differences the rest of our married lives.

It turns out I needn't have been concerned. I'm happy to report the day was filled with happy discoveries. Not only were we thrilled to learn the other spouse actually could handle themselves without embarrassment in a canoe, we made quite a good team and had a great day.

Our good friend, Julia, actually planned the adventure. She and her hubby, Dan, led out in the first canoe. Then we pushed off and began paddling downstream, followed by Patrick and Mary in their canoe.

Jamie got a little creative in the front of the canoe when he twisted around to snap a photo of me. And no, thankfully the river wasn't this steep. The camera was also turned as he was contorted in the front of the canoe, trying to balance his weight so we wouldn't topple as he braced for the shot.

One thrilling highlight was floating underneath Union Pacific's Kate Shelley bridge. The new bridge, opened in 2009, stands proudly beside the original. Jamie told me the story of Kate Shelley's heroics and how the bridge came to be named for her bravery. You can read about it here. It is an impressive sight, especially when you're on the water immediately beneath the rails above and can see just how immense the support columns truly are.

We paddled around in the river beneath the bridges, floating downstream a ways, then racing each other back upstream a few times. While we were still close by, a long train passed overhead and the sound of the train coming over the tracks and onto the bridge was really cool.

Even before our canoe adventures had ended, we all agreed we can't wait to do this again. Next time we may even go for the full day canoe adventure since the half-day trip went so well. And thankfully I know Jamie is very skilled in a canoe and am assured of another great trip!

Although, between you and me, canoeing together is probably something we should have done while we were still dating because it's amazing how much you learn about someone when you're stuck with them in a canoe, learning to balance each other's movements so you don't topple over while trying to steer it together in the same direction on moving water. Just sayin'. It's been nearly five years of (mostly) marital bliss (...no one's totally perfect, not even me!) with this man and while in a canoe, I still learned something new about him! Here's to the next five and counting!

Barnstormers and plucky little grandmas

It was only two months ago tonight Jamie and I went to our first indoor arena football game with a friend to see the Iowa Barnstormers lose to the Predators. Well, we didn't actually go because we wanted the Barnstormers to lose - it just happened that way and we were there to see it.

I learned a lot - including now knowing that when the football flies out into the crowd, just like in baseball, the lucky catcher gets to keep the ball. Unfortunately no loose footballs flew up near our seats in the "more affordable upper deck that still has a good view of the field" nosebleed section. We were ready all the same. Jamie would have caught one for me. I just know it!

The game was fun and we really enjoyed the fast pace. The best part of the night for me, however, was when a player fell over the padded barricade in the end zone while trying to catch a pass for the touchdown and in the process he fell into the crowd gathered around the edge under the uprights. As he fell, this tiny little Grandma reaches over and nonchalantly plucks the football out of his hands, and then waves it high in the air (well, as high as her arms could reach) in a double-fisted victory grip. The crowd roared in response getting louder and louder each time the whole scene was replayed on the big screen overhead.

So kudos to all the spunky Grandmas out there who aren't afraid to take on rushing football players all in the spirit of catching a "loose" ball so they can show it to their grandkiddies and retell their exploits for years to come. My hat's off to you!

"Worth" the visit

For most of those who know us well, we're knee-deep - no, make that neck-deep, up to our armpits and barely stayin' afloat, smack-dab in the middle of fair season. Jamie proudly shared with me this week he gets to go to fair #20 so far this summer and he's looking forward to every minute of it.

When I'm not busy traveling for work, I often get to go with Jamie to some of our county fairs. We usually call them our date nights when he gets to treat me to supper at the local 4-H or church food stand and I get to sample the pie selection whenever we save room for dessert.

Here are some highlights from our date night at the Worth County Fair on June 17.

Stunning hosta in the floral hall



Jamie beckoning me to join him for dinner at the 4-H stand

[confession] I was chuckling so much when I snapped this shot that truth-be-told, it's a little blurry. Take a gander at the handwritten caption and I think you'll chuckle along with me.

A proud photography entry in the 4-H building

The stars of the petting zoo.
The one with the wild hairdo sitting in the dish is my favorite!

So cool! 4-Her's get to take care of their own section
of these beds in the shape of 4-H!





We sat and enjoyed the Big Band music for quite awhile.
The music spilled out from the building and serenaded us
all the way back to the car.

Good night, Northwood! We'll be back again next fair!

Up, up and away

This weekend we crossed one more thing off our bucket list - something we've been wanting to do for quite some time. We went to the National Balloon Classic in Indianola and watched as all the hot air balloons came to life and floated away.

The hot air balloons started their journey flat, limp, and tangled. Their silky skin was carefully stretched across the grassy hill as thousands watched, bathed in the waning sunlight and baked in the late day's heat. They rose slowly, growing larger and starting to stand upright as if taking deep breaths of air to fill their lungs for their long journey ahead.

Soon others on the hillside rose to join the first brave souls.

As the first lifted free from their tethers, more strained to be set loose.

Before long the whole northern sky was filled with fleeing hot air balloons.

Thinking this was the end of the grand sight, we left and started driving northward along a dusty country road. To our great surprise, after the first few hilltops, the first of the mammoth balloons were beginning to return to the ground, touching down in whatever clear space they deemed fit: pastures, roadsides, backyards, you name it - they landed there.

Before long, these majestic balloons were wrapped up and packed away, stored safely for another day when they'll be set free to float away again. And on that day, we want to ride along.