Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Photos of the Day – Oct 24th, 25th, and 26th
Here are my photos of the day for Oct 24-26, 2017:
OCTOBER 24
# 297 Photo Prompt – One of a Kind:
“Bread Box”
#oneofakind
This was originally an old fashioned white metal bread box. An artist friend in NC painted it for me to go with the colors in my Sanford, NC home. When I moved back home, I of course brought it with me and it goes beautifully with the colors in my current kitchen, too! It is truly a one-of-a-kind work of art and I love it!!!
OCTOBER 25
# 298 Photo Prompt – In Flight:
“Albion From Above”
#inflight
Full Disclosure – I didn’t take this photo on the 15th! No good opportunities to meet the photo prompt “In flight” caught my eye!!! So, rather than just skip the day, I chose a photo I took back in August when I went flying with a friend in his private plane and capture this and other cool aerial photos around the area!
#298 Caught By My Lens:
“In Full Bloom”
A couple days ago, I posted a photo of this plant with the blossom just starting to bud out……and, now, here it is in full bloom! It is a gorgeous rich purple (looks a tad on the pink side here, but it is purple)!
OCTOBER 26
# 299 Photo Prompt – Sticky:
“Sticky Notes”
#sticky
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October 2017s Photo Prompts:
Photos of the Day – October 23rd
Here are my Photos of the Day for October 23, 2017:
# 296 Photo Prompt – Something Orange:
“God’s Majesty”
#somethingorange
# 296 Caught By My Lens:
My neighbor has the must stunning tree…..year after year it never fails to provide the best view from my back deck! Even this year, when the autumn colors are so disappointing, over all, this one put on its usual brilliant show! So, I can not just use one photo of it for the Photo of the Day……no, I needed to share more!
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October 2017s Photo Prompts:
Photos of the Day – October 21st and 22nd
Here are my Photos of the Day for October 21-22, 2017:
OCTOBER 21
# 294 Photo Prompt – Right Now:
“Bitternut Lane looks pretty bare…..”
#rightnow
I removed the flowers from the cemetery urns for the season!
OCTOBER 22
# 295 Photo Prompt – I Wrote This:
“My Very First Blog Post – 10 Years Ago!”
#iwrotethis
If you can’t read it in the photo and would like to, click here!
This is from back when my blog truly consisted of just my thoughts and adventures!
# 295 Caught By My Lens:
The first bud is popping up!!!
(center plant……friends who got one of these the same time I did have had blossoms for a while!)
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October 2017s Photo Prompts:
2017 LeClair, Iowa
More from my second full day in Iowa……after I left Dyersville and the Field of Dreams house, I headed south to LeClair, IA. I put LeClair in the plans because that is where the American Pickers from the TV show have their shop (they also have one in Tennessee). I love that show, so definitely wanted to see that! I heard they are rarely there, so I figured I wouldn’t see them……and didn’t…..but, that’s OK! It was still cool to see their stuff and their shop!
When I got to LeClair, I discovered it is the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Coty, so I just had to go to the museum that highlighted his life!
LeClair is a tiny little town on the Mississippi River with a railroad track that runs along the main drag through town – it looks like it is right out of the old west!
Here is Buffalo Bill pictured with his friends, Wild Bill Hickok (who I “met” last year), and Texas Jack
Here I am with Wild Bill in Deadwood, SD in Sept 2016! 🙂 But, I digress……
The museum also had many other artifacts of the time on display…..as well as historical items related to the Mississippi River
This steamer – Lone Star – was built in 1868
When you watch the show – American Pickers – and see the guys pull in to their shop, you get the idea that it is a big place with a large parking lot and that it is probably out in the country somewhere……nope – it is on a small corner lot right in the heart of downtown LeClair overlooking the Mississippi River!
So, that’s my trip to Iowa……hope you enjoyed the posts and photos! My third day there was a 1/2 day (I flew back home that afternoon) and photos from that day are in the post about Dubuque because I spent that morning exploring downtown Dubuque and the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. It was a GREAT trip and I really want to go back someday! I want to stay more in the center of the state and see the covered bridges in Madison County and anything else that I can find in that area…….also, I didn’t have time on my day in Dyersville and LeClair to catch the Hwy 80 Truck Stop – promoted as the largest truck stop in America and a real treat to see – but, it was getting late and it would have added another 2 hours to my day……I wanted to head back to Dubuque, get some dinner, and hit the sack! hahaha But, I wouldn’t mind putting it on my list for the next time I make it to Iowa!
Now…….to get Kentucky colored in sometime next year and then work on the other six western states!
2017 Dyersville, Iowa
Continuing on with the photos from my recent Iowa Adventure…….on my second full day, I stayed a little closer to Dubuque – the farthest I traveled that day was a little over an hour. My first stop was about 20 minutes outside Dubuque and was the main purpose for my decision to target that area for my adventure – Dyersville, Iowa! Dyersville is where one of my all time favorite movies – The Field of Dreams – was filmed. The house and baseball field in the corn field remains as it was in the movie and family members of the owner of the house work the souvenir shop and run the house tours. Visitors are encouraged to bring balls and bats and go out on the field to play a little game or “have a catch” – in fact, there was a family doing just that while I was there. The house is open to guided tours, which are very well presented, extremely informative, and fun! At several points during the tour, Clarence – our tour guide – stopped and offered to take photos of us in various key places around the house. It was fantastic!
I got to Dyersville early because I wanted to tour the St. Francis Xavier Basilica and get some breakfast before going to the Field of Dreams house. Sooooo glad I did! I walked into the Basilica and instantly took in a deep breath and didn’t breathe again until I stepped back outside! I could have just sat there and enjoyed the beauty for a good long while, but they were preparing for a funeral, so I looked around, snapped some photos, and left. When I got to the diner for breakfast, my waitress – who learned I was visiting from NY through our conversation – suggested I go there. When I said I already did and how much I enjoyed it, she told me that they had an amazing priest who took several years to painstakingly restore it to the original decor. It was built in the late 1880s to accommodate a growing German and Irish Catholic congregation. But, sometime in the mid-1900s, the congregation at the time decided to put all the statues in the attic for safe keeping and painted everything white! The priest who felt that was a crime and wanted to restore it went to the company who made the original paint and found records of the colors and bought all the colors to be the exact colors used when it was built…..including the gold leaf! He also brought down all the statues from the attic and it is now fully restored based on photos and records from the time it was built! Incredible!
The restaurant I found to have breakfast was wonderful, too……just up the street from the Basilica (the last photo above was taken from my parking spot just down from the front door). If I remember right, it was called the Dyersville Family Diner. Dyersville is a pretty little town with very friendly people.
After breakfast, I headed over to the Field of Dreams House.
For those who are not familiar with the movie — I HIGHLY recommend you rent it, stream it, whatever you need to do to watch this amazing movie! It isn’t just about baseball……it is about father/son relationships and redemption for the choices we make in our lives. And, it is incredible! In a nutshell, Ray Kinsella owns a farm. He begins to hear voices telling him “If you build it, he will come”. He has no idea what they are talking about, but knows in his heart that it is important. Soon, he is given a vision of a baseball field with lights in the middle of his corn field. So, despite having the towns people and his own family thinking he’s gone nuts, he plows under a large portion of his corn field and builds this baseball field. Nothing happens for a while, but soon his daughter tells him to look out at the field cause there is a man there…..he looks and goes out to find out it is the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson – a disgraced player for the 1919 Chicago White Sox – a team Ray’s father, who he had a troubled relationship with, idolized. Shoeless Joe bats some balls with Ray and tells him there are others who would like to come play and soon there is enough of the great ball players of his time to have actual games. The story goes on from there……I won’t spoil it for you…..but, if you haven’t seen it, you really need to!!!
I wanted to get a selfie sitting on the bleachers from the movie, but they were way too wet to sit on…..so, this will have to do!
Had to get a photo of me on the porch swing!
Clarence – our tour guide – explaining that this stove is the only prop the movie folks left behind after the movie – because it was too heavy to carry back out! haha
Ray, Annie, and Karin Kinsella family photo (Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, and Gaby Hoffmann)
The window “Ray” was looking out when he first saw the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta)
Standing on the staircase where “Ray” and “Annie” realized they both had the same dream about “Ray” sitting in Fenway Park eating a hotdog with author “Terrence Mann” (James Earl Jones)
The breaker where they turned the lights on the baseball field
It is now home to a family of birds
Kevin Costner carved this in the wood on the bleachers — it says “Ray Loves Annie”!
Most of the ghost players appeared out of the corn field between the light post and the flag pole
There are “Ghost Players” games throughout the summer that the public can come watch. Also, once a year, they host a game with various famous baseball players that draws a huge crowd. It is quite an amazing place!!! It was a real thrill to be there and see it all!
And……it made my day to ask one of the volunteers “Is this Heaven?” and have them respond “No, it’s Iowa!” 😀
It just goes to show……If you build it, they will come!!!
2017 Clear Lake, Iowa
The Day The Music Died……it happened just north of Clear Lake, Iowa in a corn field just after midnight on February 3, 1959. It was the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (JP Richardson), and Ritchie Valens, as well as the young pilot of the private plane carrying the music legends. They had just played the Clear Lake, IA show of the 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour. It was snowing and cold and their bus had no heat. Several of the musicians, including headliners, were already sick from traveling in the cold bus. Buddy Holly chartered a plane to take him and two others to their next show – promising a warm bed to sleep in for the night – but there were only two other seats. There are several accounts of how The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens ended up being the ones on the plane, but the most accepted story is that the Big Bopper had the flu, so he asked Waylon Jennings for his seat and Ritchie Valens won a coin toss for the other seat. Whatever really happened, the bottom line is that the three of them boarded the plane after the show and, due to the sever weather and a pilot who was young and unqualified, the plane crashed in a corn field just six miles out of town.
The Surf Ballroom is the location of the final performance of these three musical icons. It has quite an impressive history of its own. Built in 1949, it hosted performances by all the major musicians over more than five decades! They have walls lined with photos and memorabilia of just some of the greats who performed there — the guide said they had more stars perform there than they have wall space! It is now run by a non-profit organization and still open for concerts, weddings, reunions, and other events – ZZ Top played there not too long ago and they host an annual reunion of the Winter Dance Party Tour with big stars coming to honor The Day The Music Died – the Feb 2018 line up will be announced in a few weeks. The Ballroom is kept just the way it was when it was built in 1949 – much is still original to the building (like the lobby and coat check area) and much has been restored over time (like the pineapple wood panels on the walls).
The crash site is on private property, but the owner keeps the path mowed down for fans to visit the memorial that has been placed to mark the spot. It is a 1/4 mile hike through the corn field and is well worth the effort to get there. I visited it on a drizzly, cold morning – I took the 1/4 mile walk with an umbrella on the muddy path…..all alone in the middle of nowhere, but am so very glad I did!
Here are some photos:
You have to take Buddy Holly Place to get to the street the Surf Ballroom is located on
The original lobby and coat check station
Restored pineapple wood panels on the walls
Many greats played this piano, but Duke Ellington signed the underside of the lid after he played it!
They have preserved the phone that Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens called home on the night they died
Part of the Big Band Wall
And, this is part of the Rock and Country Wall
The Lounge is crammed with memorabilia — photos, guitars, personal items, etc….
This is the brief case recovered from the plane crash – it belonged to The Big Bopper and had tour documents in it
In the 1980s, stars who performed there decided they should leave their mark, so they began to sign their names on the wall of the Green Room — majorly impressive!!!
I was struck by this display – it says the Nelson Family is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only family in entertainment history with three generations of hit makers. They also have the distinction of having all three generations perform their hits at the Surf Ballroom! Pretty cool!
Standing on the original stage looking out over the ballroom (the extension in front of me was added to accommodate larger bands in later years).
On the corner of JP Richardson Ave and Ritchie Valens Dr is a small memorial park
This post is topped with three records representing the three legends – it lights up in blue neon at night and you can press buttons to listen to all three number one hits
the underside of the bottom record
Entrance to the lane leading to the crash site
Can’t tell from this photo, but it was a drizzly, misty rain and my hair was soaked! I used an umbrella to walk the lane, but I was already wet!
The crash site is 1/4 mile down this muddy lane through a corn field
PLEASE NOTE: These photos aren’t very good……I actually filmed a Live Video on Facebook of my stroll down the path and the memorial tribute. I was so excited and emotion seeing it all that I totally forgot to take still photos!!! So, I got screenshots from the video…..which don’t make for great photos, but gives you an idea of what I found at the end of the path. Wish I could post the video, but not possible……sorry!!!
The pilot – Roger Peterson
Three records and a guitar with their names
And, then, I had to walk the 1/4 mile back to my car…..in a little heavier drizzle. When I got in the car, I realized I forgot to take still photos and considered walking back – after all, when am I ever going to be back there…..but, decided not to – and a good thing I did because a big down pour came right when I would have been about 1/2 way down the path! It was a long, lonely walk town the path in the middle of nowhere in God’s Country, but it was worth it! I’m so glad I went. As I was pulling away, two other cars pulled up to make the trek……they had a MUCH soggier walk than I had because of the down pour that hit just after they got started!
And….here’s the video of my walk through the corn field:
So…….that was my first full day in Iowa! Clear Lake is about a 3 hour drive from Dubuque, so I was on the road much of the day, but I saw a lot of the Iowa country side and stopped for lunch and dinner and slept really good when I got back to the hotel! 🙂
Photos of the Day – October 19th and 20th
Here are my Photos of the Day for October 19-20, 2017:
OCTOBER 19
# 292 Photo Prompt – Organized:
“When you have to seat 12 for lunch and your dining room table only seats 6…..”
#organized
My home was the Soup/Salad Course stop for a Progressive Lunch with a group of 12 ladies from my church…….soup/salad isn’t easy to eat standing up, so I had to get creative with my seating —- 6 at the dining room table and a folding picnic table in the living room for the other 6! 🙂
# 292 Caught By My Lens:
“The Soup…..Bean and Ham”
“The Salad Bar”
OCTOBER 20
# 293 Photo Prompt – Floral:
“Vintage Appeal”
#floral
# 293 Caught By My Lens:
“The Runner Up”
This is what happens when three friends are at a really cool place for lunch and see an interesting mirror!
Better than snapping a regular group selfie!
I won’t tell how many tries it took to get one good photo…..but, we had some good laughs doing it! hehehe
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October 2017s Photo Prompts:
Found Along the Way in Iowa
I mentioned in my previous Iowa post that I put 700+ miles on my rental car. I covered a lot of ground while I was exploring all that the are of Iowa I stayed in had to offer. Here are some things that caught my eye and I felt worthy of pulling over (and sometimes turning around and going back) to get a photo!
I followed signs to a Pioneer Village and Little Brown Church — the pioneer village was closed and I couldn’t see much from the parking lot, but the little brown church was right beside the road and cute as a button! It is still used for church services. The sign above the door says “Little Brown Church in the Vale; Built 1860-64”
Saw and traveled down many long dirt roads!
I imagined Iowa would be a very flat state – like Kansas. But, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually has a lot of beautiful rolling hills……it wasn’t easy to get a photo that really showed that, but some of these posted here hint at it.
Stay tuned for more photos from Iowa!
2017 Dubuque, Iowa
So, I’m working on coloring in the states on a map of the US — states I’ve visited are colored pink! After last year’s Most Excellent Adventure – where we visited 21 states in 34 days in a motor home – I ended up with one lone state in the middle of the country uncolored! That state was Iowa! It has been a major thorn in my craw to know we drove up one side of it and down the other and all around it, but didn’t find a reason to take a little side trip into Iowa. As it turns out, though, it is actually a good thing that we didn’t just jog in and catch a couple of attractions and move on – I would have colored it in and probably never gone back to see more……and, I would have missed out on a LOT of wonderful things to see and do in Iowa! So, when the opportunity came to make a short trip to Iowa, I jumped at it! I had a trip planned to go to Kentucky (the only other lone state that looks like an island in a sea of pink) with a travel group I belong to, but it was canceled. I thought the money was already “spent” and the time already “claimed”, so I took the refund and booked a flight to Dubuque!
Seven to go……looking for another opportunity to color in Kentucky next year!
I chose Dubuque to stay and venture out from there because the main point of my trip was to see the “Field of Dreams” house in nearby Dyersville. As I researched other possible things to see, I realized I hit the jackpot and picked the best area to stay. From Dubuque, I drove to Clear Lake, Dyersville, and LeClair and put over 700 miles on my rental car over two full days and a half day. Not too shabby! I may need to go back, though, cause there are other things that I would love to see, but they were just a little too far to drive to for this short trip – like the covered bridges in Madison County, which were inspiration for the movie “Bridges of Madison County” – that was about a 4+ hour drive.
So……I’ll start with photos from Dubuque itself and then do other posts with photos of the other areas and attractions I saw.
Dubuque is located right on the Mississippi River. It is a cool city with a beautiful downtown and river front areas. I arrived about dinner time my first day – the plan was to arrive mid-morning, but they over sold the flight and asked for volunteers to be bumped and, once the incentives made it worth me losing about 1/2 a day of my trip, I took it! I arrived later than planned, but ended up with a $1000 travel voucher and a free lunch! So, I didn’t have as much time my first day as I hoped, but I did get to go to the Mississippi River Walk for a nice stroll – it was a warm, breezy evening and there were several people out enjoying the wonderful walk-way along the river.
The tall building in the back left is a shot tower – constructed in 1856 to manufacture lead shot ammunition
This is the first bridge built across the Mississippi River – built in 1867-68
One of many sculptures done by local artists along the River Walk
There are several stairways along the walk so people can get closer to the river
Then, on my last day, I explored downtown more and went to the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium:
DOWNTOWN
Dubuque has a marvelous clock tower in the center of downtown with a traffic circle around it and areas to sit and enjoy the day on either side
MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM
I got to pet the stingrays — that was fun! They enjoy being touched – if you put your hand in the water, they swim up and rub themselves against your hand!
Just hanging with my buddy, Sam
an alligator snapping turtle skeleton
And, these are a couple statues I found near my hotel:
“Gas Station Jesus” is listed on the Roadside America attractions list……had to check it out!
And, finally…….this is the driveway into the Dubuque Regional Airport —- seems like everything I saw and everywhere I went, it was in the middle of a corn field!!! hahaha
So, now, when I think about Iowa, I’ll have many fond memories and will be able to say, “been there, done that, got the t-shirt!” 🙂
Photos of the Day – October 17th and 18th
Here are my Photos of the Day for October 17-18, 2017:
OCTOBER 17
# 290 Photo Prompt – Gadget:
“Picture Taking Thingy”
#gadget
# 290 Caught By My Lens:
A very good friend surprised me with this Pink Flamingo Umbrella as an early birthday gift! She knows how crazy I am about pink flamingos and that I love umbrellas!!! Feeling blessed!!!
OCTOBER 18
# 291 Photo Prompt – One Word:
“Family”
#oneword
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A funny for you……
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October 2017s Photo Prompts:
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