The Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

After we picked up our pocket poochie, and a few other things, we headed up I35 and continued pretty much straight north for almost a billion miles (or so it seemed) through Kansas and Nebraska and into South Dakota where we headed for...

Mitchell, South Dakota and the Corn Palace.  

Some people are lucky enough to live here and see the new themes every year. 

Other people are lucky enough to see the Corn Palace once in their lifetime. 

Me? I am lucky enough to have now seen it twice in my life, once in the summer of 1977 and now 33 years later. 

Imagine that!

We just looked at the outside and shopped around a little as we had the pocket poochie with us. It was actually cool enough that we could have left him in the car but we decided instead to chauffeur him around in his stroller. He was very comfy and calm and we were able to take him into the gift shops that way.

The corn palace is redecorated every year with a new theme.

600,000 pieces of corn are used to decorate the outside each year.

3,000 bushels of grains and grasses are also used each year: milo, rye, and sour dock.

Nine different colors of Indian corn are used to create the mural pictures and over a ton of nails, staples, and wire are used to fasten the corn and grasses.

The streetlights had these cute little corn pictures on them.

It was fun to stroll around the area close to the Corn Palace.

The view from across the street.

Now this is a true claim to fame, the world's only Corn Palace! 

Little Companion, pocket poochie, and I had such a nice time we may consider visiting again next year. We would love to be able to see it all aglow at night.

For the moment though we are safe and sound and enjoying being reunited with our pocket poochie!

Traveling to get our pocket poochie...

We were going to wait awhile longer and get everything situated before retrieving our pocket poochie but circumstances dictated we change our plans.

So... off Little Companion and I went.

From Harvey, ND we traveled southeast to Jamestown and on toward Fargo. We eventually got on I29 and headed south.  Now as we were headed that way anyway, and I'm not always a get there and get er done type of gal...

we made a sharp left when we hit highway 14 and headed off toward...

Walnut Grove, MN.

While in Walnut Grove we were able to tour the little museum and grounds. We had a wonderful time seeing one of the towns Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up in and learn a little more about the author.

Caroline and Charles Ingalls

Now what do we have here?

Kind of looks like she belongs in a soap opera, the one where one gal would be the preacher, doctor, school teacher and, of course,

Most caring mother in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

Okay, enough Little Companion, moving on ...

Laura Ingalls Wilder at age 17, very fun. It was quite a way off the beaten track but would recommend it if you are ever close to Walnut Grove.

Okay, had to but, honestly, you would have too!

North Dakota State Fair July 2010

Finally the first day of the fair has arrived!

The weather?  Just as you might imagine ... rain and about 66 degrees!

As you know Little Companion had really worked on her art the past few months. She entered four pieces.

For her all brush media entry she received an honorable mention. This picture is a unicorn planet (in case you are wondering).

For her colored pencil mechanical teapot, an honorable mention.

For her pencil drawing of what appears to be a cross between a VW bug and an RV, she won a third place ribbon.

For her mixed media watercolor on crayon Indian she won a second place ribbon.

We were all very happy to see her art work displayed. This was the first year she has ever entered and her art work was judged against kids as much as 2 years older. She loves all her ribbons but she really has her eyes set on a blue one for next year!

We had a great time looking at all the creative work displayed. Of course we spent a lot of time looking at the crochet and quilts. A lot of beautiful work was displayed and we enjoyed the time.

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

Harvey Fest 2010

Now not everyone knows this but every year,

about this time,

there is an event held in Harvey, North Dakota called ... Harvey Fest.

During this 2-day event there are numerous activities and happenings to participate in. There is a tractor show and a parade, there is drama, there is music, there is wine tasting, and there is an arts and crafts festival.

We were not able to, or chose not to, participate in everything but we did spend an early hour Friday playing in the street they had blocked off for dancing. 

Harvey has a thriving downtown.  Although not necessarily one of the prettiest downtowns I have seen, definitely one of the most viable.

Two random townspeople out for fun. 

(Okay just kidding that's son Steve and daughter Heidi.)

Look at all the little girls having fun. The boys were walking around acting cool!

Saturday we were able to get to the arts and crafts festival. 

 We found a couple of fun things. The welcome to our cottage sign and then a microwave potato bag.

Doesn't this look fun? I have never seen this before. Going to have to grab some potatoes soon and try this out!

We were also busy shuffling things about at the house this weekend. We have a wonderful neighbor that brought us over some cucumbers from her garden. Very tasty indeed! 

Sundays we head on into Minot for church. On our way home we cruised Balfour, North Dakota to see what we could see. Not much there, looks almost like a ghost town, but there is this cute church building tucked gently away in the back of town.

Sign says it was built in 1906. It looks like original stained glass. Isn't it sweet?

Wishing you a lovely peaceful week!

Before and after

We have been busy with many things the last week or so. 

Little Companion will be entering 4 pieces of art in the state fair this year.  There are specific rules that go along with this and it makes it somewhat of a process. We have had them matted and shrink wrapped and now just have to put on the hanging devices, name and address, and get them there.

We have also been dealing with some house issues that we may or may not be blogging about later, although it has been very interesting!

We are living in a charming 1911 house that is just cute as a button, hoping to be able to start sharing some pictures soon.

We had a few things that we grouped together for the bathroom.

Here is what they would have looked like before a little spray paint...

hum, okay... after

Ta dah!!!

(The towel rack really is not curved.)

Better, yes?

Have a wonderful week!

Frisbee golf course

Well look who decided to join us on our adventure in North Dakota.

It's Steve!!

Steve has decided to finish up his accounting degree at Minot State where they have a wonderful program and he can minor in tax fraud ... watch out!

This has made little companion very happy.

She doesn't really understand yet he will be living in Minot and she won't have him to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning forever but for now she is soooo happy!

Okay, now on to the Frisbee golf course.

Today we went over to the Frisbee golf course and scouted it out.

It is so cute!

The grounds are very well taken care of.  I think they mowed just for us.

We didn't have a Frisbee but we probably wouldn't have played right anyway. Might be a good idea to have a clue about the rules first!

A little area to sit a spell, picnic, or just...

Listen to a Taylor Swift song sung by Little Companion. (Amazing how she is growing!)

Wrapped it up and came on home. It was a beautiful day, about 72 degrees, a light wind blowing. I think North Dakota gets these kinds of days during the summer to compensate for those 30 to 60 below zero days during the winter. 

We are thankful for the beauty of today!

North Dakota

So here's the scoop...

After my daughter's husband made the decision to not be married anymore, in pursuit of other things, plans changed and it was no longer the best option to continue on in Florida.  Daughter made the decision to take a 3 month contract position in Alaska until other options could be considered. 

Well, when the hospital she had worked at in North Dakota heard the news they offered her a package that would have been unwise to refuse in exchange for returning to Minot.

So...

We loaded up the truck and we moved to ... North Dakota, again.

But we decided not to move directly to Minot and decided instead upon the little town of Harvey, North Dakota.

Now you might be wondering about North Dakota about this time and may have some preconceived ideas about the state that might just not be entirely correct.

The area we chose has an excellent elementary school, a safe environment, and a lot of outdoor recreation available, less than a mile away.

A beautiful recreational area with a beach, boat ramp, and fishing docks.

Room to play and run without an enormous amount of people.

Isn't this just so Little House on the Prairie?

People who have not lived in one of the plains states do not always understand there is beauty here to be enjoyed.

Antelope really do play here...

There are rolling hills of various colors...

You can honestly leave your doors unlocked...

Over each rolling hill there is a different scene, velvety grass waving in the wind.

Room to breathe and regenerate after a difficult time...

beauty and

a little bit of time to be a kid again.

Happy 4th to you and yours!