Monday, August 30, 2010

Windy and Dusty

The locals say that the weather here is not normal, that it has really been an unusual year. Aeolus, the Greek god of weather must have heard that the English’s are traveling.  It was raining and flooding in Illinois and Iowa, and it has been windy everyday since we arrived here in Mitchell. I am not talking about gusts, I am talking about 25 to 35 mph sustained winds all day and all night. I needed to find a way to appeal to Aeolus to see if I could calm him down.  So Saturday we went to the fair, we tried offering pieces of our elephant ears that blew away from us as we tried to eat it. We also offered up some BBQ sauce from one of the BBQ venders. We even tried some kettle corn and some roasted pecans. None of these offerings have worked. It is going on the fourth day of these windy conditions. Aeolus is one angry god.

While we were at the fair I took a couple of pictures of the corn palace. I could not get very good shots because of the food venders in the street. The original Corn Palace, called "The Corn Belt Exposition" was established in 1892. Early settlers displayed the fruits of their harvest on the building exterior in order to prove the fertility of South Dakota soil. The third and present building was completed for it first festival at the present location in 1921. The exterior decorations are completely stripped down and new murals are created each year. The theme is selected by the Corn Palace Festival Committee and murals are designed by a local artist. It costs about $130,000 each year to change the murals. The corn is cut in half and then nailed in place creating the designs.

Here is the original Corn Palace built with wood framing.

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The one today is okay but is not near as elaborate as the original.

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I do not know what I liked best. The artwork or the BBQ trailers!

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We walked up and down the midway several times.  I did not feel the need to win Max a stuffed animal, she has plenty of those still and it probably would have been cheaper to just buy one anyway. (Really, I was just afraid that she would win and I wouldn’t)

We got home from the fair and was glad to see that the rig was still upright. We watched a little TV and then called it a night.

Sunday I spent the day researching National Forest campgrounds and to see if our size rig will fit into them. I found that it just depends on the area and you just have to drive up to see. They do not take reservations so we will just have to drive in and see if there is a spot open were we can fit. I think we will try one in Nebraska early in September. The plus side is that they are very economical and usually very scenic. The down side is that we will be surround by trees and I will probably not be able to get a satellite connection. I will just have to schedule these campgrounds around my Chiefs games.

Monday and Tuesday we will be trying to find a good window to wash the rig and the truck. Between the wind and the dust washing them now would be futile. Tuesday the wind is suppose to shift coming from the NW and be calmer. I wonder if Aeolus likes pizza!

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