in the 'i heart' land

mitchell, south dakota...home to the corn palace.  i'm not sure what i really knew about this place other than that i thought the entire building was made out of corn.  well that may of been true when the first one was built for a world's fair in the early 1900's, but since then, there has been a perminant structure constructed and the corn is a yearly re-designed and re-attached combinations of pattern about the exterior of the building.  the interior is a large gymnasium style layout, with stage, some bleachers, basketball nets and the like.  there is also amazing art inside the gym, but i'm not sure how often or if it is ever changed.  we were lucky enough to visit over a day of some design changing: they use chalk to outline the picture, then three different colors of ears of corn cut in half to finish the image.  there is also corn stalk and husk used for texture.  i like it.

the inside hallways are lined with older drawings and photos of designs past and then some sketches of how an artist might make corn into art.  it was a bit of a shame that the doll museum across the street was no longer in business.  i mean, who doesn't want to see room after room of big bulging eyes and curly hair?  however, my spirits were lifted when i noticed a life-sized-ear-of-corn photo op and an ATV with a license plate.  in south dakota, if the roads get tough, the tough go four wheelin'!

departing from mitchell, we headed toward vermillion, sd and the national music musuem.  in the middle of the midwest, i was not expecting there to be much of a collection, but they displayed some seriously amazing musical instruments.  one of the first every electric cellos designed by theromin, as well as a barrel cello made from a wine barrel.  there was a harp piano and instruments from a variety of the eastern asian and african countries.  a perfect stop for the music minor in me but much to our dismay, leaving vermillion would signal the end of our south dakota fun and into nebraska heading home we rolled.  heading into lincoln, we drove the barely wide enough for a car and tractor farmland back roads.  barely a hill, much in the corn.  it was wonderful, and i felt like home.  really the first familiar place i had been since leaving california. 

dinner with the mom, aunt, and grandparents at a pie enthusiasts dream [ i went for some french silk pie  :) ].  a couple of movies to put the night away and i was feeling great.  the next morning would be a walk-around self-guided tour of the nebraska state capital building in lincoln followed by goodbyes and see you soons as i headed south to kansas city.  not of course leaving without first visiting g.ma [ R.I.P ] in fremont, nebraska and gifting some roses.  not to get to deviated from the road trip conversations, but that was my first visit since she had pasted and even now as i'm typing, it's hard.  [ g.ma i miss you a lot and think of you everyday. ]

okay...moving on.  heading into kansas city, again, it just felt like home.  getting to spend a night cheering at a winning royals baseball game with daddy, sister, and g.pa.  a familiar bed, set of clean clothes, and knowing that when i pull out my toothbrush tonight i can leave it on the counter for more than a couple of hours.  i had some time.  friday was a bit of running around, getting the car tuned up, catching up visually with the changes that happen when you're not present everyday, and a nighttime of first friday art exhibits in downtown kc with jaime.  some drinks, some laughs, but the card games were saved for next time.

there really is nothing that calms me the way that kansas city can on a cloudy day.  the smell, the image, the temperature even...is just etched into the memory of my love for that city.  no matter how long i go, it is a comforting return.  however, there is still much of missouri that i have not seen, so let's take the chance while it's knocking at the door.  in driving south towards euraka springs, arkansas i figured that now would be the perfect time to see a little bit of branson, missouri is all about.  i've heard the legend of it's rockets and awwed at the desire to amuse myself at silver dollar city, but had never set foot anywhere near.

i didn't really have enough time to go through much of the entertainment offered in the city, but i didn't find that there was a chili cook off fundraiser at the titanic for local fire stations.  i thought, 'well heck ya i'm going.  i love spicy, men in uniforms, and ships...and then the whole doing good for others bit of it doesn't hurt either.  count me in!'  so i went, donated some money, almost got gnomie dipped in a vat, and enjoyed.  of course to cool the spice, there had to be a trip to the mount pleasant winery for their wine 101 class, complete with seven different tastes of missouri made wines [ didn't even know MO was so crazy ].  didn't really learn anything that i didn't know, living the last nine years in wine country and all, but i had some laughs with an arkansas couple next to me that would really of prefered seven different cans of budwiser than 'any of that fruity stuff'.  more for me  :)

the evening was capped with the exchanging vows of lindsay and owen, like i said, in euraka springs, arkansas.  now let me preface the following by saying that euraka springs is an amazingly quaint and cozy town.  twisty, narrow roads with tons of shops. perfect places for photography, a wedding of friends, and wonderful weather.  but let me also say that once a year, it is home to a weekend long corvette and harley gathering...this year, those two events happened to fall on the same weekend as my visit.  now normally, i'm all into looking at pretty cars and feeling the rumble between my legs, but due to the eight fold population increase of the town, my dorm room style hotel room was outrageiously priced for one night.  seriously blue cement painted walls, a see-through plastic poke-a-dot shower curtain, no tack strip from the carpet to linoleum [ which i couldn't be bothered not to attack myself with everytime i was within five feet of it ].  the joy motel owner was very pleasant and talkative, but ahh...the price of demand.  lindsay looked beautiful and i got to dance my pants off, so let's not get too downer, shall we?

photo: lindsay, owen, and gnome

notable missouri: 

     1.  decimals on the highway mile markes for .2 of a mile past.  guess they want you to be very descriptive when needing a tow truck. 

     2.   first time seeing water towers [ though now i'm seeing them constantly midwest and east ].

     3.   lots of train yards

     4.   and cities that are named the same as other cities or named after other states and foriegn places.  ex:  paris, mo;  nevada, mo [ pronounced nah-vay-da ];  texas, mo; there's buffalo, california, and lebanon...just to name a few.