Barn Charm - On the Road

This photo was taken with the Instagram app on my iPhone. It was just about dusk, Tuesday November 20, 2012, heading west on I-80, somewhere between Iowa City and Des Moines.

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Hay, There! Rural Thursday

I've got something for "Rural Thursday" this week! This past weekend, while we were out running errands, I took these photos of some trucks laden with large hay bales. (Andrew was driving, so I had the chance to click away with my iPhone.) Definitely a sight I never saw when I lived in Chicago or Boston! But it's a sight I've seen a few times here in Iowa.

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Happy Halloween 2012

Eek!! Happy Halloween!!

(Click on the photo for a larger view.)

Rural Iowa, Rural Thursday

Okay, here's a quick post for "Rural Thursday" - and by "quick," I mean I'm letting a photo do the "talking," because . . . well, as they say, "a picture's worth a thousand words," right? (And since I've got to read thousands of words today, I'd best lay off writing thousands of 'em.)

Rural scene, Swisher, IA, October 21, 2012.

"Rural Thursday" is co-hosted by A Rural Journal and Two Bears Farm. Please click on the rooster button below to view the rest of this week's "Rural Thursday" entries:

Instagram Barn Charm

I know I've been away from Under the Desert Sky for a long stretch, but I've been so swamped by my school work this semester - more so than any other semester thus far.

While taking a break from the books this past weekend, Livie and I went back to Bart's Farm and Pumpkin Patch so Livie could have another pony ride (which they offer on Saturdays and Sundays in October). Plus, we needed to get a couple more big pumpkins. 

Anyway, while we were there, I thought I'd take a couple more photos for "Barn Charm" since I haven't participated for a while, and I really wanted to get another blog post up!

But since I hadn't taken my camera with me, I used my iPhone. And to make it a little more interesting than your average "phone photo," I used the Instagram app.

So here are my two "Barn Charm" photos from Bart's Farm: 

Main barn, view from pumpkin patch.

Another barn on the property.

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More Farm Photos - Rural Thursday

Okay, I saved a few of our farm photos (from our pumpkin picking/pony riding trip to Bart's Farm) for today's "Rural Thursday."

You may recognize the view of "Bart's Farm" from this past Monday's "Barn Charm." However, in this photo, I had Livie posing next to the barn (near the straw bales).

Of course, Livie HAD to get a pony ride (or in this case, a horse ride, as this guy was a couple hands too tall to be a pony). She loved the Palomino, and picked him because it looked like a Palomino Appendix Quarter Horse I used to have.

 The farm wouldn't be complete without some chickens! Livie LOVED these chickens because they were "bock-bocking" like chickens! Haha! (What else would they do, right?)

 Livie and I took advantage of this photo opportunity - there was an "autumn scene" all set up in the front yard of the "Bart's Farm" family house. When we got home, Livie helped me decorate the photo with PicMonkey. 

And, of course, Livie went crazy with the PicMonkey decorations on this photo. She's posing with a couple of the pumpkins we'd gotten from Bart's Farm, plus the awesome orange mums I'd gotten last week (and the sucker she'd gotten after her pony ride).

And yes, that's a spider plant holder (made out of metal parts)! We'd gotten it a few years ago at the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market, and usually put it out every fall; this was the first year I'd actually remembered to go out and get some mums for it. 

Rural Thursday is co-hosted by Two Bears Farm and A Rural Journal.  Please check out other "Rural Thursday" entries by clicking on the "Rural Thursday" button below:

 

First Weekend in October Barn Charm!

I absolutely LOVE autumn!! And I'm so glad October's here. Anyway, over the weekend, we went to a local farm to pick pumpkins and let Livie enjoy a pony ride.

And, of course, while we were there, I had to take some photos of the barn, specifically for "Barn Charm."

This is Bart's Farm in Marion, IA. (Click here for a heartwarming story about the family that runs the farm). And this is their barn.

During the autumn, you can pick pumpkins of all sizes, either by going into the field and picking your own, or choosing from the scores of pumpkins they've already picked and have waiting in rows in the yard. They also have decorative straw bales for sale, as well as gourds, "Indian" corn, and such. 

Plus, there's a paddock where they give pony (and horse) rides. Over the weekend, Livie rode a palomino horse named "Hulk" (you can see him in the second photo). In previous years, she's ridden a small pony named Princess and a Quarter Horse named Duke.

Anyway, it's a fun outing, which we all look forward to every year. Our first year visiting their farm (2008), we'd just learned about it by chance; but since we'd had such a fun time there, it's become an annual autumn tradition. That's where we get our autumn/Halloween pumpkins every year!

A bit of texture on the photo!

Some of the pre-picked pumpkins!

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The Fall Shot 2012

I know I've been hit or miss with blogging lately (mostly miss), but I've been absolutely SWAMPED with school work this semester.

Anyway, while I was on campus yesterday, I realized I just had to get "The Fall Shot, 2012" while I was still on campus - for some reason, I was compelled to get it yesterday, no excuses. So after my last class (around 3:20 PM), I headed over to the Main Library to get the autumn shot. It was an overcast, blustery autumn day, nice and cool. And it smelled like autumn - so good. 

"The Fall Shot, 2012," outside the University of Iowa's Main Library, the North Entrance, at approximately 3:20 PM, Thursday, October 4, 2012.

You can kinda see some of the golden leaves scattered about the ground on the hill in the background. 

I'm thinking of getting "The Fall Shot, 2012, Part B" after all the leaves have completely changed colors and have all fallen off the trees (like I did last year). In the meantime, here are: Winter 2012, Spring 2012, and Summer 2012 from more or less the same spot, and approximately the same time of day. And if you're really curious, here's the Four Seasons 2011 series.

I'm Back! Here's Another Barn Charm!

Okay . . . I know I've been away from blog-land for a while. We'd been at an out-of-town wedding a couple weekends ago, and when we got back, not only was I swamped with schoolwork, but our internet wasn't working. Found out our modem had gone kaput, and we had to wait a while for a repair person to come out.

Anyway, I'm back! And I have a "Barn Charm" entry from our out-of-town trip a couple weekends ago. This was taken on the south side of I-80, from the parking lot of a rest area near the Coralville, IA exit. Not the best picture in the world, but it gives you a great idea of the hilly, green landscape in eastern Iowa.

I love all the hilly farm land, with the farm way back in the background.

"Barn Charm" is hosted by Bluff Area Daily.

Barn Charm: Heading East on I-80

Here's yet another on-the-go "Barn Charm" photo. This was taken on a very overcast, dreary Saturday over Labor Day weekend. We'd been eastbound on I-80, heading to the Quad Cities area for the 2012 Quad Cities Air Show in Davenport, IA.

While it seemed like all of eastern Iowa was overcast, the clouds having parked over us permanently, or so it seemed, the rain was pretty much hit-or-miss; maybe we'd get rain, or maybe we wouldn't.

However, this photo was taken just about the time we got to "the rainy area" where it basically drizzled all day. Once we got to "the rainy area," I'm not sure it stopped drizzling for more than a few minutes at a time. When it wasn't actually drizzling, it was very lightly misting us.

Anyway, here's the on-the-go photo I took of the farm (please click on the photo to get a somewhat bigger view of it):

The red buildings really stand out against the greenery (and the cloud cover). I adore red barns. Barns of other colors certainly have their charm, but there is just something about the red ones that I love.

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Quad Cities Air Show 2012, Day 2

Okay, here are some photos from day two of the Quad Cities Air Show, 2012, as well as a couple photos from our drive home.

A Navy Super Hornet

A sunny, muggy day! Liv's waiting for the Thunderbirds.

The U.S. Air Force's awesome Thunderbirds!

Again, a spectacular Thunderbird formation!

A soybean field, located just outside the airport's property.

Iowa 80, the "World's Largest Truckstop" near Walcott, IA.

Heading west, a few miles east of Iowa City, IA.

(Part 1 is here.)
(Part 2 is here.)

Quad Cities Air Show (Day 1) Part 2

Here are a couple more photos from a soggy day one of the Quad Cities Air Show, 2012.

On the flightline after just arriving

One of the University of Iowa jets

And here are some photos from our adventure in Muscatine, after day one wrapped up.

Cornfield on the way to our hotel - I thought it looked cool

After dinner in Muscatine (at your average chain sit-down family restaurant near the hotel - it was nearby and I didn't know where else to go), I decided we needed to have a photo opportunity near the Mississippi River. We've driven over it a few times, but never had the chance to stand near it and get a photo. So that's what we did.

Mississippi River, Muscatine, IA!

Looking at the Mississippi River, looking towards IL

A cool bridge parallel to the river

We liked this overlook!

A riverboat!

Guess who liked the riverboat?!

Statue for City of Muscatine

Dedicated to the Mascoutin tribe

A few more photos will follow soon!

(To see the first batch of photos, click here.) 
(Part 3 is here.)

A Brief Report - Quad Cities Air Show 2012 Day 1

This past weekend, we headed to the Quad Cities Air Show. It was Livie's first air show. Sure, she'd seen a formation of 25 F-117s fly overhead once, on that ship's 25th anniversary (and she was only about 6.5 months old at the time, and doesn't remember it). But she's never been to an air show.

And it had been quite a while since I had been to one in person, so it was pretty exciting. (I think my last air show was when I was still in the Air Force . . . it was probably the Aerospace and Arizona Days Air Show in Tucson, back in 2002).

The Quad Cities are about an hour and a half away, by car, the air show taking place at the Davenport Municipal Airport. After packing overnight bags for ourselves and a cooler with lunch, we grabbed the portable DVD player and some movies for Livie, and then headed out.

Since this was a last minute trip, we weren't able to get a hotel in the immediate vicinity, so we'd booked a room in Muscatine, IA, about 25 miles away from the air show. Because we couldn't check in until around 3 PM, we headed straight for the air show.

It had been overcast all morning, turning to constant rain as we'd gotten closer to Davenport. Apparently it was due to remnants of Isaac, just lingering (seemingly endlessly) over the Quad Cities area.

So our first day at the air show was wet, wet, wet. It hadn't stopped raining ALL DAY in Davenport! But Livie had her rain gear, so she had no complaints. (Andrew and I got rather wet, even with an umbrella, simply because it was pretty windy, too.)

But regardless of the weather on that first day, we'd had fun. And Livie was impressed!

*However, there was a tragic event during the day. At some point, while Livie, Andrew, and I were distracted by the static aircraft displays, there was an accident. One of the aircraft (an L-39) crashed, killing the pilot on impact. (Click here for a news story.) Fortunately, Livie didn't actually see the accident. (And Andrew and I didn't know the tragic fate of the pilot until after we'd left for the day.)*

Anyway, after having that horrible gut feeling after seeing that (and again, not yet knowing the fate, but knowing search and rescue teams were doing their thing), we went on with the afternoon, since the FAA had cleared the rest of the day's performers for flight.

Here are a few photos of the first day.

Liv and the Air Force banner

An A-10 and Star Spangled Banner

Liv loves "Spooky"!

"Is that a Native American?"

Corn at the Davenport Municipal Airport

(Somewhere in between taking these two photos was when the accident had happened. As you can see, Livie was sufficiently distracted by a churro and a static display. By the way, we hadn't heard a thing. )

Checking out the bomb drop

Since it had been raining a lot, and the ceiling (where the cloud cover was located height-wise in the sky) was low, the Air Force's Thunderbirds had to cancel their performance for this first day. So we headed to our hotel, about a 30 minute drive away.

Once we checked in, got dried off, and relaxed a bit, we headed out to dinner and then went sight seeing at the Mississippi River.

More photos (from our evening at the Mississippi River, and from Day 2 of the Air Show) coming soon . . .

(Part 2 is here; and Part 3 is here)

Barn Charm - Another Iowa Barn "On the Go"

This past weekend, we went to the 2012 Quad Cities Air Show in Davenport, IA. On the way back yesterday, I took a photo of this farm as we were traveling west on I-80, in hopes that I could use it for "Barn Charm." This barn is on the north side of I-80, somewhere between the Quad Cities and Iowa City.

Not the best of photos - the clouds were moving back into the area, we were going about the speed limit (70 MPH), and the vehicle windows were a bit dirty from having been in the rain. But you still get a good idea of what this great farm looks like.

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