Des Moines, Iowa – 8/16/2016 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

August 16, 2016 (Tuesday)

Today was a two-fer! We’re exhausted but it was fun.

We started out being lazy. It was my birthday so Michael got up, made the coffee, and got our breakfast. We decided to head out around 10:00 AM. We drove into Des Moines, Iowa (about 50 miles) with the intent of going to the Iowa State Fair.

And, Edie's personal favorite, a converted school bus that is now a pork barbecue pit. — And, Edie’s personal favorite, a converted school bus that is now a pork barbecue pit.

The address I had looked up was not for the State Fair so we got to see some of the downtown area of Des Moines. Lovely city on a river. There was one building in particular that caught our eye. It was huge, gold covered dome, and had lots of domes. We thought it looked like a very old European Catholic church.

We saw a cross on top and all that gold, thought for sure it was a catholic church. — We saw a cross on top and all that gold, thought for sure it was a Catholic church.

We Googled the Iowa State Fair on our phone and drove to that location, not far from the downtown area. We found a parking spot at a private residence very close to an entrance ($10.00).

The guy told me he makes between 2 and 3 thousand a year during the fair, parking cars in his back yard.

As we were walking the short distance to the entrance, we bought some frozen water ($.50 each) to take with us, and we were sure glad we had them as it was hot!

We've learned, fifty cent water outside is 2 dollar water inside. — We’ve learned, fifty cent water outside is 2 dollar water inside.

We got our tickets ($20.00) and went inside. This fair is like our local Monterey County Fair on steroids. It was huge and pretty crowded for a Tuesday. We saw so many things – lawnmowers, small tractors, HUGE tractors, campers, RV’s, a lovely tiny home, cows, horses, lots and lots of food vendors. Things for sale, things for display, lots of things.

We need one of these for the Prunedale place, sold our old one.

Edie wanted me to run after these people so we could get one of these for later.

The one thing we did not find was my corn on the cob drizzled in lots of butter. We looked and looked and looked. No luck. I finally settled on an A&W root beer float ($5.00). While I was working on my float, we found a place that sold corn on the cob ($5.50). Yahoo! We sat down at a table with a family, as it was the only table in the shade and we were very hot. (The weather today was hot, humid and beautiful – mid 80’s). The family were locals and told us a few things we should see while we were in the area. Nice people.

We walked and walked and saw so many interesting things, rides, crafts, animals. We saw some beautiful cows being shown in one area. They had all been combed and looked gorgeous, more like dogs being shown. We were also told about a pig that had just won an award. This pig was over 1,100 pounds. Can’t even imagine that. We saw later on the TV channel that dedicates itself to the fair, the owner of this pig had placed 2^nd the last two years and he was thrilled for coming in first this year.

A food court with every kind of fried anything you ever wanted.

Edie is a Navy vet, I am an Army vet, I wanted to talk to the recruiters about husband wife enlistments. Edie didn't even slow down, — Edie is a Navy vet, I am an Army vet, I wanted to talk to the recruiters about husband wife enlistments. Edie didn’t even slow down,

She wanted to buy this for the back yard.

Possibly the cleanest and best groomed cow I have ever seen.

After spending several hours, and walking what seemed like many miles, we decided to leave and go “home.” While we were heading “home,” we talked and decided that since we were in the Des Moines area, we might as well go see the State Capitol. It turned out the State Capitol was the over the top gold domed building that we thought was a Catholic Church.

It is grand a beautiful from the outside. — It is grand and beautiful from the outside. A mini statue of Liberty on the grounds.

Started to get a feel of the ornateness of the place.

There was security inside, we went in and were able to join an in progress tour group that were in the Supreme Court area.

This Capitol is beautiful and very ornate. There are several murals that are done totally in tiny glass tiles. Must have taken years to finish them. They’re gorgeous.

In it's day, amazing. Today, reminiscent of pixels on a computer screen. — In its day, amazing. Today, reminiscent of pixels on a computer screen.

There are beautiful paints, gold, statues, and sensory overload. My favorite part was the five story library with lace looking spiral staircases. I thought I loved the Library of Congress, but this is a very close second favorite. The tour guide was very fun and explained everything she could. We went into the Senate, the House, the Library, then up to the dome and the whispering gallery. Lovely.

Glass tile incorporated into the main flooir. — Glass tile incorporated into the main floor.

Today's guide, didn't get her name. — Today’s guide, didn’t get her name.

Beauty everywhere, very pleasing to the eye. Corinthian capitals throughout.

Edie's favorite, a 5 story law library. — Edie’s favorite, a 5 story law library.

Stained glass ceilings with skylights above in most of the main rooms. This one in the library.

A fake granite, used extensively throughout the capitol, costs more than granite and was in vogue at the time of construction. — A fake granite, used extensively throughout the Capitol, costs more than granite and was in vogue at the time of construction.

Lots of stairs, no elevators on this tour.

Pretty bell, don't know the story of it. — Pretty bell, don’t know the story of it.

We made our way to the base of the gold.

Whispering won't help up here. The round wall carries sound perfectly. — Whispering won’t help up here. The round wall carries sound perfectly.

Pretty woman on the other side of the dome.

One of the corner pieces out the window.

The flag and other decorations are hanging.

By this time Michael and I were both done. Stick a fork in us. We were both gimping around and could barely walk. When we would sit down, it was really hard for us to get back up and walk normally.

We drove around the capitol admiring the grounds. — We drove around the Capitol admiring the grounds.

We were tired and having a hard time focusing on any more history or beauty.

Didn’t want to walk or do anything else but we were hungry. I looked on the phone for a nearby place to eat. We decided on a Texas Roadhouse, much like Logan’s Roadhouse. They had the yeast rolls with cinnamon butter (a little smaller then at Logan’s Roadhouse). They had the peanuts on the table, but they had another empty bucket to put the shells in (which I liked as I didn’t care to throw the shells on the floor, just seemed wrong to do).

The food was very good. My small steak was thoroughly cooked but still moist. Michael seemed to enjoy his fried chicken. I was also given a small bowl of ice cream because Michael had mentioned it was my birthday. The server was kind enough to ask if I wanted them to sing to me and I declined and just wanted the ice cream.

Got home around 7:00 PM and crashed. Michael handed me the remote and I got to watch what I wanted on this, my birthday. We’re in a studio so it is a fight for the remote as Michael and I have totally different tastes in television. He likes PBS and thought provoking things and I like “Say Yes to the Dress,” “The Bachelor,” and things like that. Tonight I wanted to see “Bachelor in Paradise.”

Anyway, that was our day. Hope yours was great!