Changing Roles of Corn Cribs

Use to be that a full corn crib was all you needed to feed livestock. Now shiney stainless steel bins dot the Iowa landscape in addition to conventional silos. During this harvest season much of the corn is either sold directly to market, stored on property for a later sale or stored for livestock feed. Corn cribs now are more likely to be used as equipment storage sheds rather than feed bunkers. Times have changed. Know that.

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Field of Dreams: Post it and They Will Come

The 1989 movie, The Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster and others was filmed in Iowa (also in Illinois and Massachusetts.)  Just a few miles northeast of Dyersville, Iowa is the farm setting for the movie complete with baseball diamond, lights and of course the magical corn fields. Today the site was visited by the 42N team (our fifth or sixth) and a few photos were taken during a warm October day.

In the movie Ray (Kevin Costner) carves this heart into the top bleacher seat. Its still there 22 years later, weather beaten but still there.

People visiting the site today were from Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Visitors take to the field, hit a few balls and run the bases. But the big thrill for most is to walk through the gigantic corn stalks that ring the outfield, then try disappearing like in the movie.

The other big thing are hard core baseball fans paying homage to the field and movie. This NY Yankees fan was wondering around taking photos with his cell phone. Since I was there I offered to take his photo with his camera. Afterwards he sent them to his list of baseball buddies. Build it and they will come. How true it continues to be. Know that.

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Payphone Watcher

They are disappearing. Payphones, which were available everywhere a decade ago, are now almost gone. Replaced by cell phones, the humble payphone can still be found working in a few surprising places - like Amana, Iowa. Near the airport a working payphone, which might be the last one in the community, is now guarded by a squirrel. Go ahead and try making a 25 cent call. You might have your conversation monitored or head pounced on by the bushy tailed security. Know that.

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Twilight Riverboat Recalls Olden Days on the Mississippi

The riverboat, Twilight runs a two-day excursion out of Le Claire, Iowa to Dubuque and back. Along the way the boat passes upriver at Lock and Dam #12 at Bellevue. This was the site on Sunday, October 9th. Details of the cruise can be found here.

The 166 mile route is some of the prettiest scenery found anywhere on the Mississippi River. Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin's common borders lay within the Mississippi River's valley. Large hills on either side of the river can be readily seen. On this day note the past water level on the Dam's rocky support behind the Twilight. It appears to be down several feet.

As the Twilight travels north to the Port of Dubuque for an overnight stay at the Grand Harbor Resort, passengers soak up some the near 80 degree weather for mid October. Upon the return to the home port at Le Claire, be sure to stop at the American Pickers (The History Channel) shop just a few blocks away. At times Danielle can be found there setting up the next trip for Frank and Mike. Know that.

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Checking Out Rock Staples

Along the 42N latitude, river bridges built in the 1800s and early 1900s with stone supports had a problem; that being the destructive effects of the freeze thaw cycle, ice flows and floods. All of those forces could potentially weaken the stonework and eventually cause bridge failure. To counter the massive pressure on the stonework a simple solution was devised.

Large iron staples were pounded into the finished quarried support blocks. This helped to keep the orientation intact and resistant to outside pressure. Staple examples seen today at this former bridge site were garbled in various positions.

A newer bridge located just a few yards from this site consists of modern materials (steel, iron, concrete.) The former bridge's stonework has been re-purposed as river bank rip-rap.

At this location only three large staples examples were found in the large chiseled stones. Channel your inner King Arthur abilities to pull metal out of rock, otherwise there is no budging these stone staples as souvenirs. But then what would I do with them? Know that.

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Colors of Autumn 2011

Vibrant colors are not just reserved for fall foliage. Harvest equipment of all types, in this case soybean related, comes in a wide range of colors too. Absolutely perfect weather conditions for the past few weeks helped to finalize the bean harvest around these Midwest latitudes. Now on to the corn harvest. Know that.

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Wide Body Over Iowa

Along this portion of 42N many flyover routes line the sky. On clear days east-west air traffic can be observed mainly to the south of the 42N HQ location. A mid-continent navigation tower is located near Hills, Iowa which provides an electronic beacon for coast to coast travellers.

This large plane is southeast to northwest bound - maybe to Minneapolis or Seattle. Its distinctive four contrails alerted me as to this was no regional plane. Air controllers call these wide bodies. Any guesses as to what type of jet this is? Know that.

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