Scenic Sunday - Iowa Summer

Visiting my parents is always a pleasure and I always love spending time in Iowa.  It is such a beautiful part of the United States although many people find it to be treeless and flat.  I find the big blue sky simply breathtaking and at night it fills with stars from east to west.   One of the best things about my current situation is the extra time I get to spend there with my mom and dad experiencing Iowa. I hope you enjoy the video I took at my parents house during the beginning of fall this year.

or click

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji2V5wEI7ig

Scenic Sunday Winter Contrasts

Since I have been living in Brazil - it has been a little bit of an adjustment to remember that the seasons are reversed.  When we traveled to Porto Alegre last year in July,  I was surprised that it actually gets cold in Brazil.  I never thought of Brazil in the winter or it being cold here.  All my friends are all from the northern part of the country so they never shared stories of the cold or snow for that matter.  It was a little odd to me that a couple of the cities even were celebrating with snowmen and winter themes.  Traditionally reserved for December in my neck of the woods, it felt like they had left their decorations up for the year. By the end of our trip,  my thoughts and expectations of Brazil had changed.  I realized they do have areas where snow falls and it gets cold.

Well -- since it is still warm in the United States and my friends there won't be too upset with my reminder of how cold it can be there and many of my Brazilian friends would love to see a winter snow.  I found some old videos and thought I would share them at this time during Brazil's Winter.

Hope you enjoy!

Trip Back to Iowa - part 4

Wow,  I can't believe I only have one more day, but like most trips the time flies by quickly and there never seems to be enough of it.  I wake up early to get a good jump start on the day but not quite early enough to catch the beautiful sunrise.  I gather my things and take a minute or two to check out a couple of things in Sioux Falls like the Falls Park, Empire Mall, downtown as well as find time for a bite of breakfast with another friend.  Soon it is time to get on the road and drive the two hours to Buena Vista County Park.  Located a few miles from my parents,  our family spent many weekends here when I was growing up so it is always an appropriate place for us to gather.  I leave what I think is earlier then required so I have time to do some exploring on my way and maybe not drive the usual route I would take.   Recently my exploration interests have resurfaced when traveling the countryside of Brazil and learning about its  cities.  I am anxious to explore this area I called home for twenty four plus years and see if I can find anything new.  (I really don't think there is much left unexplored since that has always been my natured but we will see)

I'm off down the black top roads of South Dakota and after a couple of twists and turns, I cross over the Big Sioux River into Iowa.  Soon I am on the edge of  the tiny town of Inwood travelling towards Rock Valley where I had lived for a couple years after college.  My sister currently calls the small town of approximately 2,700 people home but  I won't spend a lot of time in my blog talking about it's history.  I will provide a link to the town's history page in case you want to read more.  ( LINK ) As I get to the corner to turn towards town I decide to head straight and bypass it. Driving through this part of northwest Iowa is quite familiar to me as my father grew up here  and many of my relatives still live in the area.   We made many trips this direction or the usual family gatherings and my families homestead farm, where my grandparents lived, is close by  also.  Today my aunt and uncle live there as it continues to be in the family. 

On my drive today I decide to limit the number of towns I travel through as I am in the mood for open road and each town means a 35 mile an hour stall.  I turn down a blacktop I have never driven to avoid one of these towns and to head south.   It ends up being pretty normal drive through the countryside with the road as straight as an arrow and brown crops patiently waiting to be harvested on each side.  It is Sunday mid morning and there is only an occasional truck or car to meet. After a quick glance at my watch,  I realize how far I have left to travel and that I should be a little closer to my destination then I am.  Any site seeing plans need to be boycotted so that I can stay fashionably late and not miss the whole celebration.  I decide to bypass the little towns of Primghar (history link) and Pallina (history link) in order to save a little time, but the speed limit of 55 and having to make more corners only allows so much progress. I guess being a fashionably late for a leisure afternoon is not the worst thing in the world.  As I get a little closer, some panic sets in as I cannot exactly remember the route I need to take in order to come from this direction (the back way).  My parents place is to the east of the park and I am coming from the west so it is not the usual route we would take to get there and being a little late I don't want to go out of my way to come the direction we used go. That would put me at least 45 minutes late verse 10-15 now.  I decide that there has to be signs leading to the park and that I need to trust my instincts as I have come this way before,  it has just been a while. I finally arrive to the edge of Peterson, Iowa (history link) and the road I want to travel down is blocked by those orange and white road closed barricades.  Just as I am about to continue the long way around, I see a truck coming down the hill just on the other side of the barricades.  It travels past me and turns so since there is room to pass and it being Sunday, I decide to take a chance on the closed road and see if I can make it through.  I drive a couple of miles and am pleased that there is no limits for my passing this direction today.  I am reassured that this is also the right road as I spot a directional sign for the park on the corner of an old country road.  I have found my way and soon I slow down to  make the corner onto the gravel road.  It is a great fall day with clear blue skies and an occasional white puff of cloud. As I drive the five or so miles down the gravel road with dust billowing from behind, I begin to reflect on growing up and how this

 small section of Iowa shaped me.  Formed by the Little Sioux River,  there is plenty of hills followed by valleys and beautiful scenery for one to enjoy. This year has been pretty dry so everything is brown but smells so much like fall.  The rolling hills greet me as I travel and soon I

come to the entrance of the park and the shelter my family has reserved for our gathering.  I am the last one to arrive and once again I am greeted by my nieces and nephews in full force.  Wow, how I love that.   My mom, sister, and brother's wives are hard at work getting the lunch ready as the kids are outside running around and enjoying the wonderful weather.  Soon we eat and it is time for us to head out and do some exploring.  The best part of this park is that it is a conservation area and has a lot of trails and areas to investigate.  If we are lucky we may even see some wildlife.  As a kid growing up,  my family would come here and have picnics, go tubing in the winter, and do some hiking.  As I got older our school would load us into yellow buses  and bring us here for field trips to learn about conservation,  our church youth group would come to spend a Sunday afternoon, and my college friends and I would stop here after we canoed down the Little Sioux River not very far away for the perfect end to a lazy afternoon. After lunch, my sister, the youngsters, and I head to our first destination, one of the many playgrounds on the park premises.  My nieces and nephews enjoy the monkey bars, the slide, and of course the  swings as I become the master of the underdog.  After a while my brothers and dad show up and we decide to go on a hike just like when we were kids.  We set off for the look out point where we as a family would often have our picnics.  It is a campground site complete with grill, open air shelter, and fire pit overlooking the valley beyond and just at the trail head of our favorite path.   Before we get to the campsite today, we take a small detour to enjoy the piles of oak leaves that have fallen from the trees and accumulated.  The kids have so much fun burying each other and hiding from one other in the dusty dried leaves.  I have such a wonderful time just watching them and actually getting involved from time to time. 

  

They get bored with it after about a half an hour, or maybe it is the adults that get bored and so it becomes time to head to the trail and take our hike.  The clouds in the sky have disappeared so their is blue skies that seem so endless as we begin our journey.  Our childhood favorite picnic spot is still well maintained and ready for guests.  Today there is no one there so my siblings and I pause for a moment to remember as the nieces and nephews hurry ahead and begin the steep descent down the hillside.  Like any well travelled trail down a sharp incline,  this one has become a place for hikers as well as rain water to to find its way to the small creek below.  The soil on the trail has eroded and the local conservation team has installed some logs to stop further erosion, which act as steps for us today but it is a little treacherous.  About half way down the hill, there is a scream from ahead and my smallest niece begins to cry.  She has fallen head first down into the tree root just a step or two below her.  Skinning her cheek and chin a bit, we pause a minute to console her.  Fortunately. although tramatic for her,  it is a small set back and soon we are able to continue on down the trail encouraging the kids to stay behind with the adults to keep this from happening again. 

A forest of oak trees surround us as we walk at the bottom of the hill keeping an eye out for signs of wildlife.  My brother spots some deer rubs on the local bushes along the walkway.  His boys get the kids all excited about this find as they have spent some time out with their dad hunting.  During the trek, I get a little more time to catch up individually with each of my siblings and enjoy the wonderful fall beauty.   After some distance we come to a portion of the path that is quite steep again and we will need to maneuver in order to get  up to the shelter.  One bad thing about starting a hike on a hill going down,  you will always have to go back up at some point and time.  Our time to journey back up is now, so we slowly navigate the slightly twisting path until we reach the summit.  To our surprise we have walked further then we thought and have found ourselves at the other shelter house and playground area.  No way,  this means we are on the other side of the valley and upon peering out one can see where we need to be.  The obstacle in the way is the old sledding hill where we as children enjoyed a cold winter day riding inter tubes down the snow covered slope.  Today the hill is covered with brown grass, laying in wait for the first snow of the winter.  We decide there is no sense in waiting as we must descend down the hill and then climb back up the other side in order to get to mom who is waiting at the shelter with my sister n laws for our return and the birthday cake.

Down and up the hill we travel and of course the kids all make the journey much quicker then the adults.  I am sure it is because dad was with us and we wanted to make sure he made the climb OK.  We get to the shelter house and settle down to relax a while after singing the usual birthday song and mom and dad distinguish the candles.  Of course the cake has a windmill on it and how appropriate for this journey to Iowa.  After enjoying some cake and ice cream,  it is time to clean up and head back to Minneapolis for my flight.  There is one final stop to make before heading that direction.  The annual visit to  my parents farm to wander the pumpkin patch in search of the perfect jack o lantern.  Each year my father plants pumpkins and in the fall,  all the nieces and nephews find time before Halloween to come by and pick out a pumpkin or two for their carving.  It is a great tradition for them and for my parents to be a part of their lives.  I am extremely happy this year I was able to assist them in their quest for the perfect pumpkin.

 

Well - this concludes my trip back to Iowa blog. I sure hope you have enjoyed the journey with me (part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4)  and I look forward to sharing future trips with you.  Please feel free to leave a comment with your memories and fondest hometown stories for me to share with my readers. 

If you are ever in Iowa and want to visit the Buena Vista County Conservation Park - here is a link to information and directions to the park - ( LINK )

Trip Back to Iowa - part 3

I know this story is about a trip back to Iowa so what is this about me being in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?  Well,  I love this city and try and get back to see friends as often as possible.  It is only miles from the Iowa boarder so please bear with me as the journey deviates from Iowa and I hope you can find some pleasure in the story.  My short stay in Sioux Falls is filled with visiting friends and a lot of laughing and hanging out. I love when the opportunity presents itself for a quick return. Since I often take a minute when writing about my experiences in Brazil,  to share a little history about the cities or regions I am visiting.  I guess I can do this now for my readers from other countries so they can learn more about the United States.   Well, Sioux Falls is a small metropolitan area in the southeast corner of South Dakota with a population around 155,000 (metro area 230,000).  With a booming economy and lust for life,  the city has seen a quick increase in population from 81,000 in 1980,s to the current day numbers.  It ranks as the 47th fastest going city in the United States and the largest city in the state of South Dakota.

The history of the city surround that of the cascading waters of the Big Sioux River created 14,000 years ago by the glaciers retreat in the region.  Many Native American tribes lived in small agricultural communities surrounding the river.  The first European settlers explored the falls and the Big Sioux River in the early 18th century.  Believing the falls would provide great water power,  they chose this location to settle and begin building a community.  It did not hurt that there was such a natural beauty on the river for their Sunday afternoon leisure. The population remained quite small until the railroad arrived in the 1880s.  As the iron horses rolled into the train station,  so did the number of people moving into the now incorporated town.  The population quickly increased and the city grew as an agricultural and railroad center in the region.  This boom ,however, slowed at the end of the century until John Morrels built a meat packing plant in 1909 which fueled another spur in growth. This packing plant is currently the third largest employer in the city.  The most recent influx of residents has been driven by two areas: credit card company jobs and medical jobs.  Many credit card companies (like Citibank and HSBC) have located here to benefit from the availability of trained employees and favorable state laws.  It is a regional medical center with two large hospitals calling the city home.  These centers are the number one and number two employers of the city. The quality of life in Sioux Falls is good  and it has been honored by being ranked: #1 city in the U. S. to live  several times by different magazines over the past twenty years.  

I can remember my first visit to the majestic falls that give the city its name.  After driving through a pretty run down neighborhood, the park was in need of some intervention.  Drug deals and who know what other activities were taking place there.  Today the city has focussed on renovating this area with the expansion of main street to Falls Park. They have nightly lazer shows during the summer and put up thousands of lights during the holiday season to attract visitors to the park.  It is now a great place to go  listen to the bustling waters and just relax.  (thanks wikipedia) 

Well, enough talk about Sioux Falls,  my time here today is done and it is time for me to head back across the boarder.  My nephew is playing football this afternoon and since I don't get the opportunity to see any of my nieces and nephews play or perform in extra activities, I cannot pass up any opportunities when they fit into my plans.  The drive to Sibley, Iowa, my brother's home town, is short and it doesn't take long to locate the school where the game is to be played.   I turn down the street and immediately am assured I am in the right place by the number of vehicles parked in the lot.  I pull in, park, and head
towards the bleachers.  As I get to the fenced area,  I am greeted by my other brother who is watching my nieces and nephews as they relieve some of their extra energy.  They all stop what they are doing and come at me with a wonderful greeting which I am always blessed to receive.   After catching up a little with them, I head to the bleachers where my sister n laws and parents are sitting.  It is a lovely afternoon with the great blue skies overhead and nice cool breeze of the fall.  I sit back and watch as my nephews team proceeds to win their game and I truly enjoy the afternoon.  I cannot believe my nephew is already old enough to be playing football, but I guess that is life and living so far away from family.   Time passes by so quickly. 

After the game my family heads to the quaint downtown area filled with all the traditional little stores of small town Iowa:  Post Office, bank, restaurant, hardware store and a couple specialty stores. It is the last game of the season for the football team and so my brother, being the coach, is treating them to pizza at the Pizza Ranch.   My family gathers at a table in the corner of the little restaurant and soon we are enjoying our pizza and conversation.  There is more catching up and talk about the next day as plans are in motion to get together as a family again to celebrate my parents birthdays.  My parents are five years apart (I won't share how old...kkk) so all the major birthdays can be celebrated together, which is nice.  The afternoon ends and soon I am driving back to Sioux Falls where I will be staying with my friend again. The drive through the countryside of Iowa and South Dakota is so peaceful and relaxing.  I take my time driving with the windows all the way down and fresh air rushing through my hair.  It is a great time of reflecting on life and all the wonderful ways I have been blessed.  As I am driving along the horizon looks to be on fire with the only thing missing is a huge cloud of smoke.  I soon realize it is the sunsetting over the western skies and what a wonderful site it is!  When I get back to Sioux Falls I am able to hang out with some more friends and enjoy some good down time... to be continued ...

Trip back to Iowa -- part 1

It is October and I am planning to head back to my home state of Iowa to celebrate my parents birthdays and see my family.  I prepare for the visit like any other visit - purchase a plane ticket - rent a car - pack according to Midwestern weather- and soon I am ready to make the journey.  My flight this time is to Minneapolis, Minnesota, as it won the battle with Omaha, Kansas City and Sioux Falls for the least expensive ticket and car rental this time, so my plans are all set. On travel day with bags packed,  I am ready to head to Jackson Hartsfield International Airport.  A short cab and Marta (train) ride and I will be there rather quickly so I leave about 2 1/2 hours before my flight.  Arriving at the airport and breezing through security I get to my gate in plenty of time.   I begin to watch people of all ages and sizes hurry by as they obviously have a destination.  Some of them weighed down with a few pieces of overstuffed carry on luggage, obviously trying to save the current checked bag fee.  Others with children in arms attempting to keep them entertained, which often includes a bribe or two.  Then there are yet others with a small computer case and a cell phone attached to their ear.  All with travel plans to take them to an adventure whether it is ordinary or extra ordinary. 

My flight begins to board and soon we are departing the gate,  speeding down the runway, and finally lift off which is actually about 15 minutes early.  Once we reach the appropriate altitude,  I pull out my Ipad and begin working on some of my apps I had downloaded.  The flight seems to take no time and just as soon as we are finished with our beverage and snack it is time to land.  I have not checked any luggage as it is a short trip home and so off to the rental car counter I head.  As I scurry through the terminal I once again notice all the different people hurrying about.  The volume of people does not seem to falter as I near the tunnel that leads travelers to the rental car train.  After a short line and the regular jibber jabber at the counter,  I am in my car and driving across interstate 494 toward 35 beginning my four hour drive to mom and dads. The day could not be more perfect for the drive.  Blue sunny skies filled with white fluffy clouds.  It makes me realize what I miss about this part of the country.  All the blue skies.  It is simply breath taking, and the white puffs add an element of intrigue.  I drive along and spot a windmill, which quickly reminds me of my dad and begins my journey down memory lane.  Growing up, when my family would drive any distance, we would often start playing " The Alphabet Game".  As the car drives along, all participants start scouring signs looking for the letters of the alphabet in order.  They would proceed to yell out the letters as  they locate them on billboards and signs along the road side.  Of course the usual Q and K are harder to find but eventually one is found and the game continues until someone reaches Z.  Another popular passer of time would be: "I see something you don't see" where we would take turns describing something we could see and everyone else would try and guess what it was.  My dad's favorite thing to see would be tall and dark and blows in the wind.  (A Windmill)  I will always associate windmills with my father and playing that game.  With their use for obtaining water no longer needed,  I must say traditional windmills are harder and harder to spot.  Most people don't take the time or money to keep them operational.  There are new windmills that dot the earth in this area of the country and I see many on my drive today.  They the large white ones with three blades which generate energy from the wind that blows across the plains.  These large turbines have been increasing in numbers over the past ten years in Iowa and Minnesota.  They are not as rustic as the old windmills and I would have to give them a futuristic or artistic description. I am sure they are someone's favorite thing to describe when playing the car game mentioned above.

After about 2 1/2 hours of driving I see some blinking lights in the distance so I slow down. There is flag man directing traffic and I have to wait for a minute.   It is obvious that there has been an accident on the curve ahead as several cars and people have gathered in the area.  Finally my turn comes and as I drive by I see a truck overturned in the ditch.  I begin to think how your day can change in the blink of an eye.  We often rush through our day, never hesitating to think about those small details which if we miscalculate a little could change the rest of our day or even lives.  This trucker obviously was taking the curve a little too fast for the load he was carrying and rolled the truck.  I drive by slowly as people are scampering about to get things back to normal.  

Soon I cross into the state of Iowa and honestly it is not that much different then Minnesota with its fields of corn ready for harvest and round hay bails occationally along its straight roads.  As I am driving thought this area I begin a journey of a different sort.  I start to think about growing up here and memories start racing in. I am not far from the "Lakes" region and visions of summer days spent at Lake Okaboji with cousins and friends begin playing in my head. Way too many to list, but all contributing to the person I have become.  Further down the road I come to Spencer, with the Clay County Fair held once a year and a movie theater where my friends and I would often come to see the latest release if we did not head to Storm Lake.  It was like most carefree childhoods, with lots of things going on in the little local bubble I had created.  How far I had come since then now living in Brazil and traveling throughout the world.  I knew those places existed back then, but I had no idea I would ever be where I am today or experiencing the life I have lived. 

Now back to the present day and my journey with empty soy bean fields and corn fields ready to harvest lining the road as I travel a little less then an hour.   The drive takes me through the town of Sioux Rapids where I attend high school.  I turn down the main street  and besides a few name changes or store changes it is pretty much how I remember it.  At the end of the street is the public swimming pool where I attended swimming lessons in the summer and after a couple of turns I am cruising by where the high school used to stand.    The school district has built a new school at the edge of town and all that remains of the old three story brick building is the gymnasium which is utilized for community activities.  Sports, choir, swing choir, theater, speech, were all a part of my experience here at SR-R high as being a Cougar meant a lot to us then.  As I begin to leave town,  I think of the 35 people I graduated with and wondered what they are up to.  Where their adventures have taken them.  I have not kept up with many from my class, except for finding them on Facebook the past couple of years.  It has been nice to reconnect and see their journeys.   Once I hit the outskirts of Sioux Rapids I decide to take a small detour instead of going the direct route home.  The detour will take me to my  "home town" of Rembrandt, Iowa.  Past more fields down highway 71, I soon come to the sign stating "ONE REMBRANDT USA" accompanied by invitations to worship at the two local churches.  I turn and drive the short distance off the highway into the little town.  The memories come rolling back as I drive past the Methodist church on the right where some of my friends attended and we shared vacation bible school.  Turning right down the street just past the church, with the little town park on my left I come to the church I grew up in "Our Saviour's Lutheran Church".  The building has not changed much but the passing of  time is marked by the two large trees in the front yard that were not even there when I was young.   I reminisce about Sunday School,  Bible School, Confirmation, Luther League, and all the other activities I participated in.  The church was a cornerstone in my growing up.  There were two girls from my school class that grew up with me at the church as well and we all participated in many of the same things.  I continue down the street past the old parsonage  where one of these two friends lived as she was the pastor's daughter.  At the end of the street only two blocks further,  two more classmates lived with their families.   I have not spoken to them since high school and briefly wonder what they are up to.  So many years spent together yet now it has been so long. I turn left to head around
the block and back towards downtown.  Arriving at the main street, it has not changed much since my last visit but compared to when I was growing up it has lost a few businesses.  Hondo's lawn equipment which used to occupy the buildings on the right  has moved to Sioux Rapids and now sits vacant.  The convenient store on the adjacent corner no longer sales gas or grocery items.   A restaurant has opened  on the other corner where a little grocery store was when I was in elementary and middle school.  It was a candy stop on our journey from school to confirmation classes at the church every Thursday afternoon.  The First National Bank of Rembrandt where I opened my first bank account still  anchors the remaining corner of downtown.  There are only a few other buildings remaining on main street and this past year, the post office has battled to stay open.  I am not sure what was decided in that battle.  Further down the old theater sits,  the building reminds me of the Haunted Houses created here every October to celebrate Halloween. Today I believe the building is a storage facility for a local seed company and they have not had a Haunted House there for many years.   My eyes cross the street to the library which continues to lend books out to anyone with a library card.   Like most rural towns in the United States, Rembrandt is holding on tightly for survival.  No major housing developments here and it is more common for a store to be closing then opening.  I continue driving down the street to where the old school used to stand.  It also has been demolished except for the gymnasium which now holds a local auctioneer  company.  I remember grades K through 6th in the old brick building and remember planting trees along the street out front in 5th grade.  Today those trees are huge and gracefully line the street I am driving down.  I recollect starting Kindergarten with 13 people in my class.  All but one of us graduated together 12 years later.  (wow 12 years does not seem very long today when back then it seemed like forever) .  It was Rembrandt Consolidated School then and at the end of my 5th grade, the school consolidated with neighboring Sioux Rapids to become Sioux Rapids- Rembrandt.  At that time our class of 13 (we had lost one of the original classmates but gained a new one)  was the largest in the school which graduated 8 seniors that year.  Yes,  "Eight is Enough" was the last graduating class of Rembrandt Consolidated School's theme.  I would spend 6th grade with the original 13 and adding another 23 from Sioux Rapids making our class the new largest class in the school with 36 pupils.  After 6th grade we started attending middle school in Sioux Rapids, only 15 minutes away and as these memories float through my thoughts,  it is time to turn right heading out the country road leaving Rembrandt for my parents farm 4 miles away... (to be continued) ...

(click hear to read part 2)

Cross Country Travel - Day 1

All packed and ready to go.  We have decided to take a trip to Southern Brazil (Porto Alegre to be exact) and since there are three of us traveling and airfare seemed a little high,  Luiz's brother Junior offered to drive his car so we could road trip.  YEAH! I love a good road trip as you get to see more local things, eat more local foods, visit with local people (ok maybe I won't be able to vistit a whole lot on this trip) and as a bonus you get to see all the countryside from were you are to where you are going.  Of course extra time must be available as all this local searching will require more time. Fortunately for us we all have the time so our plans are set.   Some of my favorite trips have been road trips like: heading to Philadelphia (from Iowa/ 24 hours one way) for the weekend during college when we got tickets to the Army verses Navy football game (crazy!) - many trips to Colorado during college and years after for a ski weekend - (some trips one weekend right after the next / 10 hour drives / I love to ski)  San Luiz Obispo from San Francisco with Lisa to visit my great aunt Twilla (we laughed so hard and had so much fun) - and finally in 2010 Luiz, his sister Beatrice and her husband Osmar took a cross country trip from Atlanta to Yellowstone with stops in  Chicago, Iowa, and the Black Hills of South Dakota.  These are just a few of the great road trips I have taken in my lifetime but back to present day.

We leave the apartment around 8:00 A.M.and off we head.  Our first destination is Mineiros,  Luiz's home town and where Junior lives.  It is a five hour drive on a road currently under construction as they work on making it a four lane highway. On top of the construction mess,  it is harvest season and there are way to many trucks (more then the too many we usually encounter on this drive) which always make it an unpredictable trip.  As I ride along,  I begin to compare the landscape with that of Iowa where I grew up. (day dreaming is such a great way to pass time) This being a heavy agricultural area of Brazil,  it is easy to see the similarities.  There are fields of corn lining the road on each side.  Brown and ready for harvest as it is winter in Brazil and every so often you see a farmer in the fields harvesting the corn.  The road is littered with trucks filled with the freshly harvested crops.  Where there is not fields the landscape is mostly grass lands reserved for cattle to graze.  Again,  it is winter which equals the dry season and everything is brown and little fresh grass for the cows. 

The differences between Iowa and Goias soon become apparent as we drive down the road and the corn fields turn to sugar cane fields.   Iowa is mainly corn and soy bean country and no sugar cane that I am aware of. It is a new experience watching and observing the sugar cane fields as they blur by.  The mature sugar cane stands about six feet tall and you would never be able to tell it was planted in rows as the plants have grown together like corn in a corn field.  How do I know it is planted in rows? There is a field next to the mature where the canes are just beginning to grow. Why is there a field just beginning to grow next to one ready to harvest?   Since the weather is favorable for production all year long in Goias Brazil,  farmers get two harvests from most of their crops each year.  (both facts I have learned since moving to Brazil)

This photo is for my Dad - we could
play I see something you don't see!

But, back to our drive down the dusty road and my sugar cane observations: an airy tassel has popped out at the top of the sugar cane plants in the mature fields which gives the field a soft fluffy look.   Huge trucks sit idle on the ends of the rows, waiting to be filled so they can deliver the harvested cane.  Brazil is the largest producer of sugar cane in the world with India a distant second and a majority of the crop is used for ethanol production in the country.(thank again wikipedia)

Beyond the sugar cane we come across a short field of crops:  Sorghum.  It is another crop grown in this region and although cereal is not as prominent on the grocery store shelves in Brazil,  sorghum is the fifth most used grain to make cereal.  As we drive by, I remember fields of sorghum in Iowa years ago but have not seen it in a while.  For some reason the memories of pheasants and hunting come to mind as well.  When I lived in South Dakota a group of my friends would go out on the weekends and after work and hunt this small bird.  Pheasants loved this crop with its low lying seeds and ability to catch the snow when it came.  We spent many hours driving and walking around in search of pheasants.  It was always a great way to spend a Saturday with friends and the fall pheasant feed was always a good time.  Each of the hunters from that season took a bird or two and prepared it different ways.  We would invite friends over to enjoy our catches.  I think pheasants would love this area of Brazil - especially with the lack of snow and all the sorghum fields.

We drive a little further and the surrounding fields have a silver / white shimmer.  It is easy to see the fields are cotton and the only  other time I have seen cotton fields is on a road trip with my mom from Atlanta to Florida.  She came to visit me and we decided to visit relatives who live in the Gainsville area.  There are many cotton farmers in the lower part of Georgia and I remember stopping to take some photos as I had not seen cotton fields before.   The cotton in the fields on our journey today are getting ready to harvest and almost look like snow shimmering in the sun.

The final crop I observe which is different for me are the rows of eucalyptus trees.  Obvious a crop that is not harvested yearly, but it does grow quickly and has about a 5 year turn around. (thank wikipedia again!) It is well suited for the dry conditions of this area and currently Brazil is a leader in the production of eucalyptus trees which are used for pulp, charcoal, and paper production. 

As we look at the eucalyptus fields, I am distracted by the yellow and purple canopies of the Ipe trees. These wonderful trees lose all their leaves during the dry season in order put forth a spectacular flower display.  The canopy of green is replaced with white, orange, purple, or yellow flowers.  Also knows as the trumpet tree -- the dry area of Brazil we are traveling makes the tree grown in short crooked pattern in the blue sky.  We drive along in search of the yellow flowers close enough to the road so we can snap a photo or two. What a spectacle they create and we continue to search for the more mature trees.  After a few spottings we arrive in Minerios to spend the evening with family and friends and prepare for the trip ahead.  The day ends and  we head off to bed in preparation for a long drive tomorrow.

Please let me know if you would like a personal tour of Porto Alegre -I would be happy to share this beautiful city with you! All inclusive packages available--

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