Anytime: Helicopter

~E

So last weekend I was lucky enough to have the weekend off since we didn't have a wedding! Our local county fair was hosting Lonestar (the country band) as their show for the evening. Although I've already seen them five times in concert, there's nothing like a country concert and I needed a little bonding time with the rents anyway. On my drive home, my dad all of a sudden gets his panties in a bunch about how fast I can get there... He wanted me to go on a helicopter ride before the concert??? My dad is extrememly cheap but he offered to buy me a ride as soon as I got there. Now these rides aren't exactly what I would describe as inexpensive entertainment. Hold onto your britches - 25 bucks for a five minute ride. Needless to say I knew something was up. I get it... He wants pictures! So I get home and we go directly to where the helicopter is and my father gives the guy some extra dough to give us some extra air time and to go over our farm.

This helicopter was small and had no doors - just the open air. We lifted up and it was quite a bizarre feeling. It wasn't like an airplane at all. We were simply floating! We zipped along and flew over our farm, then my dad's other farm where my sister and her family live. As I was adjusting my camera, I looked out and we were plumitting toward the ground. I think that extra cash got us a good ride as we went about four feet above the bean field and then straight back up! My dad was having the best seven minutes of his life!

This is a photo of a riverbottom near where I grew up. You can see how much land was lost during the floods. My dad think that hole is so bad because the farmer probably had buried sand there during a previous flood so it washed out especially bad.



This is the farm where I grew up, just north of Maquoketa, IA.



I love the shadow of the lone tree in this shot.



You can see my mother and brother on the sidewalk in this one - and our dog, Vixie too.



And I believe this is the point where my mom said she thought I was going to fall out of the helicopter!



My dad looked at the pics on my camera screen later that night. He zoomed in so far on this one so he could see 'the whites of the cows eyes'.





This is my sister's place. The pond is right next to where I got married last summer. I actually walked around it in my wedding dress before I walked down the aisle. The barn is where we had the reception.





And this was the fair as we returned.



After our ride I mentioned to my dad that this would be fun to blog. Of course he didn't have a clue what a blog was but after I explained he turned the car around and insisted that I get a photo with the helicopter guys. The next day I showed him our blog and explained what it was. MISTAKE! Now he calls everything a blog. I don't really understand it, but when this man learns a new word he goes overboard. He walked around all day calling everything a blog. He woke up and addressed me by saying, "Good morning blog".