I want to start off saying how truly sorry I am to be on vacation now four whole days and not updating my blog at all. I think as you read this one VERY long post you will see, that a lot of it I could not help. Secondly I also want to apologize for the length of this post, but I hope you enjoy seeing what we have been up to.
We started out Saturday by dropping the dogs off at the grandparents house and going up to Columbia for a MIZZOU game. First of all, I am not a game buff, I am really just a people spectator. A lot of the times I didn't even know who had the ball or where the ball was at, but in this case it really didn't matter, cause MIZZOU put the whoop on Western Illinois with a score of 69 to 0. So I really didn't have to pay to close attention to the game. It drizzled most of the game and with a temperature only in the 50's, I was glad that the game was a pretty short and pretty fast paced. Oh and we was in the company of only 63,000 other people at the game, most of which left at half time or after the third quarter.
We were on the other side, but they spelled out M-I-Z-Z-O-U and T-I-G-E-R-S. The other fun thing that occurred during the games is every time MU got a touchdown a cannon shot off and then the National Guard Men would come out and do as many push-ups as what the score was. Towards the end of the game when they were doing 69 push ups, I was really feeling sorry for them.
That fuzzy yellow guy in the middle is Truman, MU's mascot. He was not as ambitious as the rest of them doing push ups. He usually did about 4 or 5 then called it good. After the game and after the almost 3/4 mile hike back to our vehicle we left Columbia heading to Moberly which was only about 30 miles away to stay for the night. But every motel in Moberly was booked up for the night, so we traveled onto the next big town which was Quincy, Illinois and after stopping at the first motel and being told that they were booked up, Farmboy started getting nervous, cause his very pregnant wife was very tired and very moody after traveling now for an extra 2 hours because Farmboy decided that we didn't need a plan for this vacation. Fortunately for Farmboy, the nice desk clerk found another motel that had vacancy and we were tucked into bed and asleep by 12:45.
Sunday -
After getting into Quincy so late we were not early risers on Sunday, but we did have the continental breakfast and headed out of town by 11:00 on our way to Moline. We had just gotten on the highway when Farmboy noticed that we probably should have gotten some gas before we left, but with no plan, what does it matter? Surely there will be a gas station near by. Following our GPS, we pulled off the highway at the exit that it requested and promptly turned onto a gravel road and traveled this gravel road for 10 miles, all the way seeing nothing but corn fields! We did not see a gas station for a whole hour and in that hour our low fuel light had came on and was dinging at us. Farmboy was more than nervous when we pulled into that gas station.
This was our second day of vacation and it was still drizzling and temp's still in the 50's. We did make it to Moline by 2:00 and looked around the John Deere Pavilion. Farmboy told me stories about tractors that his dad had when Farmboy was just a boy. He also gave me his wish list of tractors he would like to have to redo.
This was just a place that held several tractors inside this building. Some were antiques tractors that had been redone, but most were commercial type tractors.
After we left Moline we headed to Davenport, Iowa and stayed the night there. It was soon on this trip that I realized that I had left my adaptor at home so that I can do my blog with pictures. But no problem we will stop in the morning and pick on up.
Monday -
We got around earlier on Monday and headed towards the Amana Colonies but on the way we could not past the Worlds' Largest Truck Stop on I-80. Oh yes, be jealous. I was at first, very sarcastic about stopping here, but on the advice of my father to my husband I got out voted and we were pulling in. After all, we did need to get some gas. I was pleasantly surprised by what all this truck stop held.
and then several other trucks.
After we spent some time and money at the truck stop, I found a cookbook and Farmboy bought some sunglasses. We then traveled on to the Amana Colonies. We got there a little before noon and stopped at the Visitors Center.
The Amana colonies stem from a religious movement that was started in 1714 in Germany by Eberhard L. Gruber and Johann F. Rock, both of the Lutheran faith. They believed that God communicated through inspired individuals, just as he did in the days of the prophets. This individual was called a WerkzeugGruber and Rock started traveling through Germany and Switzerland forming small groups of followers, which became known as the Community of True Inspiration.
The society purchased 18,000 acres of Iowa land and between 1854 and 1859 the six Amana villages were founded. The Community of True Inspiration was incorporated in 1859 under the name of "Amana Society" and existed for over seventy years as a religious society operating without pecuniary profit and providing food and housing for its members, who worked on community farms, community enterprises and ate in communal kitchens.
After the visitor's center we stopped in and had some lunch at our first "Family Style" restaurant. I ordered a fish sandwich and Farmboy ordered pork chops. "Family Style" means that along with his pork chops he got all he could eat salads, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn. They all came in little bowls and you dished out what you wanted and then when you wanted more, you just told the waitress and she would bring more out to you. After lunch we walked around and took in the sights. We stopped at the Woven Shop where they still make quilts today.
The furniture shop, where they still make furniture today.
We then decided that we were tired and wanted to rest for a while. We thought we would just pick up where we left off. So we checked into the local motel, got our key (which was an actually key that unlocked a door) and layed down for a while.
After resting, we got up and took off to do some more sight-seeing and shopping and soon realized the whole town shuts down at 5 and we were about 10 minutes away from that. So we decided to go the the brewery and buy some root beer and cream soda which is manufactured there and sit under a tree and enjoy a cold one. HA! After that we traveled to Cedar Rapids which was only about 20 minutes away to eat some dinner.We were back in our motel room by 8:00 and realized that we had no Internet, so I still couldn't update my blog. It was at this point I realized we were a step above the Amish.
Tuesday -
We were up and at them early today, since we still had a lot of the Amana Colonies to see. We went to the Ox Yoke Inn and had breakfast where Farmboy had his second "Family Style" meal with breakfast. Neither meal did he ever get seconds on.
After breakfast we headed out on our great adventure, only to find out that most stores don't open up until 10. What is up with this place, open at 10 and close at 5? Some places chose not to even open at all if they don't want too. So finally when places started to open we were on our way. We stopped at the original General Store which opened in the 1880's.
It is still set up like it was when it opened and had lots of antiques in there for sale. After that we headed to another part of the Amana Colonies and came across Iowa's Largest Rocker, over 11 feet tall!
We then traveled to the Mini- Americana Barn Museum. Mini-Americana is the largest known collection of 1/12 scale miniature replicas built by one man, woodworker Henry Moore. Following a scale of one inch to one foot, Mini-Americana is a unique display of over 200 miniatures that depict the history of rural America. Each building, an exact replica of an original structure either past or present, took an average of six months to complete. This place just blew Farmboy and I away. The details on these buildings were amazing and how much time he put into one building to make sure that it looked just like the replica.
After that, we traveled to a couple more stores and were unsuccessful at several, but all in all a very good day. The sun shined and it was in the 70's with a nice breeze. After we finished shopping we grabbed some lunch at a local bakery and had chicken salad on homemade bread with some cookies for dessert. We then traveled on to Waterloo where our next big adventure awaits....stay tuned.
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