WESTWARD TRAVELS AND RELATIVES FOUND IN IOWA

Unusual construction!
But we knew that we were in farm country!

Traveling from Ohio to Iowa: we stopped at Walmart in Blufton IN our first night. Gary was glad for the rest because of the wind and the detours! Our second stop was the Par-Dice Casino in Peoria IL.
The third and fourth nights were spent at a campground on the edge of the seven Amana Villages in Iowa. Amana is a German group who first settled near Buffalo NY in 1842 on 5000 acres of land.
When more farmland was needed for their group then numbering 1200, they began to look farther west for what they needed in Kansas and then Iowa. In 1855 they migrated and built a village. The leaders chose the name Amana from the Song of Solomon 4:8, meaning to remain true. Five more villages were built, beginning with the purchase of Homestead in 1861. The community came to own about 26,000 acres. Farming was the principal means of of support.  Then to meet the needs of the community and to produce goods for sale to outside markets, a calico works and two woolen mills were built as well as craft shops, flour mills and lumber and brick yards. Day to day life revolved around worship, home, work and school. All meals then were prepared at more than 50 neighborhood kitchen houses. In 1932 because of economic pressures and dissatisfaction with the rigid communal system, Amana abandoned the communal way of life, but maintained their community, ending 89 years of oc communal tradition. This being the first time the Amana community members worked for wages, owned their own homes and businesses, included Amana Appliances. The Amana church remains a very important part of the community life where visitors are welcome to Sunday worship and Wednesday prayer services.
We visited their large General Store with the International Christmas store.  

 

Diane, thinking of you often!!
I know how you liked your knomies!!

There were many more stores and restaurants, bed and breakfasts and winerys, but we just visited the one store. Much more to do the next time through the area!!

Our second day here in the park, we went down the road to a Mexican Restaurant to meet up with a distant cousin of Gary's and his wife, Reginald and Mary. Gary found him through genealogy research and contacted him through the hospital that he was affiliated with here. It was very nice to meet them and to hear Reginald's family stories of times back in WV and to share our stories of travels.
Thank you both for lunch and we hope to meet up with you again in the future!

We are always glad when a waitress is willing to take our picture so that both Gary and I are in the picture.  We do still travel together!!
Tomorrow we will move on to the RV Park near Ben's home.  We will be there for a month so will share some of what we see in Minnesota. Stay tuned!