Good times in Iowa

We arrived in Iowa and as usual stopped at the first Welcome Center. This one was a large red barn with restrooms in the lower level and a snack bar, gift shop and brochures upstairs. It is really unique, isn't it.
We took a tour of Iowa's Living History Museum that has farms of the 1700's, 1800's, and 1900's, as well as a complete town. This farm of the 1800's made me glad to live now---so much for those good ole days. The work was hard and the people must have been tough to survive.




This was a an example of a farm in the 1900's.




That's my fellow, riding on a John Deere, while we were visiting a museum devoted to farming.
The Village of Walnut Grove is a recreated town of the 1850's complete with a church, drug store, bank, newspaper, general store, lawyer's office, blacksmith shop and a beautiful home with barn.





For my quilting buddies, I was privileged to see a quilt in progress being worked on in the church---lovely, tiny little stitches. There were quilts in the bedrooms, one in a cradle and several in progress, one a lap quilt. Makes me itch to be able to sew again.



After a lovely morning in the Living History Museum, we stopped at this restaurant for an amazing lunch. Our dear waiter, a very attentive young man, gave us a sweet roll that was at least one pound in size. This restaurant is known for its pies and sweetbreads. This was the last one left from this morning's baking and he wanted us to have it. Well, we know what we will be having for breakfast tomorrow.


Tomorrow we head out to Missouri, working our way back east. More later from your very full, very Happy Travelers.

Minnesota Memories

Mall America was something else. We went in through Norstrom's, one of the four stores that anchor the corners of the mall. It is so large that there is an amusement park in the mall so you can ride the rides summer, winter, fall and spring.




After our visit to the Mall, we took a train and went into downtown Minneapolis.
Athens has its bulldogs, Minneapolis has baseball players. They are on street corners and in front of certain special buildings.
Those overpasses connect the buildings so in the winter folks can go from building to building without going outside.


There she was, standing on the corner, just like her TV program....Mary Tyler Moore, throwing her hat in the air with that wonderful smile.
Well folks, we are on to Grimes, Iowa, just outside of Des Moines, Iowa...working our way back east to end up in Myrtle Beach, SC by September 7.....Your Happy Travelers.

Wisconsin River---another boat ride

Before we left the Wisconsin Dells, we decided to take another boatride to check out the landscape that gave the Dells their name.
A photographer named Henry Hamilton Burnell, loved the Dells so much that he bought up the land on either side of the Wisconsin River. He then replanted trees and did all he could to transform the land back to the way it was before the logging took place. When he died the land went to the state.



Our tour boat stopped at one point for us to get off and walk among the monumental limestone formations.


My beloved takes a minute to confer with this colorful Captain. He is such a good sport.
Well the Happy Travelers will be moving on to Minnesota so more later from your very Happy Travelers.

Wisconsin Dells---Memories

We arrived at the Wisconsin Dells and were greeted by this tall guy wanting people to come into his restaurant for a pricey meal. Sorry about the scramble in pictures but the whole time we were traveling through Wisconsin, we saw farm country like the second picture. Third picture is of the billboard for Paul's Restaurant and fourth is more farm country. Internet has been a little difficult because the signal keeps fading on me and kicking me out. Hopefully, I will be able to publish more later.





We arrived at the Carr Valley Cheese Factory at 8 a.m. sharp one morning after about a 45 minute ride through the country side and a couple of small towns/villages. They were in the process of making cheddar cheese in the first set of vats and Montery Jack in the second set. They gave us a sample of the cheddar cruds that folks up here are crazy about. To me they were very salty and rubbery but I am from Virginia, what do I know.


Then it was on to the boat ride on the Wisconsin River. More later from the Happy Travelers