Three inches of rain today and more predicted. Tornadoes near our hometown. The news around the world is concerning and the weather is unpredictable! The pictures of the tornadoes near home were unreal and yet very real. Thankfully no damage was done as they touched down in open fields. At least that is the report that I received. No tornadoes here in Iowa. We do have a storm shelter nearby in case. A camper is not a great place to be in a bad storm.
The men worked on several indoor projects today with all of the rain. They did some destruction as they tore out unwanted old cupboards and some moldy sheet rock. The women worked on thoroughly cleaning one large building with a gym. We will continue on that tomorrow. We washed walls, stalls, windows and chairs in locker rooms and meeting rooms.
Last Friday on our day off we had a group outing to the Amana Colonies. It is a National Historical Site. In the 1800’s the pietists came to the United States to escape religious persecution in Germany. The lived communally until 1935. Their history and story is quite interesting. We ate at Ronnenburg Restaurant and enjoyed seeing the shops, eating bakery goodies and chocolate from the chocolate shop.
Saturday we stayed home in the morning and did some chores around the camper. It rained and made it difficult to do the farmer’s favorite hobby–taking pictures of barns. In the afternoon we got a few pictures and traveled a few miles to Brandon, IA to see Iowa’s largest skillet. Since we love dutch oven cooking this was a fun trip. We got back to camp in time to make BBQ Meatballs in the dutch oven, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes and sourdough biscuits. It was all pretty tasty. All the couples came to our yard for patio night. We had a great visit and were pretty tasty to the mosquitoes.
Sunday following church our group had a tour of Cedar Rock. The well-known architect, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the home for a local couple on their property right on the Wapsipinicon River in 1945. It is a well designed home that brings the beauty of the outdoors right inside. All of the original furniture is still in the house and the view is outstanding. Our tour guide played the grand piano for us and gave us lots of interesting tidbits on the couple who are no longer living.
Where the Dutch Ovens Roam 