Day 1, Wednesday –
Drove from Centertown to Amana, IA. The drive was relatively uneventful. We
stopped for fuel at an Ayerco truck stop in Palmyra, MO, paid $2.94 for fuel.
Temperature was decent and we ate lunch in the camper while parked in the truck
parking area. We pulled in to the Amana RV Park & Event Center around 4PM. I
was surprised at its size. There is room for over 400 of RV’s. Reasonably large,
level FHU sites. Not much shade but there will be in another 20 years, lot of
trees planted. There are maybe 50-75 RV’s here nightly during an off-season,
weekday night.
After getting set up we drove the mile or so into Amana, walked around a little and had dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn. I used to drive through this area a couple of times a year when we lived in Maxwell, IA, in the late 70”s. I always tried to schedule my trips so that I could eat at one of the restaurants in the Amana Colonies. The Ox Yoke was nothing like the restaurants I remember from then. I has the roast beef dinner. It was a good cut of beef, but wasn’t as flavorful as it would have been if Kathy had fixed it. The service was okay but SLOW!!! We were forewarned, there was a sign on the door that they were understaffed.
We were both really tired after finishing packing in the
morning and then the 275 mile drive. I don’t know where Iowa finds their DOT
personnel and highway contractors but Iowa roads must rank near the bottom of the
barrel. They look relatively smooth but driving on the concrete surfaces is
similar to riding across a choppy lake in a flat bottom boat, where the
swells/waves are 15-20 feet apart. We experienced the same thing several years
ago when we drove from Centertown to the Des Moines area. It just goes on mile
after mile after mile. I slowed down 5 mph trying to ease the bouncing. I was
concerned that the constant “vibration” was upsetting my stomach. The “nice”
concrete road leading to the campground is almost a joke. It has saw cut joints
every 15-20 feet and the surface is humped UP between the joints. If you put a
long straightedge (25’) on the roadway surface I bet you would see ¾” gaps at
the joints. I can’t imagine how a contractor could construct a road that ends
up like this one.
Day 2, Thursday –
We both slept well on the new mattress we put in the camper before leaving. We
had a leisurely breakfast and then headed back to Amana around 10:30. We parked
and walked around to look at “highlights” noted on the brochures.
Kathy got a pastry from the Amana Colonies Bakery and Café,
buy everything they had was to fancy for me, nothing like a simple glazed
donut, or long john. Then we did a lot of walking. I never took the time to
look around 45 years ago but my guess is that commercialization has hit the Colonies.
If you are interested in communal societies in early America, get a book, one
with lots of old photographs, and read about the colonies, don’t bother making
the trip.
We had lunch at The Ronneburg. I had a Jager Schnitzel and
Kathy had some type of chicken dish. Sides were cole slaw and green beans. She
got an extra side of pickled beets and I got hot sauerkraut. The food was much
better.
There are a lot more people wearing masks around here than
in Jefferson City. Most stores had signs that masks were recommended. Some “required”
mask for the unvaccinated, but there was no enforcement.
The weather has been great. We had the AC on yesterday
afternoon, to cool down the hot camper, but turned it off when we went to bed.
I think the low was in the low 50’s. It was 64 inside the camper when I got up.
Today it got into the low 80’s, with lots of sunshine. The humidity was low and
there was a brisk breeze. It was quite comfortable.
No comments:
Post a Comment