We're Going West...

(click on the image for a larger version)

June 17th,

We finally crossed the Mississippi today and we are heading west - if only a short bit to the Amana Colony.  We met up with our old friends Steve and Karen and new friends Bill and Kris and enjoyed a nice dinner at one of the local German restaurants.  They were both off the next day leaving us all alone to explore the area.

If you want to know more about the Amana Colonies, I suggest you Google them.  After visiting a few of these utopian societies across the US, Amana was the only one that managed to keep itself together without a catastrophic split.  Many of the descendants of the original families live and prosper in the surrounding area.

Yes, Mary does drive the motorhome.  In fact, she drove pretty much the whole way from Van Wert, OH to the Indiana-Illinois state line.  

This map is from the turn of the last century, c.a. 1900.  Those aren't roads you are looking at - they are railroad lines.

Yes, the insects are larger in farm country.  This one would take out your windshield.

Amana Colonies RV park.  It's a very large field but the sites are wide and long.