Not Done with Iowa.

We left C.o.E. Rathbun Lake campground and headed to C.o.E. Sugar Bottom campground. 

After passing through town we had one last bridge to cross to get to the campground. Listening to Garmin had us turn down a road that was an emergency road that we would never had made it down, plus we later found it closed on the other end. On our way to the directions she supplied, we passed the correct entrance to the park. After turning around from the mis-direction, we returned to the correct entrance, and made our way to the campground. Like the last campground, this was an electric only site.

The difference here was larger sites with concrete pads. We were in the area that appeared a little newer, but more importantly, it was close to the water. Our site was also close to the real entertainment, the boat ramp.

Most of the boats we saw launched were pontoon boats, with a mix of speed boats and jet skis. 

The beach was a short walk from our site, and fairly good sized, the water was roped off, and the bottom of most of the beach was smooth. The weather was 

pretty good most of the stay, with minimal rain or hot days.

We took advantage of the weather and went out to see what was in the area. We did take a drive around the lake, and over to the Coralville Dam making up these two lakes. We got over to the other side and found  several more campgrounds and boat ramp. We drove down to the boat ramp area, which was also parking for the picnic day area, and a good place for picture taking of the Coralville Dam.

From the parking area we have the opportunity to view the back of the dam. At the left side of the photo, where the tower looking structure is, that is the spillway, keeping the reservoir at a constant level. and providing good fishing on the other side of the dam.

A motorcycle followed us most of the way from the turn off to the front side of the dam, come to find out he was a local that fishes at the spillway quite frequently. While we were there I noticed a couple of  guys leaving with a passel of fish. At the bottom of this dam is another campground. We learned from one of the local residents that the lake was named Coralville because there is coral in the lake, I don't know if it is really true, but sounds good. We completed our drive around the lake, it was a fun trip.

Our first day trip was in Coralville, where we visited the Antique Car Museum of Iowa. 

It is a small museum with some neat cars. The cars on display are owned by folks that live in the area. 

The starting point is a short video about the museum, from there, visitors head to some Fords on exhibit. The first car was a restored Ford Model "T".

It has been believed by some folk that the Model "T" was his first car. The reason it was named "T" was because he blew through the rest of the alphabet due to experimentation, and errors.

I was surprised at how many cars were made in Iowa from 1893 to 1937, the oldest being the Adams Farewell's Dubuque, from 1893 to 1913. Some of the other cars made did not have a long lifetime. A few examples are: Farmer Mobile, Reading-Durhyeh, both manufactured in Waterloo, IA. The museum has several local made cars on display, one of which is the Maytag, manufactured from 1910 to 1915 in

Waterloo as well. As you might guess, it was the washing machine manufacturer... who figured out that they should stay with making washing machines.

This next car you may recognize because a lot of rich people owned them... and that car would be the Duesenberg, made from 1906 to 1937, but only made in Iowa until 1913. If you must know all the cars made here... well:

Lets continue our stroll through the cars on exhibit.

This car may surprise some people, it set a land speed record in 2006, with a speed in excess of 300 mph... with a diesel engine, and was the first to do so. 

There is even remnants from WWII. This is the Hanomag, which was only produced until  

1939. This German company made cars and tractors. The company began making cars in 1925, this one is a 1939 version. Once Hitler took over 
presidency he began creating highways like the United States, and wanted a car for the average person to be able to drive on it. The end of the story is that the car did not become successful. Part of the reason for lack of success was due to the company making wartime military vehicles.

Electric cars are not new, this is the 1915 Milburn Electric.

The batteries are a bit newer than the car itself. This car's interior is a bit different from others, it has two small seats facing the driver. It is presumed that the seats were for children.

Time to jump into the future, and look at another Ford, the 1958 Fairlane convertible. 

This next car was a misfortunate recipient of a storm in 2019.
This museum has a lot to see, for a small museum.

We continued to push our fortunately beautiful weather the following day, and headed to an Amish museum in Kalona, IA. The area is one of the Iowa Amish communities nestled among all the other farms. Besides the quilt pattern on the barns, their farms are distinguished by the non-use of powered farm equipment. 

When we walked into the museum we were pleasantly surprised to learn that they are a Harvest Host participant, with a large parking lot across the street from the museum. Their lot is no different than the average Harvest Host, in that it is dry camping (no electric, water, or sewer).

The museum is broken into multiple areas inside, and many buildings on the outside. The outside buildings create a community environment, but are relocated from other sites within the county. The first beautiful wonder was a flower.

This hibiscus was not your normal size flower, in fact, it was almost double the size of most of the regular flowers seen elsewhere, and was a beautiful light lavender.

The community we are about to visit is a gated community; they did it to ensure visitors would stop in the museum and pay for the tour. Most of the time the tour is self-guided, but once in a while there is a guide available.

The first building we came to was the South Sharon United Methodist Church. The church was 

established in 1867, and had a congregation present until 1984. Though the church is not used for services, it still serves to provide history of the area. As visitors enter the church, there are placards hanging from the walls explaining the historical timeline of Iowa and its people, native and white man.

You may notice in one of the photos the folding doors. I can only imagine that the back area was for expansion of the congregation, or where late comers had to sit. It could have been used as a meeting room when the doors were closed, though there wasn't much room between the doors and the front pews.

Leaving the church visitors follow the concrete path to the Wahl House. The Wahl house was built by its first owner, Chase C. Yoder,

in 1892. The house was built to replace the stagecoach stop hotel that burned down. Mr. Glen Wahl purchased the house in 1948, and moved it to Kalona. For the Wahl's it served as their home, and storage for their glass collections. The Kalona Historical Society acquired the home after Mr. Wahl died. 

Every effort was made to restore this house back to the 1890-1940s theme. During the Wahl ownership, several modifications were made to the structure. The Wahl's remove the summer kitchen and the north room, replacing them with a garage. They also added a lean to entry, bathroom, and a sitting room.

The sitting room was not accessible, so the best I could do was from the dining room. Back to the kitchen. That room toward the back was their pantry. Like most families in the earlier 1900s, the refrigeration was very basic, but the Wahl's was a little fancier. This ice box is made of oak, with fancy carvings on the front. there are other

items that are era specific too. Being a meat eater I enjoy a good sausage, but I don't make them myself.

However, during the day it was common for rural/farm homes to butcher their own meat and make sausage. A lot of homes would have had a sausage maker. This house also had a special room for

music. 

Outside there was a small building that was probably their laundry house, and a little more.
Today it is an exhibit of various washing machines between the late 1800s to early 1900s. 

Continuing on the path we came to a building that shined a little more light on the local area. It wasn't until 1856 that the area saw a train. The railroad finally crossed the Mississippi, and made its way to Muscatine, Iowa. By 1880 the railroad finished its tracks to Montezuma, IA; it completed the the route between Muscatine and Iowa City. The railroad passenger and freight traffic increased until around 1928, when automobiles increased in popularity; freight was still moving... less passengers though.

With the declining passenger traffic, the railroad company ceased passenger services between Muscatine and Montezuma in 1932. 

Back in 1902 the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad (CRI&PR) from the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway (BCR&NR). Between bridge damage, and declining usage, CRI&PR totally abandoned the entire rail system in 1972.

Another area in this building paid respect to Kalona High School. 

The school was established in 1897, graduating the first class in 1898. Unfortunately the school was closed permanently in 1960. The wisdom of of the Iowa Legislature in the 1950s forced smaller school districts to combine. This is the last class to graduate

from Kalona High School. A fond memory of years gone by.

Within the little wooden box contains the ashes of a green hat of the 1939 basketball coach, whose team fought its way to state finals. There is also a timeline display regarding happenings around Iowa. 

Back outside we wind our way to the Snider/Figgins House.

Jeremiah Jack Snider built the house in 1842 for his wife and 12 children. Looking at the size of the house it was hard to believe that 14 people lived in this house. The house was only built to meet the basic needs before winter hit. 

Are you wondering why there are two names on the house, let me tell you a little story. 

The Sniders had a young daughter, Elizabeth, that was born in 1829 in Iowa. In the same year the Figgins had a son, George, born in Ohio. Somewhere between the 1830s and 1840s, both families move to English River Township, IA. George and Elizabeth met as teenagers, and eventually married and moved to their own farm. The cabin was moved from the Snider farm to the Figgins farm. In 1973 the Figgins family donated the house to the Kalona Historic Village.

This is the Summit School, built around 1850. The school was also known as "Straw College" 
The schoolhouse was moved to its current site in 1972. The students that attended the school lovingly gave the nickname "Straw College" because in the winter, straw was stuffed behind the wainscoting for warmth.

This little building had many businesses from 1850 to the day it was retired.  The village of Richmond was platted in 1840, and in 1850 the Post Office was built. At one time it was the office of the medical doctor of Richmond. 

To give you an idea how small Richmond was, this building functioned as the Post Office from 1914, until 1988 when it closed down. During the time it was a Post Office, it had 22 Post Masters. Before 1914 it served many different businesses. In a village like Richmond, the Post Office was a get together place for all the residents of the village.

Now what is a town without out a Walmart, its a village with a small general store. Don't forget

we are talking about Amish communities. This was the Kempftown Store. The store was owned by Milo Kempf, opened in 1890, serving the community until 1895. 
Milo eventually sold out to his twin brother. The building was donated by another gentleman, and moved and restored by the Rotary Club.

No town or community missed some exposure to progress, Kalona included. In 1879 the Burlington Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad came to town. 

Lets step back in time as to Kalona itself. In 1879 there was a lot of discussion as to where the train should pass through. One gentleman, J.G. Myers, sold a great deal of land to the railroad, with one caveat. That caveat was his desire to name the town the railroad was going to go through, the railroad agreed. Mr. Myers wanted to name the town Meyersville, the railroad shot it down.

They finally came to an agreement, he named the town Kalona. The railroad company was impressed with the name, and asked if it was Native American Indian, and Mr. Myers responded, no. They asked him where the name came from, he explained it was the name of his prize bull.

Back in the day, the Depot Agent and his family lived upstairs. 

This apartment at one time was home for a family of two parents, and seven children. It is pretty spacious in itself, I'm not sure how nine people made it work, but they did, that was the generation. The kitchen is like a cramped galley kitchen, but is larger than the laundry area inside from the front door.

The depot operated until 1969, and the building was sold off for $1.00. The building was moved to its current location and restored from 1970-1972.

In the middle of the town tour is the Iowa Mennonite Museum and Archives.

The museum/archive is full of displays of Amish/Mennonite life style. The first exhibit that caught my attention was:

this here wood-fired dehydrator, used to dry fruit. I was trying to figure out where I could store it in the trailer.

There are several displays of what they wore, and in some cases, still wear. One exhibit displayed the hair covers the women wore, and their progression to today. 

I read my Bible, but it is nothing like the one that Jacob Swartzendruber owned. His bible was called the Biblia Pentapla, "Five-Fold".

He was the first Amish Bishop in Johnson County. The Bible was published in 1711, the text contains German translations of the Old and New Testaments according to Roman-Catholic, Lutheran, German Reformed, Jewish, and Dutch Reformed traditions.

Besides the religious artifacts, there were artifacts of their craftsmanship too. As a woodworker I was intrigued with this lathe.

This lathe operated via foot power. Notice the belt and wheel that turned the wood stock. If you buy a piece of Amish furniture today, it would have been made in the same way. 

Have you ever seen the Commercial where Rachael Ray is trying to sell a spoon that sits on the side of a pot... big deal.

This hand turned bowl has a spoon that rests on the side of the bowl. The bowl in the photo is of the late 1800s. It goes to show that new ideas, are not really new, just re-designed.

Leaving the museum, we continue on the outside tour of the community buildings. Across from the museum is a little building with a big purpose: the Bake Oven.

One of the reasons I enjoy walking these replica communities is the opportunity to learn how the residents lived a bit of their culture.

We brag about grandmother suites in our homes today. Cultures like the Amish, provide a home for their parents. The home equates to a small studio apartment.

Because these folks are Amish, they shun electricity and motorized vehicles. You may well know that the Amish's mode of transportation is a horse and buggy. When there are a lot of buggies, there is usually a buggy shop. This shop was built in 1929.

Believe it or not... buggies were hoisted to the loft for painting. The buggy shops were masters at building and repairing buggies.

Next to the buggy shop, is the Line Shaft Building. 

This particular building was located on one of the Kalona farms in 1880s. With help from the Amish community, the building was moved to it current site in 1988. Today the building is used to grind corn meal during their annual Fall Festival.

The last building on the outside tour stores the farm equipment and automobiles. Keep in mind, Mennonites do drive cars and use electricity.

The cars are still drivable. I am going to turn around so you have the chance to be amazed like me.
What you are looking at is a partial wall of locks on the top, and on the bottom are tags for working in the mines.

Time to take the short walk into the air conditioned museum. The museum is broken into sections, three displayed a variety of quilts, and one was rocks. Starting point for us was an open area exhibiting quilts and drawers of thread.

Quilts on exhibit in the open area were all story quilts.

As the name says, these quilts tell stories.

Before we left this space I noticed a really special spot for those of us that thought we lost our marbles:
They are storing them for us. I didn't look really close at them to see if they contain initials for easy identification.

I promised one more item before moving on, so here it is.

These are just some of the thread display cases the museum has, others can be found in the other quilt rooms.

Speaking of the other quilt rooms, let us visit them. I am not going to explain all the quilts... so just enjoy.

These exhibits are a great sample of making something from nothing. They were impressive. The final room was full of a family's rock and gem collection. The family requested that no photos be taken. It was a nice collection though.

We left the museum and headed over to a creamery down the road, for an ice cream. We also stopped into an Amish grocery store, a small step into the past... they only accepted cash.


BREAK TIME IN THE CITY, OR TOWN.

We hit the road, this time to West Branch, Iowa for the day. Our goal for the venture was the Herbert Hoover Museum.

You can find out more information at:https://hoover.archives.gov. Mr. Hoover was our 31st president of the United States. Unfortunately he got a bad rap during his presidency, but he was really a humanitarian at heart... and that is where we will begin.

This is a collage of his accomplishments. Visitors can begin with a video, if they're there at the right time, and then head to the story of his life.

Herbert Hoover was raised in a Quaker household, and that upbringing molded him into the person he was. Mr. Hoover as a young man of 17, found himself at Stanford, graduating just before his 21st birthday with a degree in geology. The degree was only a part of what he received from Stanford, another part was the meeting of his future wife.

He took his knowledge of geology and found himself a job with a mining company. His determination and attitude was not wasted, the company he worked for sent him around the world to manage some of their other mines. His wife did accompany him to each new job after they were married.

The Hoover's did well financially, and his basic mentality was that he did not see wealth to be something of importance. Around 1919 to 1920 his leadership skills became apparent to an organization known as American Relief Administration  (ARA).

The mission of ARA was to provide various forms of relief after WWI to European countries. Hoover sent numerous missions in Europe, however, attempts to establish a mission in Russia met with resistance. The leaders of the Communist country believed that we only wanted people in their country to spy on them. Russia finally let us in to add their people. The only reason they let us in was the famine of 1920-1921. By the summer of 1921, there was a mission. 

Understand, Hoover was directing the show, while other members of ARA were organizing the relief in Russia and Europe. When they arrived in Russia to survey the situation, this is what they found:

The famine was quite severe, affecting mostly children. This scene is from their stop in the Volga River Valley, where they saw far worse conditions than what they saw in Europe. The starving people were eating food substitutes like grass, twigs, leaves, acorns, and bark.

Another excursion took them over to Kazan, where they found nearly a thousand refugees camped out near the train station. 

Here is how Will Shafroth saw it, "They were the most piteable sight I have ever seen. Little ragged, white faced, wizened up children, old from the look of suffering on their pinched faces, without hope and without spirit, and with barely enough patched together tatters of clothing to cover their emaciated arms

and toothpick legs. They were clustered together like sheep, and among them mothers with babes in their arms. One of these we stopped to talk to, she showed us the little bit of humanity wrapped up in her old shawl. She knew that it was going to die. Her lips began to quiver in spite of her efforts to control herself, and as she showed us all she had to give it to eat... a bit of black bread, so hard and so earthy and so full of grass and straw that it seemed impossible anyone could use it for human food... the tears began to run down her cheeks. It was heartrending. And there are thousands like her in the famine belt." Today's generation knows nothing about famines, or the struggle for survival at the simplest level.

This is the stuff the refugee woman was showing Will, the only difference is that this sample is not black yet. The famine was so bad that people were turning to cannibalism for survival. Imagine eating one of you family members to stay alive... it was real in Russia during their famine.

The ARA achieved its functions, feeding the masses, and providing grain. The ARA sent over so much corn that we broke Russia's transportation system. Theoretically their system was broke because of the war. 

The people were so desperate for food, those able, came to where the corn was. When it was possible, animals were used to pull the wagons to deliver it to villages. They did not have enough horses to accomplish the mission... because they became family meals... so camels were enlisted to work in the efforts to feed the masses.

The ARA kitchens were another story. When I say kitchens, I mean thousands of kitchens (around 18,000)... and they had strict rules to follow regarding food preparation, and serving the hungry. Hundreds of locals were hired to help enforce the regime, and prevent theft. In the larger villages the schoolhouse was used, and the teachers stepped in and assumed the role of manager.

The advantage of the teachers in the manager role, it kept the teachers and students from starving, and provided the opportunity for the students staying for their lessons after lunch. The ARA attempted to serve nourishing meals, which they did through a menu containing corn grits, white bread, rice, lard, milk, cocoa, and sugar. The menu was changed up periodically to ensure variety. Many of the social workers noticed that the children performed the "serious business" of eating.

Another benefit the ARA offered was the opportunity for relatives in the United States to send food and clothing packages to relatives in European Russia. Families here would pay $10.00 for food packages, or $20.00 for clothing packages.

Word would get to the territory that their family members were living in in Russia. The food packages were enough food to feed a family of three for a month. By the end of the mission ARA had delivered 930,500 packages, estimated to worth over $9,000,000.00.

This scroll came in this box, which was within another box.

The importance of this scroll, was obviously written in Russian. I am going to provide you the english translation... every word of it.

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE'S COMMISARS

"In the trying time of an enormous natural disaster, the American people, in the form of the ARA, responded to the needs of the population, already exhausted by the efforts of the foreign intervention and blockade, in the famine-stricken parts of Russia and the Federated Republics and came unselfishly to their aid, organizing on a massive scale the transport and distribution of food products and other articles of prime necessity. Thanks to the tremendous and entirely disinterested efforts of the ARA, millions of people of all ages were saved from death, and entire villages and even cities, survived the terrible disaster that threatened them. 

Now, when the cessation of famine brings the colossal work of the ARA to an end, the Sovnarkom (Council of People's Commissars) in the name of the millions of people who have been saved and of all the laboring people of Soviet Russia and the Federated Republics considers it a duty to express before the entire world its deepest gratitude to this organization, to its chief, Herbert Hoover, to its representative in Russia, Colonel Haskell, an to all its staff members, and to declare that the people inhabiting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will never forget the help rendered to them by the American people, through the ARA, seeing in it a pledge of the future friendship of both peoples.

This declaration was signed by L. Kamenev, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, N. Gorbunov, Head of the Administrative Department of the Council of People's Commissars, and L. Fotieva, Secretary of the Council of People's Commissars. The document was signed in Moscow, Kremlin, on 10 July 1923.

Sadly, for all he did as a humanitarian, most people only remember him for the days of depression. Before the days of depression, when he was appointed as the Secretary of Commerce during the Woodrow Wilson administration, he advised that the government needed to take precautions regarding over indulging during the time of prosperity. Because of Wilson's lack of leadership, and lack of pollster support, he did not receive a second term... beat out by Herbert Hoover. Wilson's lack of listening to Hoover created problems, which lead to the depression days. Herbert Hoover was the type of man that did not blame the last administration for bad decision making. After his days in office, he never gave up his humanitarian ways. The museum portion was very informative, and predominantly about his humanitarian efforts.

Hoover's efforts to feed the hungry carried across two world wars. During the first world war Belgium wanted to present Hoover with a medal, he refused, believing they were just toys. The Belgian government finally got him to accept the title of Friend of the Belgian People, which was only good until he died.

WWII saw him continuing his efforts to ensure that starvation was kept at bay in Europe. During the time of WWII, the United States Food Administration was created. It was Hoover's belief that food would win the war. He used propaganda to inspire tens of millions of Americans to observe "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays" - to substitute fish and vegetables for beef and bread. There was encouragement to grow backyard "Victory" gardens.

Hoover had ideas on how to make it all work, "centralize ideas and decentralize execution". This is how it worked. Control wartime prices without strangling the economy. He invented Price Interpreting Boards, which brought wholesalers, retailers, and consumers together at a county level. He created the U.S. Grain Corporation to purchase foodstuffs and the Sugar Equalization Board to buy Cuba's entire sugar crop. (Because of the Food Administration, sugarless gum arrived on scene).

Thoughts were changing at the family level as well. Once there was Blood sausages, they were now being called "victory sausages", and children were singing songs about the "patriotic potato". 

The Food Administration was so successful that Hoover could say that food shipments doubled to Europe, without creating ration cards in the U.S, not interrupting traditional economic freedoms, and there wasn't a heavy strain from too much bureaucracy. In fact the Food Administration operated on a budget of less than $8 million per year.

During, and after the war, Hoover was celebrated as the man that "Hooverized" America. In Europe many of the children that survived the war, as adults, shared fond memories of the Hoover lunches they received, especially the Hoover rolls and cocoa.

Other than the sugar issue, which I believe is a demon in our society, Hebert Hoover was a great man and humanitarian to me. With that said, we can move over to the National Park Service site, the home and community he grew up in.

Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch Iowa, and frequently returned to visit.

This was his childhood home, a modest little quaker home. During their marriage Herbert's wife Lou researched and tirelessly restored her husbands birthplace cottage. If I remember correctly, the house is sitting on its actually site during the time Herbert was growing up. 

As one can see, his beginning were humble. This is what Herbert had to say about his beginnings, "This cottage where I was born is physical proof of the unbounded opportunity of American life. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope."

This is the site of Jesse Hoover's blacksmith shop. Jesse was a firm believer in hard work, determination, and forward thinking, all of which were passed down to Herbert. Walking through the shop visitors can see that Jesse always had time for his children,

building a small viewing box, so they could watch him work. Jesse eventually sold the blacksmith shop and went into business selling farm equipment. 

The Quaker, or Religious Society of Friends, practice principles of simplicity, honesty, equality, peace, and service to others. Their worship building is the Friends Meetinghouse.

The meetinghouse was relocated to the park site and restored. You may be asking yourself about the two doors... again. Like most of the early religious beliefs, the men and women were separated during worship. The reasoning behind the

separation... encourage the women to participate. There is meaning to the way the pews are set up too... the elders and ministers sit on the left pews facing the gender specific congregations. Herbert's mother would have sat with the elders, as she ministered. Here is the unique part of their worship....they sit silent until someone gets a nudge from the Holy Spirit to speak. They may sit silent for hours before someone speaks. Their worship

facility is not any different that most churches, they have a separate cry room for mothers with infants.

From the Friends Meetinghouse we walked over to a statue that seemed odd for the grounds... it was a statue of ISIS.

For those of you not familiar with Egyptian mythology, ISIS is the Goddess of Life. This statue was sent to President Hoover by the Belgians, for his efforts in staving off the famine in their country during WWI. Feeding the Belgium nation and northern France required negotiating with the British and German blockaders to allow food shipments into the area, providing food for millions of people.

From the statue we climbed back into the truck and drove to the other side of the park for our final stop. This stop was also the final stop for President Herbert Hoover and his wife.

President Hoover was buried in the town that he loved so  much. His values of service to other was always evident throughout his life. Most people do not realize that al the relief efforts he was involved in, were done without receiving a paycheck... he did it all to help others in need.

From here we will head to Minnesota.