Creation Museum

This morning we left IL and headed for Indiana.  I missed the welcome to Indiana sign so I got this one at the Welcome Center. Indiana is not all that wide so by lunch we were in Ohio even though we lost an hour. Well we were only in Ohio for about thirteen miles and we were back in Indiana.  How strange is that? In another 3 miles we had crossed the Ohio River... and were in the state of Kentucky.   We stopped just inside the border in Petersburg, KY at the Creation Museum. It was fantastic.  It was all about the beginning chapters of the book of Genesis and that it is true and why it is true and disproves evolution and the Gap Theory.  It covers the creation and the flood and has a movie about Jesus.  I highly recommend this museum to anyone who gets up this way.  Here is their web site.

http://www.creationmuseum.org/ We also heard a very interesting lecture by Terry Mortenson - "Is Genesis Relevant in Today's World?"  Of course the answer is yes.  Billy in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. Billy with a dinosaur.  And yes they did exist at the same time as man. Outside they had a great swinging bridge... that I really enjoyed. There was a petting zoo.  Here I am with the friendly camel. Billy in the beautiful botanical garden. Tonight we are staying in Georgetown, KY at where else but WallyWorld.

Amana Colonies

This was the first time staying at WallyWorld that there have not been any other campers there. This morning when we woke up I looked out the back window of the camper and saw that we were right beside a river and a nice paved walking/biking trail.  I went out and walked a little way and ended up talking to five people.  I found out that it was the Racoon River and the trail was an old RR track and about 60 miles long. Our plan for today was to visit the Amana Colonies.  These people came to America from Germany to find religious freedom.

http://www.amanacolonies.com/history.htm

Our first stop was in South Amana at Fern Hill-Gifts & Quilts.  I expected them to have quilts for sale but when I went upstairs... I found a quilt shop.  This is just the entrance.  It was a large shop with a resident designer with her own line of fabrics. Then we went to Amana and had lunch at Ronneburg Restaurant, with German food.  This picture is a private home I thought had a pretty entrance.We walked around town and went in the shops but did not buy anything. We drove for awhile and crossed the Mississippi River... and then we were in Illinois. Look what we found in Le Roy, IL. Best price we've found on diesel.

We are spending the night in Champion, IL at WallyWorld.

Corn, Corn & More Corn

Our first stop this morning was right in Mitchell, SD where we spent the night.  We walked across the parking lot & went in Cabela's.  Then we went uptown to the Mitchell Corn Palace.  The whole building is covered in corn. This is one of the corn murals inside the building. They change the outside every year. Here are some guys working on the new design. Further down the road we stopped at Sioux Falls Park... and went on a free trolley ride through historic downtown Sioux Falls.  We crossed the state line into Iowa where... I finally got to eat at Taco John's which is not as good as Taco Bell but I did like the Pico de Gallo on the salsa bar. And we got to see more corn, fields and fields of it.

We are spending the night at WallyWorld in Windsor Heights which is a suburb of Des Moines.

South Dakota

We made it to South Dakota this morning. We visited Mount Rushmore. After seeing so many signs advertising Wall Drug Store we just had to stop.  It is South Dakota's version of South of the Border, a real tourist trap.  But it did have an interesting start.

The Lure of Ice Water

The late Ted Hustead.

Ted was a Nebraska native who moved to Wall and opened a tiny drug store in 1931. Five years later, it was still a tiny drug store. Dorothy, Ted's wife, thought that the travelers driving past their store must be thirsty, and suggested that Ted put up a sign outside of town advertising free ice water at Wall Drug.

Ted thought it was a silly idea, but he was desperate and put up the sign. By the time he got back, thirsty tourists were already lining up for their free ice water. They've been stopping ever since.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2216

We had our pictures taken ... with some new friends. They have a chapel there... some pretty flowers... and a large Jackalope. My motel is across the street.We had a beautiful South Dakota sky heading east and after dark we had a summer storm light show in the distance but never got in it. We are spending the night in the Cabela's RV parking lot in Mitchell, SD.

Goodbyes are Hard

It's funny how people can form attachments is such a short time.  We certainly formed a bunch of them on this trip.  In each group that we worked with there always seemed to be that special person that I hated to see leave.

And then it's time for us to leave and Sharon was very sad.  She is one of those people with a dry sense of humor. I told her that we would be together again and she said "yeah, when we die".  I told her it would be before that. Sunday worship today was right across the street from the church so we went over for our final visit before it started. I handed Billy the camera. First Baptist of Kernersville, NC was in charge today.  Here we join with them in prayer before services began. We all sat in the shade.Taking part in the services were Alice Miller-Introduction & Invocation, Kay Justice-message "Faith that Works", Amy Linville-song leader and soloist, Rick Murray-message "Nehemiah: A Praying Leader" Then we had another great lunch...  enjoyed by all.I did not get a picture of Julie, the homeowner, but I did get some of her beautiful flowers.

After lunch we got on the road again. We are stopping tonight in Gillette, WY.