August 22 - on to Amana, Iowa

    Our route again was a straight shot on I-80 west, for 200 miles.  Through western Illinois, and then eastern Iowa.  I continue to be amazed at how much of the land in these States is farmland, and how much corn and soybeans we must produce.  The land is getting a bit hillier, so there are some nice vistas of dark green, light green, and gold fields, all the way to the horizon.  I was a bit surprised that I didn't see many solar farms or wind turbine farms.  There is a lot of wind and sun here.  Much more than in Mass, that is for sure, and yet Mass has lots of solar farms.  Too bad.

   Our campground for 2 nights was chosen purely because it was close to our I-80 route west, and is a Passport America campground.  That means we can stay for 1/2 price.  It turns out this RV campground is owned by the Amana Corporation, and is also an event center.  We are in surrounded by cornfields.  In a wide open field, with over 150 sites.  It was built to hold events in the area.  When we arrived, there were two events going on.  One was a Dog Diving competition.  Dogs competed to see who could jump the farthest into a swimming pool.  The other was a Dog Racing competition.  They were nearly done by the time we set up, so we didn't go over to check them out.  

   Much to our surprise, this area is part of the old Armana Community.  This religious group came from Germany, and were called Inspirationists.  They originally settled in New York, in 1842, but then moved to Armana, Iowa.  They ended up purchasing 26,000 acres of farmland and creating 7 small "villlages" in the area.  They had a communal economy until 1932 when they formed a corporation, that the members owned shares of.  They were very self-sufficient, growing and making most of their daily needs.  One of their businesses that they created was the Armana Electric Company, selling Armana refrigerators.  They also had a very large woolen mill and weaving factory, and furniture and metal goods stores.  The corporation still owns and farms the 26,000 acres.  Interesting.

  Armana RV Park and Event Center photos: