July, 2019

My apologies to friends who follow my blog.   From Sioux City to the 4th of August we were in Minnesota and South Dakota visiting friends and relatives.   Unfortunately the wifi situation during that time was spotty - some campgrounds didn't have it, on others it appeared that people were busy streaming, and I could not get on.

Special thanks to our nephew Steve Klaseus and his wife Corine for having us over; Art and Char Schuch, Helen Kehoe, Frank Siegler, Ralph and Carol Schultz, Jan Raddatz, classmate Mary Jo Nordstrand, and nephew Michael Burkard and his wife Connie in Sioux Falls, SD
and niece Barb and husband Rollie Walter for allowing us to take over their backyard in Iroquois, SD.

July 17 we drove to Northfield, MN to see the Union Pacific Big Boy engine (4014) making a trip on Union Pacific rails in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Promitory Summit where the rails from east and west were joined.  

July is fair time in rural MN, so on our way home from Northfield we came across the Rice County Fair in Faribault, MN and later in the month we went to the Blue Earth County Fair in Garden City, MN.

July 21 My sister, Sr. Dominic, celebrated her 70th Jubilee as a School Sister of Notre Dame at the Mankato Motherhouse.   Joining her was my high school English teacher, Sr. Beth Haltiner, who was celebrating her 75th Jubilee.   It was a big day for both of these great ladies!

Left Mankato July 29 for Sioux Falls, SD to visit Mike and Connie Burkard and on July 31 - Aug 3
visited with Barb and Rollie Walter in Iroquois, SD.

One more picture/ then Trinity Heights, Sioux City, IA

At entrance to Pamplin Military Museum

Monday, June 24 the sun actually came out!   After completing some housekeeping chores  we went to Trinity Heights and enjoyed 16 acres of gardens, shrines, and water features which surround a 33 foot statue of Jesus, a 30 foot statue of Mary and the life-sized woodcarving of The Last Supper.

The Last Supper was carved by a man from LeMars, IA who worked full time at the post office and carved nights and weekends.   It took him 7 years to complete the carving.   It's one of only 4 life-size carvings of the Last Supper.   

The site also has a Divine Mercy Chapel with a first class relic of St. Faustina and across the parking lot a very nice Catholic Book Store.    Definitely worth stopping to see!

Pictures - Pamplin Military Soldier Museum/Tredegar Iron Works

Civil War Earthworks

Tredegar Iron Works

Pamplin Civil War Enactors

Reconstructed Earthworks - Pamplin

Tredegar Museum Entrance

Tudor Hall Mansion - Pamplin

Hinton Railroad Museum Pictures

Hand carved RR workers

Place setting of Chessie china

Museum chaos

Close up of hand carvings

At Hinton Railroad Museum

Sioux City, Iowa

Arrived here Friday afternoon after a five hour drive from Amana.   We have been here before and had concentrated on seeing all things Lewis and Clark.   This time we are looking for other things to  see.   

Our only stop on Saturday was a trip to the Sioux City Railroad Museum.   It's a 30-acre museum site which reminded us of the Spenser Shops in NC.  It was built in 1917 and was once a large industrial complex that serviced and repaired locomotives and railcars for 65 years.   Many buildings (repair shop, round house, sand house) are open for touring.   We were met and given a ride on the rails to the first building, the sand house which shows a movie about the area.   In it's busiest time the shop repaired 30 locomotives a day and employed 500 people working 3 shifts.  The volunteers working on various projects within the area were friendly and willing to talk about the history of the area and the projects they were working on. 

Sunday we visited the Sgt. Floyd River Museum and Welcome Center and enjoyed the exhibits on Missouri River history.  It serves as a historical museum and a Visitor's Center and are housed aboard the dry-docked motor vessel, the M.V. Sergeant Floyd.  After lunch we visited the Sioux City Public Museum.  The museum has large, colorful exhibits, interactive displays and several informative films.
We spent 3 hours there happily learning about industries, farming, disasters, and history of the area.

Yorktown VIsitor's Center/Battlefield Pictures-1

Moore House 

Jack @ Visitor's Center

Visitor's Center Plaque

Brucemore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

We have been camped in Amana, Iowa for the past four days, and besides enjoying their bakery and the Renneburg Restaurant we also shopped until we dropped!   Yesterday we had to go into Cedar Rapids to the Chevrolet dealer to have an engine light checked.  On our way back to Amana, we decided to stop at Brucemore as we had been driving past the sign for several years, but could not stop with the trailer along.

Brucemore was build in 1886 by Caroline Sinclair, widow of pioneering industrialist T. W. Sinclair.  She built the house to raise her six children.   In 1906 she traded homes with George Bruce Douglas of the Quaker Oats and Douglas & Company fortunes.   Douglas expanded the property to 33 acres, added gardens and other features and rename the country estate "Brucemore."  The home has 21 rooms open for tour at a modest cost of $9.00 per person.  

The eldest Douglas daughter, Margaret, inherited Brucemore in 1937 with her husband, Howard Hall.  They added a Tahitian Room in the basement and kept an array of pets, including a lion, on the estate. 

In 1981 Margaret left the family estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to benefit the community.  

Tomorrow we leave for Sioux City, IA and more tours!