Amana

We took a trip out to the Amana Colonies this past weekend, which really seemed unnecessary after having lived in Colonial Williamsburg for three years. There's only so many lectures on butter churning one can stand. But among the quilting and lithography lay unspeakable treasures to behold. Like Iowa's largest walnut rocking chair.


It's not the world's largest rocking chair, and the wording makes me wonder whether it's even Iowa's largest rocking chair. But it is pretty large.


Also large? My feet.



We wandered through several museums and shops, including one that only sold baskets and brooms. And we saw this basket exhibit.


Sadly, there were no baskets of the future.

The biggest disappointment of the day came when we tried to visit Opa's Tractor Barn Museum, but were told it would be $5 each. The only way I'm paying $5 to see a barn is if there are talking animals inside.

To infinity, and beyond! Er, nanu nanu? Wait...

Stardate: June 30, 2007. Denizens of earth converge upon Riverside, Iowa at Trek Fest, an annual celebration of all things Star Trek, in this, the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.

We arrived in Riverside just in time for the costume contest.


I know I joked earlier about going as R2D2, but this guy clearly didn't get the joke. He came in second.


After the costume contest, pretty much everything Star Trek related was finished and Trek Fest turned into a normal small town fair. We got to watch a state fair qualifying talent show where a bunch of tiny girls in skimpy outfits, teased hair, and piles of makeup danced to raps about the big bad wolf.

There was a tractor pull, but not the giant souped up kind. It was more of a lawnmower pull.


There was also a greased pig contest, where little kids chase a greased up pig and have to put it in a bucket. It seemed fairly cruel and made us uncomfortable so we decided to leave...but not before getting my picture taken with a wooden james T. Kirk in front of the USS Riverside.


We also had to stop and see Kirk's future birthplace, which apparently is a yard in back of an abandoned barber shop.