As we are making our way to the east coast for this grand adventure, we are spending the first week with family and taking in the sights and sounds along the way. There are numerous things I loved about visiting Aunt Jane & Uncle Ken.
She sets a beautiful table. Grandma Mary (Jane's mom) was such an amazing hostess and trained her daughter well. She put the fork and spoon and knife all in their proper places every single time. (In contrast, I often make my children share a knife to limit dishes). She put a napkin at each place. (I have a napkin holder on the table and you can have one if you grab it.) She even put a juice glass next to the water glasses to add a nice touch to breakfast. It may seem like such a simple thing to set a beautiful table, but I don't think it is. It is actually a lost art - the art of homemaking. It is time for it to make a comeback. If mullets can resurface, so can homemaking :)
I love that Aunt Jane's eyes remind me of Richard's (my father-in-law who passed during the Covid pandemic in January 2021).
She is a story teller, just like her brother.
Uncle Ken cracks jokes and my older boys love talking to him about all things veterinary related.
We hooked onto the camper and got out of town in good season. We made it a little over 200 miles on one tank of fuel and my first fill up bill was exactly $100. We are getting about 9-10 miles/gallon. I'm more of let's-see-how-far-we-can-go-on-a-tank kind of gal. The light became a warning that it was time to consider a pit stop.
I love having the time and space to pull off at points of interest that actually look fascinating. We stopped outside of Omaha, NE to get another tank of fuel and nearly drowned on the humidity. Merciful heavens! There is so much water in the air we could not believe it. We popped in the camper to make a quick lunch and I was sweating just putting mayo on the bread. Clearly, we are drylanders!
The coolest stop for the day was at Elk Horn, Iowa.
We stopped to see the authentic 1848 Danish Windmill.
Our classroom began with a 10-minute video of how this windmill was restored and rebuilt to working condition in 1976. The diagram of the cogs were awesome!
The mill stone was so heavy
In order for the windmill to be taken apart and shipped across the Atlantic, the carpenter that dismantled it had to create a 1:10 replica and labeled each piece of lumber on the windmill to match it to the replica.
The stone inside the mill
This is on the catwalk outside the mill looking straight up toward the blades
Check out those wooden teeth!
More images from the inside of the mill
He was feeling a little feisty after studying Danish history
Iowa grain and storage facilities are remarkable!
Our landing spot for a couple of nights!
Sweet Aunt & Uncle in Paton, Iowa with a beautiful farmstead.
Closing out the day with Bible reading, devotions, journaling, and more planning.
