MMAP End of Week 2, Walker, IA

It does not seem possible, but we are more than half way through this project. By the end of the second week, the ladies finished painting the downstairs of the house we were working on. It really looked good, and the color that was chosen made it cheerful and bright!
The guys worked on some more plumbing and electrical as well as some more interior painting in another building.

Friday, we needed to do the necessary things in life, like Paul's blood work and getting fitted for the attire for Nate's wedding, shopping at Home Depot (even though it is not Sunday!) and shopping for a new camera. Most of you know my 10-year old Canon bit the dust, literally, after a fall. I am told you replace them before they are 10 years old, but the Scotch that I am and the Dutch that Paul is..... well, we keep things a lot longer than normal folks do! After searching the internet prior to looking at them, I had an idea of what I wanted the camera to do. I found the replacement, a Sony HX5. So far I have not been disappointed. It has been a fun camera to use. Paul decided to go ahead and get the DROID X phone, so we got it as well as a replacement for our low tech phone. Not as much decision making as with the camera, since he knew what he wanted. It was just a matter of timing!

So Saturday, we had some fun rubbernecking! We headed northeast from where we are, to take in some scenic roads (meaning, more corn fields on rolling hills instead of flat land, interspersed with some clumps of trees!). Dyersville, IA, was our first stop. The famous Field of Dreams is there, and we stopped to take a look.

It does not seem like over 20 years since the movie came out! Filming lasted 14 weeks durig the middle of a drought in the summer of 1988. It is interesting that they do not let it be used for commercial or organized games. Anybody can come and play on the field, and several were!


The owner was out raking the gravel, talking with people. There was no charge, they do have a stand where you can buy souvenirs. We heard the property is for sale, if anyone wants to own their own Field of Dreams.

After we left, we drove through the town to see the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier. We did not go inside, as people were coming for a service, so did not want to interrupt.

Funny thing, since driving through the town, I have not had to remind Paul to fasten his seat belt once.......I guess after the little chat the policeman had with him after following us around the block and turning his blue lights on, Paul just automatically started remembering. The officer realized Paul had had a senior moment, and was gracious enough not to give him a ticket. :)
We continued on following a scenic route east to Ballpoint, known for the first bar and restaurant in Iowa, founded in 1852! Breitbach's other claim to fame is that it is "The world's only restaurant visited by both outlaw Jesse James and Brooke Shields"


It has burned down twice, but has been rebuilt and is continuing to serve good food. The views of the valley were great and the buffet meal we had was even better!!

Along the Mississippi River, we took the Great River Road. We were surprised not to see the river along most of the road we drove along, but as it winds around, it was fun to see the small towns.

One of them was Guttenberg, a German town with locks on the Mississippi River.

On the way back, we went through Strawberry Point. Although it claims to have the biggest Strawberry, we did not see much else.

Sunday, we could not resist visiting the Little Brown Church in the Vale. in Nashua. It took about an hour and a half to get there, but well worth it. Services started at 10:30, but at 10:15, there was an old fashioned hymn sing! It was a great worship service.


The song was written as a poem first, by a visitor to the area, Dr. Pitts. He could picture a church there, but at the time there was no church. About 9 years later, he returned to the area and found the church had been built. He was music teacher at the school, and wrote the music. The first time the song was sung publicly, was by him in the church. The people were really friendly. At least five people invited us to the potluck lunch after church, so we stayed and had a great time.
Later in the afternoon, we toured the Bradford Pioneer Village, next to the church.


It was a great weekend of site-seeing, experiencing and learning about Iowa.