Rob had dropped off the TriGlide the previous evening at the local Harley shop for our 5,000 mile service, so we planned our day around the time we’d need to pick up the bike. Chloe was depressed that we were heading out again, and leaving her alone!

First, we headed west to visit the Amana colonies – a German pietist settlement that lived successfully in a communal manner for 80 years. There are still pietists in these settlements, but others have come to live in the area and have outvoted them. We went through the museum – the curator was a member of the group, and was informative and charming. The gift shop had many handmade toys and crafts. The settlement members had all been taught to knit – simplicity and industry were tenets of their faith. All worked for the common good.

We had lunch in the Ronneburg restaurant in the community, which had been a community building originally. Good German food. The people in the shops, the museum and the restaurant were all friendly and informative.

After we finished looking through the shops and the museum, we started toward the Kalona settlement, an Amish community. We had heard the bakery had very good sourdough bread. On the way there, we saw several horse-drawn buggies and wagons. We stopped at the bakery and bought the bread and some other goodies we discovered – including some “Dutch letters” – a wonderful almond paste cookie shaped into letters of the alphabet. They are made in Pella, IA – famous for its May tulip festival and Dutch settlers. Very yummy.

Then we headed toward Riverside, the future birthplace of James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise. We found the location and made a donation to the federation class of 2.5.

Then we moved on to find the USS “Riverside” – live long and prosper, fellow Trekkies!

We also found the museum with a time capsule to be opened when Kirk is finally born. 🙂