Thursday - Sep 17

Well today started out interesting. While looking for a Best Buy to get a USB cord for my camera, we found a YARD SALE! That is where we started our day – they are no different than the ones at home – JUNK! We didn’t find the “diamond in the rough” so we left Waterloo heading north toward Minneapolis, MN. We had seen the information regarding the “Little Brown Church in the Vale” and we are old enough to remember the song so we HAD to go there. It is located in the area of Nashua, Iowa. The church was built in 1860 and the song was written in 1861. This church was the inspiration for that song. The church has an active congregation (70 people) and was the site of their 173,000th wedding this summer. Each year they have a reunion of people married in the church and the ones that come back renew their vows. The church was open and is absolutely beautiful. We took several pictures but the one here reflects the church in its entirety. After spending time in this area we headed north again. After we went into Minnesota, we took a detour to Northfield (about 7 miles off the interstate.) This town is the site of “the defeat of Jesse James” and they celebrate that event the first weekend in September each year. The James gang was “defeated” in the act of robbing the bank. We have pictures of James at the bank site. The other pictures of Northfield reflect the historic buildings there. The entire downtown consists of this type building – and believe it or not – all of the buildings are occupied by businesses that appear to be thriving. The picture of the really long building - that is an old hotel. I must comment that the countryside in Iowa and Minnesota is covered with corn fields. There has been a severe drought and it appears to have really affected the potential harvest. We have seen just a touch of color in the trees but many are losing their leaves due to the drought. We continue to see the windmill farms. I wish we could get a picture that really reflects their size and abundance (40 to 50 on a farm.) We got into Minneapolis about 6 p.m. and settled for the night. We continue to enjoy every day.