OXFORD, IA.  Our view of Iowa from I-80 was far prettier than that of Nebraska.  Beautiful rolling hills, though the ever-present corn was well past season.  Here in Oxford we watched agricultural equipment mow down the corn stalks and grind them up for other use.  Amazing how specialty equipment makes short work of it.

View Behind I-80 Rest Area

Iowa is self-consciously a farming state, with much focus on its farming history and future, seeking to protect the land from erosion for later generations.  We stopped at an interstate highway rest area an hour or so west of here where there were plaques on the walls outside and inside declaring "Good Farming, Clear Thinking, Right Living."  So there you have it.

Plaque Outside Rest Area

Just outside of Oxford are the Amana colonies, the settlements founded by the German Lutherans who fled Europe in the early 18th century.  They have their origin in the German Pietist Movement of Lutherans which encountered conflict with the authorities because of their pacifist beliefs.  They found safe haven in America in many places, including Iowa.  Unlike present-day Amish, Amana settlers do not shun modern innovation or comforts.  The Amana household appliance factories are here within the boundaries of the colonies.  We also saw a Whirlpool factory.

We drove in there this afternoon and even though we were too late to see all the things we wanted to see, we did shop the baked goods, got books on Amana history at the general store, and ate supper at one of the restaurants, The Ox Yoke Inn.  A very nice area with carpet-like green lush grass.

Inside Baked Goods Store

Betty Ponders Which Baked Goods to Get

Entry Area of General Store

Aprons

Stairway to Huge Basement

Coffee Section in Basement

Cabin Accessories in Basement

 We are staying at the Sleepy Hollow RV Park.  No sign of a headless horseman.  A nice place except that the roads have large pot holes.  With so many people buying motorhomes and taking to the roads, these parks are full every night even if they poorly maintain the grounds.

Sleepy Hollow RV Park