Tuesday, June 12, Iowa to St. Charles, IL

Since we only had a 5 hour bus ride Tuesday, we stopped off at the Amana Colonies in Iowa, one of America’s longest-lived communal societies which began in 1714. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.  We got to spend some time at the shops.  Then we drove a little further and made it to the largest truck stop in the world. Jill Herman had actually been here before during her family travels!

Ruby and Jim, our hosts at Baker Memorial UMC

On Tuesday night we played at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles, IL, a town about 40 miles from Chicago. The church was built in the 1950’s and had awesome acoustics. Two members of the church, Ruby and Jim Madole, used to attend Christ UMC in Salt Lake City and their two kids were in the choir with some of our bell choir parents.  Ruby and Claudia EerNissie made the first set of blue table covers that were used to cover the bell tables in the 1980’s. What a labor of love! The table covers were so durable that they had to be replaced only last year!  The audience seemed to really enjoy the concert, as we often heard “amen” and exclamations of joy after each song.  Wednesday we have a big day planned in Chicago: an architectural boat ride, the Museum of Science and Industry, Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier.

Our church last night in St. Charles was beautiful! We saw amazing stain glass windows.  Tour is so much fun so far. We are all like a great big family!  Are host homes are great! They are so nice to let us stay with them!  We went to a little German village on the way to the church.  The best part of tour so far was Adventure Land.  It was a blast!  Every day is a blast with the people on this bus!

-          Cassie

The church we played at last night was incredible! It looked like a small catholic cathedral complete with intricate stone and woodwork and incredibly complex stained glass windows! It was by far the most beautiful church I’ve ever played in on tour! I also had the coolest host! He was a French Moroccan with the coolest stories, including a myriad of skiing escapades! Yesterday has been my favorite day so far!

-          Nick

Last night the church that we played at was absolutely gorgeous! The architecture looked like a classic European cathedral. The people were very kind, except when one thought I was a woman…My hosts were very kind and there home was very welcoming. I love meeting all these new people and seeing these beautiful churches.

-          Matthew Wieben

      Here's a cool host story. We were having breakfasts with our host this morning, and he told us about his elementary basketball team and how they had been beat by a team of 2 boys and 3 girls (5th graders). Turns out the two boys were Jerry Sloan and his brother :)

         - Emma, Larni and Gina

  

Main Street in Amana, Iowa

There is lots of time to visit with friends on the bus.

We've now crossed the Mississippi River.

There is also time to sleep on the bus.

There are jam sessions in the back of the bus.

Practicing walking in

Every day we learn about a different Christian symbol when we are on the bus.

It is nice to see the symbols in the churches that we visit.