A few years ago we started camping with a group of friends over the Labor Day weekend. There are four couples in this group and we take turns picking out a campground. This year was our year to choose so we chose the Amana area. The other three couples live in the Clear Lake area and we live in southeast part of the state. Some years we have to travel a bit more, other years a campground that is more centrally located is chosen. This year was a lot closer for us but the others wanted to explore this area so it worked out great.
We all headed to the Amana Campground on Friday and set up camp, had some supper and sat around the campfire. Then on Saturday we headed to Mt. Pleasant to the Old Threshers Reunion. This is an annual event that takes place every year in Mt. Pleasant after the State Fair is over. Many people in our state will camp at the State Fair for two weeks then pull their camper straight to the Old Threshers. I have lived here my whole life and never visited so I was looking forward to this too.
It was wonderful to see all the old steam engines, tractors, vehicles, different motors, etc. and the best part was seeing all of the young people taking part. This is such a big part of our history and it would be so sad if people didn’t keep up the tradition of holding this reunion for all to see. There were so many young people joining right in with the old learning how to run all of these things and doing all the work involved. I would love to go back again and spend more time here taking it all in.
On Sunday we toured Main Amana. We walked through the shops and took it all in. The Amanas are a group of German villages established long ago. They lived in communal houses and each member of the village was assigned a job. One person may be a cook, another a farmer, a gardener and so on. They all worked together to keep the community going. Many of the old original buildings are still standing and being used as restaurants, shops and as houses. The General Store and the quilting shop were favorites among the women and the men simply tolerated the day! The restaurants are fun to eat at as they serve traditional German food family style but unfortunately Sundays are busy and we couldn’t get in without a reservation. So we checked out the Meat Shop, purchased some Amana meat and headed back to the campground with some yummy things to try. We went for a walk around the campground in the afternoon and checked out the dog show. There was an AKC Dog Obedience show going on all weekend and according to the lady when we registered, there were 3,000 dogs in the campground. It was fun to see all the different dogs and watch a small portion of one of the shows. It reminded me of the horse shows when I was young only with dogs!
We played some cards and lots and lots of bags at the campground. Spent each night sitting around the fire talking and enjoying each others company. Kelsey made us sugar cone s’more one night. Yum!
The weather was perfect, overcast and cool when we were at the Old Threshers and warm and sunny on Sunday. The evenings cooled down and the fire felt so good. It was another fun Labor Day weekend spent with good friends!