Kitchen Remodel III

It's done!

New range and dishwasher arrived last week, several weeks later than we'd hoped.  Mama very happy, has already used both the convection and conventional ovens, and the dishwasher a couple times.

Before above, after below.

For the benefit of LHC area homeowners, I offer these comments about our contractors:

     1.  In my first post on the remodel, I said 'more later' in regard to Flakes-R-Us Cabinetmakers, aka Bob's Cabinets and More.  They do quality work but: they didn't build one of the cabinets to my specs, it took twice as long as they said it would, their phone etiquette is non-existent as is their customer service.  I sent Bob a letter, detailing my experience and requesting a substantial cost reduction.  He apologized and discounted the final invoice as requested.

     2.  Arizona Decorative Concrete did the floor and they were everything Bob's was not: good work, courteous, timely and accommodating.

     3.  Painting was done by Tim's Custom Painting and they get high marks, also.  And, they're surprisingly affordable.  I gave them the extra $ I squeezed out of Bob's, even though Tim didn't ask for it.  He had to make several extra trips because the new cabinets weren't here on schedule.

Finally, sarcasm aside, I have to admit that I'm quite pleased with the results, also.

Trump

I'm apolitical, avoid politics like the plague.  Hell, politicians are a plague.  We should fire the lot of them.

This is about the person, not his politics, not his party.  I have these observations:

     1.  He has to be a major factor in global warming, given the amount of hot air he expels.

     2.  If he were a centipede, he would still run out of fresh feet to insert in his mouth, probably within 24 hours.

     3.  The hair.  Oh my God, the hair!  

Kitchen Remodel II

Continued from my December 3rd post on the same subject.

4th step: paint is sprayed randomly on the concrete overlay,

3 colors that tied in the granite counters and the red base cabinets.

Last step: 2 coats of urethane.

Looking good!

We had John (owner of Arizona Decorative Concrete, good guy) apply a 2nd urethane coat because there was considerable sheen variation when the first coat dried.  John said he would arrive mid afternoon to do the work but his schedule changed and he arrived at 9:30 AM.  Trish was already out and about, had left a bag of frozen chicken in the sink to thaw for a crock pot dinner dish.  I was just leaving for pickleball when John arrived.

I returned home around noon, floor all done but not dry yet.  Throughout the afternoon we kept checking the floor to see if it was dry enough to walk on.  We wanted to get the chicken from the sink, and coffee, tea, cereal, etc.  No way, darn floor was still tacky at 8:30 PM.

Said I to Trish, "I think I can get to the sink by walking on the counter."  She beat me to it though, grabbed the stepladder that was nearby (we'd been decorating the Christmas tree) and crawled over the bar.  She sat down on the counter and shuffled sideways until she got to the open space where the range was removed.  That space didn't get the 2nd coat of urethane so she was able to step on the floor and gain access to the next counter area - and the sink.  And the chicken!  She grabbed the chicken and back she came.  I cheered her on and gave her a high five when she returned to safe ground. I then told her that she would hence forth be known as Scuttle-Butt.  

Not content with just one heroic deed, she made 3 more scuttle-butt trips for spices and what not.

It took 3 days for the doggone urethane to become thoroughly dry, well worth it, though.

Sunrise, Sunset

There's no lack of glorious aerial displays in LHC.

These 2 pix were taken in the last few days.

Sunrise

Sunset

Kitchen Remodel I

She wanted a new range and a microwave that was easier to access than the old microwave/vent unit above the range.  He wanted a concrete overlay floor.  Both she and he wanted a range hood with more suck, less noise and effective enough to avoid setting off the smoke alarms and driving the dogs bat shit crazy.

And, she wanted to paint the cabinets, said the golden oak was dated.  He likes oak, but - mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  And, she said she'd like to get a new dishwasher, too.  And, what did, he say?  Okay, of course - but now he's wondering how darn happy does one little mama need to be? 

This summer while he and she were on the road, he said, "Let's do it."  She said (Surprise, Surprise!), "Yes!"  Upon returning to LHC, she selected the painter; he selected the floor and cabinet people.  He and she would like to say, "The rest is history."  But no, that's not the case, thanks to Flakes-R-Us Cabinetmakers, Inc.  More on that later.

First step was removal of the tile, which created one hell of a mess.

Although plastic sheeting was taped up around the work area,

 dust invaded every cabinet and drawer.  She spent a week cleaning up the mess. 

In retrospect, they should have sealed every door and drawer with masking tape. 

Above picture shows cabinet doors removed for painting, 

although they were still in place when the tile was removed.

  

Second step: apply epoxy adhesive and cover with sand for 'tooth'.

Also, glue down the pebble transition strip.

Between steps 1 and 2, the painters did the cabinet frames,

deep red on base units, warm gray on uppers.

Third step is 'the float', aka overlay.  

A layer of cement is applied, bringing the new surface

 up to the level of the adjoining tile.

Now the floor is smooth and seamless, ready to be colored.

To be continued.

Topock, AZ

Topock is a marina/restaurant located just north of where I-40 crosses the Colorado River.  Topock Gorge, a popular kayaking run, is the stretch of river that runs southward from that intersection, toward Lake Havasu City.  Yesterday, 7 of us (5 in pedal kayaks, 2 in a canoe) did the 15 mile trip: Terry & Lisa, Louise, Roger & Lynn, Trish & I.  A big thank you to Tom & Nancy for loaning us their kayaks and shuttling the vehicles back to Castle Rock, where our journey ended:

Preparing to launch shortly after dawn. 

It was a chilly 56 degrees when we started but it warmed up nicely by mid morning.

Roger in the men's room at Topock Marina.  

It's always a good idea to take care of business before starting a long kayak trip.

The Bridges of Mohave County.  

Natural gas pipeline in distance, I-40 bridge in middle, railroad bridge above.

I-40 in this area used to be Historic Route 66.

    

Smooth water makes for great reflection pix.

Twas quite the enjoyable adventure.  No one drowned, no one flipped their 'yak, no one fell flat on his/her face upon exiting the conveyance.  It was a near thing though, at least for me.  It takes a few moments to get your land legs back after several hours of pedaling,
need to e-a-s-e into it. 

Bless Me, Father.....

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned."  Even folks not into Catholicism may recognize those words, due to all the movies and TV serials that showed confessional scenes.  In case you don't recognize them, they are the first words spoken by penitent to priest when going to confession.  Then, the confessor continues to speak, stating how long it's been since the last confession and providing a list of sins (and number of occurrences) committed in the interim.

Sins come in 2 flavors: venial and mortal.  Mortal sins are nasty: murder, rape, adultery and such.  If you die prior to confessing a mortal sin, you're going straight to hell.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200.  Go.  To.  Hell!

Venial sins are less serious.  If you die prior to confessing them, you have to spend a few decades in purgatory before going to heaven.  No biggie, right?  Purgatory may be cooler than hell but nobody knows.  Purgatory may have an early release policy for good behavior but again, nobody knows.

The above is background only.  I wanted to bring readers up to speed before getting into the meat of it, which is this: how do Catholics keep track of their sins?  Do they carry logbooks and pencils at all times, entering tick marks every time they swear or lie or, God forbid, have an impure thought?

I will now confess how I went about it.  Just prior to entering the confessional, I'd think up a list of sins (all venial of course) and number of occurrences.  Realizing the priest most likely recognized my voice, I would be creative: delete an old sin, add a new one, vary the number of occurrences.

One aspect of confession always bothered me: murderers and criminals and other scumbags go straight to heaven if they confess just before they die.  However, if I died with one itty-bitty lie that wasn't confessed - with nary a mortal sin on the score card - I'm going to cook in purgatory for God knows how long.  That's a miscarriage of justice if ever there was one.

Anyway, I want to hear from others who were raised Catholic: did you do what I did when you went to confession, make up a plausible list of infractions?

FYI: I was raised Catholic, was an altar boy, went to church every morning when I was in grade school, studied bible history and catechism.  But, it didn't stick.  Religion isn't my thing.

Finally, one more confession: I grossly understated the number of times I had impure thoughts in my adolescent years.  In my defense, the priest was quite old and I feared he'd have a stroke if I dropped the bomb: impure thoughts, 2,138 occurrences.  Well, gees, it had been a whole week since my last confession!  In retrospect, I could have passed it off as one really l-o-n-g thought, or even 7 not-that-long thoughts.

Pedal Kayak

This is not your mama's kayak.  It's not my kayak, either: our friend Lisa let us borrow hers while she was out of town.  Trish owns 2 kayaks, but seldom uses her older, paddle type now that she has the pedal-driven model.  I wanted to test drive the pedal type; thanks for the loan of it, Lisa.

The pedal/fin mechanism slips through the oval hole in the hull, and extends 1' into the water.  As you pedal, the fins move in a scissor-like fashion, propelling the kayak.  These are made by Hobie and are well designed.  Trish and several of our friends bought these in the last 2-3 years.

The fleet.  Inflatable models front and rear.  Hard shell models in the middle.  There are other models, too, including one designed for fishing that has all kinds of bells and whistles.  Friends David and Elaine joined us for a couple of outings; they have the inflatables.

Preparing to launch, Castle Rock in background.

The kayaks have their own wheels, very handy.

The view from the bridge.

Awesome pair of legs, huh?

Lisa, David and Trish pedaling northward from Castle Rock on Lake Havasu.  

Great horned owls, swallows and other birds nest in the rocks.

Emerging from a short, narrow tunnel that's only navigable when the Lake is high, as it is now.  It's still a tight fit, barely wider than the kayak, takes some maneuvering - but no big deal really.

David and I, north of Castle Rock.  The paddles are rarely used but are helpful if you get hung up or need to push yourself away from an obstacle.  The wheels go along for the ride.

Water,Water, Everywhere!

It was a hot July afternoon in 1954 at our farm in northern Minnesota.  Dad was in town, Mom was taking a nap and our other siblings were nowhere in sight.

We had a well that supplied water to the house, a holding tank in the barn, and a rectangular concrete stock tank.  The tank was large, 8' x 12', and 30" deep, held about 1400 gallons.  When the milk cows were brought in from the pasture each afternoon, they'd beeline it to that tank and drink their fill, leaving about 6" of water in the tank.  We had to make sure the tank was full before the cows came home.

Truthfully, I don't recall.  But, if placed on the witness stand I would have sworn on a stack of bibles, that: he started it.  Yep, the classic, time-tested, I'm-pure-as-the-driven-snow, testimony when a pair of siblings get into trouble.  As it turned out, it was a moot point.

I was 9, Gerry 3 years older.  Did I mention that he started it?  Yeah, okay.  We were standing beside the tank and when I looked away, Gerry cupped his hand, reached down into the tank and splashed cold water at me.  I quickly returned the favor and the conflict escalated rapidly from there.

Fast forward an hour.  The tank is nearly empty.  The entire yard looks like a heavy downpour had just passed through.  Gerry and I, both soaked to the skin, both armed with full pails of water and huge grins, are circling each other like prizefighters maneuvering for a good knockout punch.

And then, disaster struck: Dad pulled into the yard in his pickup.  Gerry and I beat a hasty retreat to the tank, dumped the buckets and tried to look penitent.  Didn't even bother with the innocent look, the evidence of our misdeeds, the water soaked yard, being all too obvious.  To no avail: we both got whacked, no opportunity whatsoever to declare 'he started it.'  Bummer!

Later, Dad recalled the incident with good humor and greatly enjoyed telling the story, said he saw water flying above the garage roof when he turned into the driveway, a quarter mile away.  He may have been exaggerating just a little.  Anyway, that water fight is one of my fondest childhood memories.  Damn, that was great fun!

Thermocline

People who know about thermoclines include submariners, serious fishermen* and readers of contemporary naval combat novels.  I fall into the latter category.

I'm fascinated by novels and movies about submarines and the deadly, 3-dimensional game of hide n seek they play.  Thermoclines play a large role in those games because they mess up the sonar used to locate and track other vessels.

The wavy dotted line is the thermocline.  

Radiated noise bounces when it hits the thermocline, and can only pass through

 it if at or near a 90 degree angle.  So, the destroyer can't get a fix on the sub unless the two are directly above/below each other.

Thermocline definition: a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, such as an ocean or lake, or air, such as an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below.  At sea, the thermocline is typically about 300 feet below the surface, warmer water above, cooler water below.  It's much higher in freshwater lakes that are 30+ feet deep.

Serious fishermen know about them because fish like to hang out in waters of a certain temperature, and those temps are typically above the thermocline.  They - the fishermen, not the fish - use depth finders to locate the transition layer.

*For several years I was a not-so-serious fisherman.  Perfect weather, chores all done, hook up the boat, tow it down to the marina, launch, motor out to where the fish are rumored to be, drop anchor, hook some bizarre-looking piece of hardware onto my line, open a beer, fire up a cigar, sit back and enjoy life.  Then, 2-3 hours later, head back to the barn, stop at Safeway and buy fish - if I really wanted fish for dinner.

Had I known about thermoclines, I may have actually caught a few fish.  Or not.  In retrospect, I was more of a boater than a fisher, just enjoyed being out on the water. 



    

Jesus H Christ

Now, don't get your panties in a bunch, you Christian folk.  I'm not swearing.  I'm not belittling.  I am simply reporting.  This question has been niggling around in the back of my mind for quite some time and I finally decided it was time to find an answer.  Actually, there are 2 questions:
1.  Did JC have a middle name that started with H?
2.  If not, where did the H come from?
I got online, checked several sources, and here's what I came up with.

The answer to the first question is most certainly 'no.'  I couldn't find any evidence or theories that His middle name was Huey or Hank or Hymie or any name starting with H - nor any name, period.

There is no definitive answer to the second question.  There are, as you can imagine, several theories though, some quite interesting.  Here are 3 of them:

1.  The Holy Monogram, ever heard of it?  I never heard it called that, but have seen it numerous times and you probably have, also.  It's a Christogram, a favored symbol in some Christian faiths, is often found on printed materials and vestments and other paraphernalia.  Here's a picture of it:

IHS comes from the Greek name for Jesus, the first 3 letters of which are iota-eta-sigma.

Sometimes the Christogram is seen with J replacing I, and C replacing S, hence JHC.  So, easy to see how H was considered to be a part of Jesus' name.  I heard somewhere that Catholics believe the Christogram means Jesus Holy Savior.  Anyway, this theory is the most credible.

2.  Another theory is that the H stands for Harold, and originated in The Lord's Prayer (The Our Father).  Most folks were illiterate in Jesus' day, so prayers were passed along verbally instead of in writing.  Apparently, many folks misheard the phrase "hallowed be thy name", thought they were hearing "Harold be thy name."  No, I did NOT make that up!

3.  Last, and in my view, least, is the term 'haploid.'  It means having half the chromosomes normally found in a given organism.  Jesus allegedly had no biological father, so technically he was a haploid.  Jesus Haploid Christ?  Give me a break!  Who the H came up with that one?

Lick it up!

Dad was Irish.  It's rumored that folks of the Irish persuasion have quick tempers.  I'm here to tell you, in Dad's case it was no rumor.  Look up 'hair trigger' in the dictionary and you'll see his portrait there - eyes staring straight at you, wearing an expression that makes you think I don't want to mess with that guy.  He has another portrait there, too, beside the word 'impatient.'

In my early years, I was terrified of the man, as were my 7 older siblings.  No rod was spared, no child was spoiled.  It may be that by the time I came along, the hair trigger had become slightly less hairy, worn down by time and the rigors of coping with the first 7 kids.  Can't say one way or the other.  Can say it was still hairy enough to make me pee my pants - which, I actually did.  Once.

Mealtime was generally enjoyable, more so if you were seated on the far side of the table, out of  Dad's reach.  If his temper flared up, you got whacked, no matter where you were - but being further away felt safer.  The older kids got the best seats of course.  The younger you were, the closer to Dad you sat, and since I was the youngest, I was stuck in the pole position for the duration.  Lucky me.

Mealtime was definitely not enjoyable if you spilled something, especially milk.  Dad was all over it.  I swear: the milk from the tipped glass would still be flying through the air, hadn't even touched the table yet, and Dad would roar, "Lick it up!"  And, lick it up we did.

Ah yes, just can't beat those warm, fuzzy memories of the good 'ol days.  Truthfully, I do have to grin when I think back on the lick-it-up days of my youth.  Well.......some of them, anyway.

5.1 Surround Sound

Although not really an audiophile, I do enjoy good sound.  In my OR home, I had a Boze 5.1 system that was awesome.  In LHC, I've been using a sound bar with wireless subwoofer - much better than built-in TV speakers but far short of 5.1 surround sound.

Why didn't I install a 5.1 system in the LHC house?  Too lazy.  You have to run the speaker wires through the walls, which means drilling holes in the framing and fishing the wires through the holes to desired wall locations.  So, you're down in the crawl space, slithering through dirt, cobwebs, pipes, wires and dead mice, toting your electric drill, trying to avoid knocking yourself silly on the beams.

But, the LHC house is built on a slab, no crawl space, gotta run the wires through the attic.  Oh boy!  All the aforementioned fun stuff, plus you have to keep all your weight on the joists at all times, and those joists are hidden, covered with insulation.  If you slip off the joist or miss it altogether, you're toast.  You break through the ceiling, impaling yourself on the floor lamp, or landing on the dog, the cat, or your (soon-to-be-ex) wife.  

It gets worse: if the speakers need to be located on an exterior wall where the rafters angle down and meet the wall, you have to wedge yourself into that tight angle as far as you can.  Then, you reach forward and drill through the double top plate at an angle, making holes for the wires, praying your drill bit misses all the screws and nails embedded in the wood - all the time being careful to remain balanced on the joists.  Finally, you have to fish the wires through those holes and down through the wall, trying not to get hung up on the fiberglass insulation.

Browsing through a recent Costco sale brochure, I saw a sound system on sale, $50 off.  The ad said it was a 5.1 wireless system.  Huh!  Wasn't aware such a thing even existed.  I bought it, hooked it up and voila!  It's not totally wireless, has wires running from the subwoofer to the rear, wall-mounted speakers but I can live with that.

This is it.  

Regular Costco price is $280, good deal, major hassle avoidance.

2015 Summer Summary

Stats, Favs and Bummers

1.  90.  Total days of RV travel

2.  28.  Number of campsites.

3.  5380.  Number of miles we towed the Cougar - plus about 100 non-point-to-point miles for gas and grocery stops, missed turns and assorted screw ups.

4.  6/5.  Number of places/states where I played Pickleball.

5.  KOA Campground, Casper, WY.  Worst value campground; $54 for a gravel parking lot.  Sometimes KOA is the only game in town and we're grateful to find them.

6.  Terry and Lisa's home, Buena Vista, CO.  Best value 'campground' (free); thanks T and L!

7.  Call of the Yukon.  Worst DVD movie we watched; filmed in 1938, lousy script, acting, directing.  It was 1 of 8 movies in $5 set, a couple of which were okay, haven't watched all.

8.  Rain Man.  Best DVD movie we watched. Close 2nd: When Harry Met Sally.  Both were in another cheap 4-DVD set.  We'd seen them all before, old friends revisited.

National Park Service brochures we collected this summer.

We visited a couple other sites that didn't have brochures.

9.  Dinosaur National Monument.  Our favorite National Park Service (NPS) site.  Bought T-shirts.

10.  Great Sand Dunes National Park.  Least favorite NPS site; lousy weather, vicious biting bugs.

11.  Grand Junction, CO.  Favorite city due to paved, scenic bike trails; Pickleball; size; climate.

12.  5/1.  Projected/actual number of pounds I gained in 3 months of travel.

13.  Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery.  Santa Fe, NM.  Favorite brewpub, bought T-shirts.

Picacho Peak State Park, AZ

We're headed home today after spending our last night on the road at Picacho Peak SP.  The Peak is the most remarkable landmark in the stretch of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix.  Picacho is a Spanish word meaning large pointed isolated hill.

Picacho Peak.

There are 2 trails that lead to the top, demanding but not technical.

Had a rip roaring storm here late yesterday, heavy rains and high winds for several hours.  I weighted down our entry floor mat with a large rock when the storm started.  The rock's still there.  The floor mat, who knows?  The bottom of the Grand Canyon?

Chiricahua NM

It's located in southeastern AZ, 35 miles from the small town of Willcox.  We toured it yesterday, found it to be somewhat similar to Bryce Nat'l Park, although not as colorful and not as eroded into hoodoo formations.

The CCC worked in dozens of national parks and monuments, including Chiricahua.

I had no idea of the CCC scope, was amazed by the above statistics. 

This deer, standing 20' in front of the visitor center, was really chomping down on 

whatever it had in its mouth.  Mushroom?  Pancake?

You have to hike quite a ways for the best photo ops. 

 We had neither the time nor the inclination, found the above and below pix online.

Balanced rocks, dozens of them, everywhere you look.

Makes for nervous driving when you see these specimens 100's of feet above you. 

A little push from a gust of wind and you're buzzard bait.

White Sands NM

I thought White Sands, near Las Cruces NM, was all about the testing of the first A-bomb at the location known as The Trinity Site.  Uh uh, not at all.  It's all about a unique area of gypsum sand that looks like the aftermath of a heavy blizzard on a Midwest prairie.

Above and below pix taken on the short drive into the dunes area.  

I wonder how often they have to plow the road and parking areas.

Fires

Near the town of Carrizozo, NM, there's a BLM campground called Valley of Fires, where we spent 1 night.  The name was inspired by volcanic activity that occurred there 6000 years ago.  Most BLM camping is either basic or boondocking (no hookups or improvements of any kind); VoF is an exception, offering electric and water hookups, ramadas, picnic tables, fire rings, dump station, restrooms and showers.

A paved path with handrails meanders through the lava field, wheelchair accessible, with sporadic benches to rest on, and interpretive signs.

It is the best lava field walkway I've come across to date, have visited 2-3 others.

Above picture was taken from our campsite, pix below were taken along the path.

I thought the spiky plant was a yucca.

Nope: it's a sotol plant, a member of the lily family.

Interesting flow patterns in the lava.

This gnarly juniper is 400+ years old. 

Link to VoF website: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/roswell/valley_of_fires.html

If the name, Valley of Fires, sounds familiar, it's because there's a state park northeast of Las Vegas, NV, called Valley of Fire (no 's').  The NV version is named for its fiery red rock formations rather than volcanic action.  We visited there last Thanksgiving with friends David and Elaine, and I wrote a blog post about it.

Wipers?

We camped beside a county Fishing Lake near Pratt, Kansas.  A notice posted near the restrooms listed types of fish in the lake and legal keeper sizes.  4 types of fish were listed, including wipers.  Wipers?  That's a new one!  What the hell's a wiper?

I asked Trish if she'd ever heard of a wiper fish.  Indeed, she had, said it was a large pan fish that thrived on pond scum, 'wiping' the surface of the water clean.

Nowhere but Kansas have I seen Fishing Lake signs.  I guess they're lakes that are regularly stocked with game fish.

Back to the wipers: do you believe what I wrote above?  Hope not because it's pure BS.  Wipers are a hybrid game fish, a cross between white bass and striped bass.  Kansas, Utah, Missouri, Nebraska and maybe a few other states have them.  Here's a picture of one.

Allegedly, wipers are great eating, are aggressive and scrappy, fun to catch.

No, that's not me in the picture; that guy has hair.

Amana Colonies

"To marry is good, but to remain single is better."

Wow!  What an upbeat message to hear on your wedding day!

The History:  It was started 300 years ago in Germany by a couple of guys dissatisfied with the Lutheran church. They wanted a stricter, more devout religion and started a new form that was similar to Puritanism. They and their followers, termed Pietists and Inspirationists, were persecuted in Germany so they moved to America in 1852 and settled near Buffalo, NY.  The movement grew to 1200 members and they needed more farm land so they moved to Iowa, near Cedar Rapids, in 1855.

No quilt store left behind.

Built in 1857, the above building has 3 floors full of every artsy-craftsy thing imaginable, and, I venture to say, several things unimaginable. Trish browsed, didn't buy anything, but did buy stuff at another area quilt store.  I'm not sure what purpose this building served back in the day, given the size, a school or communal kitchen/dining room perhaps.  There are dozens of similar buildings of similar vintage in the Colonies.

History cont:  Near Cedar Rapids, they eventually acquired 26,000 acres of land and established 7 villages, The Amana Colonies.  They lived a communal life style, made or raised nearly everything they needed, worked at tasks assigned to them by the village council, received credits but no wages.  Their religion was always first and foremost; religious services were held 11 times a week.  The word amana means to 'remain true.'

Although not familiar with this breed of horses, I am familiar with the 

corn seeding machine they're 'pulling.'  My dad had one just like it.

The pix above and the 2 pix below were taken at one of the Amana museum/gift shops.

This 670 pound walnut rocking chair was made by an Amana craftsman.

The huge chair reminded me of Lily Tomlin doing her little girl (Edith Ann) routine.  I strolled around, looked at the pictures and exhibits, and lo and behold, there was a picture of Lily sitting in the chair!

These 20' benches were made in NY, then dismantled and hauled all the way to Iowa.

We sat on one for 20 minutes while watching the history video at the Heritage Museum.

I pity the schoolkids that had to sit on them several hours a day, 6 days a week, year round.

History cont: Hard times and the desire to pursue individual objectives put an end to the communal life style in 1932 but the Church and community spirit lives on.  In 1934, Amana resident George Foerstner built a beverage cooler for a local store, and that started the thriving Amana appliance business.  Heating and cooling devices were big in the early years, especially walk-in coolers used in stores and by the military in WWII.  Amana marketed the first portable microwave in 1965.  The Amana appliance company is now owned by Whirlpool, which has a large appliance factory in the Amana area.

The Amana Radarange was the first microwave oven made for home use. 

Ice Castle

"There's an odd looking rig," I said to Trish, when it pulled into the Itasca State Park campground.  It had an industrial kind of look, a V-shaped front end, sheet metal panels on the front and sides, and a rectangular indented area above the wheels.

We were sitting in the Cougar at the time, playing cards.  We continued our card game after the above exchange.  Several minutes later we looked over at the rig again: it had shrunk!  It was 2' shorter than when it had arrived!  What the hell?

Ice Castle trailer in travel mode with frame raised up.

We made several guesses about the rig, what it was designed to do.

Trish thought it might be for handicapped people.

I guessed it might be for ice fishing.

Here's one lowered down on the ice.

 From our campsite, we couldn't read the name on the side of the rig. 

Later, after walking the dogs, Trish said the name was Ice Castle.

My wild ass guess was on the money.

Typical Ice Castle floor plan.

The larger circles indicate fishing holes cut through the floor.

The holes have removable covers, of course.

We went online to learn more about Ice Castle RVs.  They're made in MN and there are several different models, saw quite a few parked in RV sales lots when we resumed our travels.  The model names are creative: King's Castle, Lure Inn, Sportsmen's Man Cave, Perch Palace, Walleye Tracker - and our favorite: Crappie Villa.