Page 20 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

there were severe storms in the Milwaukee area with tornadoes.

We crossed the Mississippi at Lacrosse and left Wisconsin behind.
It is a beautiful state and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

We went south and west to the small town of Harmony. We went
there as we had read it was Amish Country. We stopped at the

Visitor’s Center and got a map of the area. Before driving out into
the country, we shopped at a couple of stores selling Amish goods.

We got a picture to add to our travel wall at home and a couple
souvenirs.

Then we headed off to see some Amish farms. We didn’t. No
matter which way we turned or whichever direction we went, we

ended up back in Harmony. It was like the movie “Groundhog
Day”. We couldn’t get out of the loop. We glimpsed one man in a

buggy and the back end of an Amish clad woman in front of a
house but no farmhouses, barns or fields. We were in hysterics

after an hour. There are only 139 people in Harmony and we saw
every one of them unless they were Amish. We figured the locals

had seen our distinctive car going in and out of town so many
times that they would think we were casing the bank.

We were out in the countryside and came upon a John Deere sales
lot. I found a fellow that was washing a tractor in a shed and asked

him to take me for a tour of the equipment. He gladly complied
and I learned about the monster combines, planters, gravity

wagons, combine attachments for grain, beans and corn
harvesting. A farmer, who Sharon correctly said looked more like a

banker, drove up and just couldn’t stand it. He had to ask what 3
women with bikes on the back of their car were doing looking

over the big rigs. He was very gracious and took the time to tell us

a lot about corn growing. This included the difference between

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