Rain, Rain, Rain

Friday was dry, but that all ended during the night and Saturday morning was wet indeed. We are having record rain, thunder storms, and tornadoes too close for comfort. We understand now, through this experience, what defines "severe weather". Many of us pull in our slides at night and during the day, if the forecast merits it. This reduces the rocking the coach, reduces the wear on the slide awnings, and provides a better seal to keep the rain outside.

We keep an ear to the radio for tornado watches, warnings, and general weather developments.Cedar Rapids, 16 miles north, has major flooding. A tornado touched down 20 miles to our west and another one was on the ground 20 miles to our north. This made for an exciting weekend. There is a Jeep across from our site that has a bright yellow canoe strapped to its roof. If the rain keeps up, we may be using the canoe for transport.

Yesterday, Sunday, began with a worship service here at the facility. Three members organized and led some singing, a devotional, and testimony time that was very nice. We had planned to attend a gospel music concert in the afternoon, but we were preempted by a Monaco tech who came to fix a kitchen faucet leak. He made a project out of it by replacing the entire assembly. This required cutting a larger hole in the Corian and three trips back to the trailer for tools, parts, etc. Janice claimed he took his time because we had the NASCAR race on TV. Once done, we like the result. The technicians all came here from Elkhart. We recognized some, and will likely see them again next week.

Amana has several restaurants that offer traditional German food. We elected to try the Brick Haus yesterday for a late lunch/early dinner. We ate far more than necessary, and it was so good. One meal like this is sufficient for the whole day.

Last evening, the official rally welcome brought us all together in the Morton building. This is a large metal building where we eat our meals, hold seminars, see performances, etc. Soon after we assembled, the storms hit. Wind and rain, thunder and lightning cascaded and roared about the building. It was an unsettling experience and especially so when the electricity went off. Darkness inside made the electrical display outside even more dramatic. There was a collective cheer when the lights were restored.

The rally is going well today with meals, seminars, vendors, and visiting ongoing. Everyone seems to take the weather in stride even as we try to walk without sinking ankle deep into puddles and wet grass. There is a vendor washing coaches, and he is getting many more customers than one might expect. Strange.

We seem to have an excellent caterer here. Breakfast was good this morning, and we have been promised an array of German meals through the week. Two of the entertainers have a long relationship with this group. We heard them in Tucson, AZ in 2006, and they are excellent. This week is off to a good start. Tomorrow is election day when we select leaders for the coming year. There will be several changes, but the core group will remain in place.

More later.