Wednesday August 23, 2006 6:30 am Cedar Rapids, Iowa Sunrise 6:22 Sunset 7:54 Hours of daylight: 13:32 Day 8 of our trip to Virginia

A. Morning Musings

6:30 am It is + 17 C, with a forecast high of 85 F (+ 29 C). Another hot day, although some cloud is forecast.

Today will be a tourist day.

B. Plan

We plan to spend the entire day at the Amana colonies.

C. Actual/Notes

2:00 PM We are back in our hotel room. It is brutally hot outside (82 F, 28 C). Our time in the Amara colonies was enjoyable and interesting. We began with a little bird watching along the edge of the Lily Lake where we saw a Great Egret, a Solitary Sandpiper and two Killdeers. We then toured the shops, had a nice reuben sandwich for lunch and an apple and a cherry struedel for desert and some maple and chocolate fudge for a treat. I took a few pictures of the corn fields on the way back to the hotel.

Lily Lake	Great Egret
Solitary Sandpiper	Killdeer

Amana	Quilt shop
Corn	More corn

Tomorrow we drive to Bethalto, Illinois where we meet Meda. The drive should take about 5 hours. Bethalto is a bit north of St. Louis. It will take another 2 driving days to get from Bethalto to Williamsburg, Virginia.

D. Reflection