Day 1
Departure schedule for day one will be announced - hot coffee, orange juice, and
fresh baked muffins will be served on the motorcoach as we travel to Amana, IA.
We will pickup a step-on-guide and tour around the Amana
Colonies. Our guide will cover the history and culture of the Colonies.
Several tour stops are included: the woolen mill, a winery, and the furniture shop.
Lunch is included at
the Colony Inn Restaurant. Enjoy
the bountiful tastes of German specialties food. After dinner we load the bus and head for the Quad Cities. Check into
the Jumer Castle Lodge. This hotel is
designed as an elegant old European
Castle. Day 2
Our first stop is a tour of John Deere's Plow
Planter Works. Here
we see how all the row crop planters are assembled. After we finish this tour we travel across
town to the Harvester Works. Here we will tour their combine
assembly plant. Next is a
break for lunch. Everyone is on their own today for lunch at a local cafe. Our
next stop this afternoon is a visit to the John Deere Pavilion. Here we
find all kinds of interactive displays of agriculture and lots of new John Deere machinery on display.
Everyone will get a
chance to take a close look at the equipment and sit in the operators' seats. In
2001 John Deere opened their replica of a 1950 dealership with restored old
equipment of the period. This is a great place to study some
history. John Deere forged the first successful steel plow and is
credited with opening the prairies to modern agriculture.
Depart this afternoon from Moline and drive to Waterloo Iowa. On our way
through Cedar Rapid, Iowa we will stop at Villa
Comagena - a bit of Austria. Our dinner meal this evening is a delightful
Austrian favorite. Their house was
remodeled to resemble a European farmhouse.
After dinner
Inge Schminke recounts the
story of Nazi-occupied Europe and her struggle to get to America. Later in the
evening we will check into our hotel the Holiday
Inn.
Day
3
Continental breakfast is
included at the hotel. Our first tour this morning is the John Deere
- Engine Assembly Plant -
here the castings from the foundry are machined and numerous parts added
to make the different motors for the large assortment of Deere equipment. Our next stop is across
town for a riding tour of the John Deere - Tractor Assembly Plant.
Here we will watch as craftsman build their new high-tech
tractors 7000, 8000, and
9000 series. Lunch is included at the John Deere cafeteria
before we load the motorcoach to start our journey home.
Tour Includes:
Deluxe motorcoach transportation; two nights of hotel accommodations; tours of Deere
in Waterloo and Moline;
lunch at John Deere on day three; dinner and entertainment at Villa Comagena on day two; lunch at the Amana Colonies on day
one; baggage handling; gratuities; and a tour escort for the trip.
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