I spent the last day of my journey home being a tourist in Iowa. The first item on my agenda was to visit the Amana colonies. These were a series of seven small towns set at different points around a rectangular circuit of intersecting highways. Of these, I stopped to visit the first village on the route, simply called Amana. It had a number of quaint stone and wooden houses, many of which were stores of one kind or another. I was hungry and particularly enjoyed the products of a local bakery. Food was evidently a big thing is these parts and people obviously came from miles around to sample the cooking.

The town also had a collection of barns and other farm structures which added to the area's "living off the land" charm. Making my way round the circle of roads, I noticed a small park set in front of a lake filled with lots and lots of green leafy plants. Among the leaves were clusters of ducks and a family was there photographing them for a 4-H project. I too, took a few moments to relax and photograph the rows of hungry swimming ducks, each taking their turn searching for tasty tidbits under the water.