A Road Trip To Centerville, Iowa

A week ago last Friday was cool, sunny and spring like - the perfect day to go for a day long outing. My husband and I picked up my aunt in Belle Plaine, Iowa and went on a two hour drive south of us to Centerville, Iowa to visit another aunt. We haven't made that trip nearly often enough in the last few years. Two hours passes fast when we're talking all the way. My husband has a running game with my aunt about who sees the first deer and turkeys along the road. He usually spots one first but my aunt is good at seeing them, too. We arrived in Centerville mid morning in time to try out an individual cup coffee pot my aunt received for Christmas. You're probably familiar with the kind. You insert a small container under a lid and coffee spews into your cup. That was my first experience with this invention. I must admit I like my old percolator better. There's no waiting. We have the coffee pot on a timer. By the time we get out of bed, twelve cups has perked. For lunch my aunt treated us at Manhattan Steak House with a cousin and her husband. It's an all you can eat buffet restaurant on the edge of the Centerville golf course. A large variety of good food to select from and for dessert soft serve ice cream with a variety of toppings, cakes and cookies. As much as I love the choices for the meal, I always save room for dessert. After lunch, we went for a drive south of Bloomfield on highway 63 to an Amish grocery store we've taken my aunts to for years. Times are changing for the Amish, but just a little slower than they do for the rest of us. The grocery store used to be in an old house moved to the spot and surrounded by a large house, a large barn and a harness shop. Across the road and up the hill is an Amish school. In all the rooms, I took note of the aged wallpaper and electric wiring hanging from the ceiling where a light bulb had been and wondered what kind of stories past families had to tell. On the main room wall behind the counter was a sign. No stealing allowed. God might not notice, but a Yoder will. Around the tables filled with groceries, young Amish woman might be pushing a much smaller size grocery cart with a toddler in it and then there was the rest of us. I'm always looking on the shelves to see what merchandise is different from where I usually shop. We call the large bags bulk shopping, but most Amish families are large. They need to buy in bulk. About seven years ago, we drove to the spot we expected to find the old house grocery store and right on by. The farm buildings were there but not the store so we thought we missed it. When we reached the Missouri line we knew we had traveled too far. We turned around and on the way back found the grocery store had been moved on the opposite side of the road from the farm buildings. Now the store is a large, tin building, usually used on farms to store machinery, with a cement floor. To the side of the store is a LP gas tank to run a generator. We knew we had the right place because of the grocery store sign. So here we were again after a few years absence. Inside are rows of items, many in bulk, and bins along the wall holding fruits and vegetables. Coolers were at the end of the bins. Looking at the woman in Amish dress behind the counter using an electric cash register let us know we for sure had the right place. When we were leaving, it must have been time for a change in shifts. A buggy drove up. A young woman and small boy came in the back door, leaving a young girl in the buggy. The clerk climbed in beside her and took the reins. As they rolled away, I thought what a perfect spot for a grocery store that serves people who still drive buggies. Traffic is brisk so customers might be just passing through or local farmers like the couple shopping while we were there, but for those that still use horses this store is a safer place to shop. A new building, a LP tank and generator to furnish electricity for the cash register and coolers is an improvement for sure, but no matter how many times we visit I don't expect to see the clerk using one of those new fangled one cup at a time coffee pots behind the counter very soon. We continued on our country drive back to Centerville and passed one farm where there was a gathering of children playing in the yard and women coming out of the house to leave. Put my mind to wondering if they had a quilting bee or what other project were they working on together. The children amuse themselves by playing outdoors. Some were gathered around a black pony. One girl hopped on the pony, ready to take her ride. Smaller children were playing in a large sandpile under a shade tree. No couch potatoes in that group. It's fun to hear my books get around further than I do. One of my cousins, Gene Foust, has a niece in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa Half Price book store. Recently she said she remembered seeing my name on books in her store. Gene is the very talented family artist. Look for his paintings online at Fine Art America. In this picture a cousin, Heather Graham, sent me she shows me she's reading one of my books on a relaxing day at the beach in Stump Pass State Park near Englewood, Florida. Amazon has made an improvement for indie authors and opened up a way to print books overseas. All I had to do was sign up and my books can now be bought easier in other countries. No custom fees and this means quicker shipping for the customers. Must work because I'm selling more books in the United Kingdom. For everyone in this country you can find my paperback books on Amazon, Smashwords and in my online bookstore at www.booksbyfaybookstore.weebly.com If you are looking for ebooks look in the Kindle store, Nook store or Smashwords. You can always catch up with my blog posts on my Amazon author page, Facebook, blogger or alerts on Twitter. My author site is at www.writersownwords.com/booksbyfay complete with descriptions of my contemporary Nurse Hal Among The Amish series and my historical mystery series Amazing Gracie Mysteries plus other genres I've written, book events and my blog.So buy one of my books and read it in an interesting place like Heather did. Send me a picture and I'll post it on my blog.