Travelog for: Jujube

Our last stop of the day was Boy's Town. We stopped at the main office to get directions to the museum and garden, and had the opportunity to feed a loaf of bread to some friendly geese. We also got to see the world's largest ball of stamps, the museum that told about the history of Boy's Town, and the Bible Garden.

The next morning we crossed the river and went to Council Bluff, Iowa, where we visited the Squirrel Cage Jail. Both the architecture and the history were quite fascinating, so be sure to click the link and learn more!

Our next destination was across the parking lot from the squirrel cage jail, at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum. We got to learn about the history of the railroad, and see what it might be like inside of passenger train cars!

Next on our stop was the Council Bluffs town square/park. Council Bluffs is famous for its black squirrels, but those adorable little guys wouldn't hold still for a picture with us, so we had to settle for a picture with a statue. We also noticed the lovely architecture of downtown Council Bluffs, which consisted of well preserved brick buildings from the mid to late 1800s to early 1900s.

The last place we visited on our road trip was the Mormon Trail Center. A very nice docent took us through the exhibits and talked to us about how the Mormon settlers had to leave Nauvoo, Illinois to avoid persecution, and ended up wintering in what late became Omaha, before pressing on to their final settlement in Salt Lake City, Utah. We learned what life would have been like in that era, as well as a tremendous amount of history!

Haunted Hay Mazes are a deliciously fun American tradition on Halloween. After we found our way through the spooky hay maze, we had hot chocolate and roasted marshmallows by the fire!

Halloween is one of the host family's favorite holidays! The children dress in costumes and go house to house where they say "trick or treat" and people give them candy. We stopped at a street party where we got to dance with a zombie!

Mmm, church supper at the SDA church! We helped set up and then we got to enjoy a delicious feast!

We made a late night visit to Krispy Kreme donuts. We got to watch how they are made and enjoy their deliciousness! I can see why Krispy Kremes are so popular!

Host mom made these awesome tardis shirts for her favorite Dr. Who fans, for Christmas! The fabric was custom made at Spoonflower and the buttons were handmade, purchased through Etsy, and have tardis' on them. The inside lapel of the shirt has a print of the inside of the tardis, as does the inside of the pocket!

Host mom made pumpkin pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Then we got to taste test three different kinds of apple juice. It was so hard to decide what I liked best, but I think it was the apple pie!

We got a science lesson today! Host mom's daughter had to create a model of a plant cell, so host mom helped her to make one out of cookie dough!

We helped bake Christmas cookies! The platters looked so pretty and the host family distributed them to their friends.

On Thanksgiving, we were thankful to be in a community that is warm and welcoming. We went with the host family to St. Timothy's church to share a community Thanksgiving meal.

We walked downtown and took a peek in the shop windows in downtown Iola! They have a lot of interesting and fun stores on the town square.