Today I woke up at 6:45, got ready, had breakfast (a cinnamon roll, bacon, a mini-waffle, blueberry yogurt, hot chocolate), and headed to the John Deere Tractor Works. This is the factory where John Deere tractors are assembled. It was so cool to see it go from hundreds of parts to the finished, beautiful product. The 8 AM tour started with a video and then proceeded through the factory for an hour-and-a-half. I enjoyed the paint department (like yesterday!), especially since there were robot painters. Those things are hilarious as they spray green and yellow (classic John Deere colors) all over the tractor. And although we didn't see this in person, we did see it on the video...the tractors go through a series of difficult tests to make sure they can withstand harsh climates and conditions. For example, they have a "cold test", where they are run in a forty-below-zero (-40!) room. They also go through the bounce test (several times...testing the suspension and other things) and the brake test (a 32-degree hill where the brakes and emergency brake are checked and double-checked). It all goes toward creating a safe tractor that can be used and enjoyed for many years to follow. After the tour, we saw (and climbed in) some tractors from the 1910's to 1990's, toy tractor models made by a welder at that factory, photos, and the store (more great stuff). Next, we drove around for awhile and admired the lovely corn and bean fields. SO beautiful!!
We had lunch at Olive Garden -- salad, soup, breadsticks, and strawberry lemonade. Also checked out Farm & Fleet (a huge store selling everything farm-related) to kill some time before our 1 PM tour at the John Deere Engine Works. By the way, both of these tours took place in Waterloo, Iowa. Anyway, we got to the John Deere Engine Works, watched a video, took an hour-and-a-half tour all over the factory (fascinating even for people who don't know much about engines), watched a few videos during the tour (they explained very technical things in an easy-to-understand way), checked out some engines and history/progression of John Deere engines, and went in the small store.
Next, we headed for the Amana Colonies. We looked all over the general store; it is huge and has an entire room dedicated to Christmas! We also drove around and looked at all the Amana Colonies...they are so pretty with old churches, buildings, and stores. We had supper in Amana at the Ox Yoke Restaurant. We had the family-style meal, so we all chose our own entree and then shared large sides. I had the two-piece fried chicken plate and we shared sides of coleslaw, potatoes, corn, sauerkraut, cottage cheese, and homemade bread with homemade strawberry jelly. We wanted some dessert after that, so we had pie. I had the coconut cream pie, which was delicious with creamy filling. It was so superb! We left satisfied and happy but not overfull.
We are now at a Heritage Inn & Suites, ready to get ready for bed and grab some sleep. Tomorrow we have one tour in the morning, then we plan to head home! Hopefully I'll be able to blog either tomorrow evening or Thursday morning to round out this fascinating John Deere factories trip!
If you are wondering about pictures, I apologize. We are not allowed to take any photos inside any of the factories so I cannot illustrate what it's like. Hopefully my simple explanations will help out a little bit. Have a wonderful day!
~Anna~
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