This past weekend Mike actually played guitar with a drummer and a bass player that he had never played with before.  The bass player is a promoter of a show that Mike has worked at every year for the headliner band bringing their stage equipment for them.  This year it was not needed.  The promoter decided that Mike himself and Gene who owns the production company that brings all the sound equipment would put a band together.  It was so much fun and I loved seeing Mike play again.  We got there Thursday morning and the show was that night but we had a hotel room for 2 nights.  We were down in Fairfield Iowa which is in the southeast side of Iowa.  On Friday we headed to the Dutchman Store in Cantril Iowa which is Amish and Menonite and the place was packed.  I seemed to be more of locals shopping then a tourist place so that made it more interesting.  They had groceries, hardware, cookware and of course FABRIC which I didn't buy any because I am waiting to buy fabric in Pennsylvania in October.  


On Saturday morning we decided that we were going to go to the Largest Truck Stop in the world.  This place is on I-80 east of Davenport.  I decided that I was not going to make it all the way to the truck stop so I had Mike pull over at a wayside rest.  I could not believe my eyes when we pulled up and sew all the quilt blocks.  I was so excited I didn't want to go in I wanted to look around.  I need to read more on this but I guess they used the quilt blocks as messages for the slaves traveling north looking for freedom.

This was outside and was the key for the quilt blocks.  What I heard someone saying was that different farms would have different quilt blocks on their barns as a secret message.  Here is one key:

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I wish I could read this better but it is the story behind the blocks and how the slaves made it thru the underground railroad as gentleman working there put it.

 I really thought this was worth sharing.