Copy: 'Willkommen' So here we are in Amana, Iowa. That says something. It says, "Ah, summer in Main Amana." It's always one of those handcrafted escapes from the Quad-Cities. Sure, there are the wine barrels as big around as a tank car and signs that say "willkommen" everyplace you turn around. Amana is sauerkraut and sausage, and happy faces and rose brick homes with trellises climbing with grapevines. We make a flat-out stop along the main drag, on the way to the woolen mill and the Millstream to get a mug of Iowa's best root beer. We snap pictures. We gawk. So do dozens of other people. We're all ooh-ing and aah-ing at a giant Amish farm wagon on a front lawn. I've never seen anything that looks so much like a pile of blooming rainbows. It is a sideshow of flowers. The old farm wagon is a bursting garden that carries a secret. Stop and visit with Rick Rawson and his wife, Janice, who run a place called Good Quilts but are in the flower business right now. Rick is a talker, and the tale of that farm wagon is a good summertime story. First off, understand that this is not a cookie-cutter place like you see on those garden tours where every prickly weed is pulled from the ground. "I always wanted an Amish farm wagon. At an auction, I struck up a conversation with a fine Amish gentleman," says Rick, "and I asked him about buying such a wagon. He said to me, 'I think I have one. Is $50 too much?' " Now understand that Rick struck such a good bargain because he and his wife buy all of their plants from the Amish in Kalona, Iowa. "Before we hauled it away on a truck, the seller said, 'I greased it and it's ready to go.' It was going no place; we were going to keep it on our front lawn and mound it with flowers. I know it's the most-photographed thing in all of main Amana," Rick says. I don't doubt that. Everyone is stopping to take pictures while we gab. I have never seen such healthy flowers. The geranium stems are as big around as pencils. "I'll tell you the secret," says Rick's wife, Jan. "It's the horse manure. You know the Amish all use horses. They fertilize the plants they sell us with manure. We've never seen anything so powerful." The wagon is not just flowers. It is like a peddler's wagon. Jan fills old pails and buckets with snapdragons. They hang from the side. On the tongue of the wagon, pans are like sunshine with yellow pansies. Old colanders are planted with dusty miller. "Look at this," she says to me. "I buy old boots and shoes worn out by the Amish. I buy them at Goodwill and plant impatiens in them." The big Amish wagon is more than an arboretum on rusty wheels. It has been a good deal. On eBay, the Rawsons think it would bring about $900. The couple has an eye for such things. They once bought a tired old Amish buggy for $100 and it fetched $895. Amana is special in early summer. Everything is in bloom. The touristy crowds have yet to make you squeeze along the sidewalks. The peonies are bent by heavy rains, but they are still almost the size of basketballs. They must be using some of that Amish manure! Those old rose brick buildings are especially rosy in this month's Juneshine. Many are still residences; some are stories. Amana is a study. Last year was the 75th anniversary of its great change when 89 years of communal living came to an end. I guess the young guys around town caught onto the idea that a Model A Ford was a lot more fun to drive than a team of horses. Visitors are always dumfounded! In our dizzying cell phone, whiz-bang life, Amana doesn't change. Strolling is the way to get around, including at the woolen mill, which has been that way for 150 years, Ami Meyer is winding fabric balls from blanket leftovers. "Nothing goes to waste," she says. There are baskets of shuttles for sale, and quills from the mill go for only $l.50. Customers buy them by the handful. Judy Moore is running a loom, weaving a cotton blanket alongside a big, round pine ceiling support that looks to be from a sailing ship. "We don't want change much around here," she says. Trying to act Teutonic, I speak again to Ami in fractured German: "Was ist los?" She speaks a little German, but refers me to Marlene Trumpold. Everyone who visits Amana should visit Marlene. She is the grand duchess of Amana, usually found at the woolen mill. "She knows everything," says Nola Moser at the gray corn crib that is big enough to hold a dance in. It is the place where you can find everything there is to know about Amana. It smells so good, so woody. It took 10,000 board feet of hickory harvested from Amana timber to restore the building. Inside it is antique-slick and shiny, but outside it still looks like a crib. "Climb those 47 steps to the cupola and you can see all of the Amana colonies," Nola suggests. After 24 steps, I turn around. "Some other day," I smile at her. I'm hungry. Luckily, you will get your bellyful of food everyplace in Amana. For a change, we try the Colony Inn, once a hotel. I judge Amana by its kraut. The Colony kraut is the best, surpassing the Ox Yoke. But the Ox Yoke still has the finest cottage cheese and chives. A day is not enough at Main Amana. There are seven villages, but Main Amana has the most to see and do and shop. At the Butcher Shop and Smoke House, Carl Oelhl, a genial gent, acts as though he is the host. A young woman points to an immense tankard and laughs, saying, "Carl could drink that full of beer." He laughs. His tummy shakes. "No, not that much beer," he says. He suggests I buy some blood sausage. Amana has everything that is old world, but I'll pass on the blood sausage. Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

History: THE COLONIES OF AMANA, IOWA The area is a cluster of seven colonies, with a total population of 1,600. Main Amana has about 500 residents. The distance is 81 miles from the Quad-Cities. CONTACT INFORMATION: Visitors and Information Center (319) 622-7622. Go to www.nps.gov/nr/ travel/ amana/index.htm for more information on the Web. ATTRACTIONS: Amana is an old world community with nearly all buildings the same, or restored, as they were when it was a commune in 1855. Shopping, eating and museums are the attractions in Main Amana, subject of the adjoining story. GETTING THERE: Flooding is a problem across much of Iowa, but hopefully roads will soon be open. When all is dry, take Interstate 80 west from the Quad-Cities. At Coralville, turn onto U.S. 6 through Tiffin. Turn right on U.S. 151 into Main Amana. Check with information center about detours, in case of flooded roads.

About: About the series: With gas prices out of hand, Quad-Citians are ready for close-in vacation trips.

Categories: Staycations with Bill Wundram

Locations: Amana