for Manning for the German Hausbarn and Trinity Church. The Hausbarn is a unique structure in that it consists of living quarters not only for the family, with bedrooms, sitting, dining and cooking areas, but also areas for housing livestock, farm equipment and feed. Everything under one roof! Hausbarns were a common form of dwelling throughout several areas of Germany. The Hausbarn at Manning’s Hausbarn-Heritage Park was originally built in 1660. Due to many years of political conflict and boundary changes in Europe, it can boast it stood in Austria, Prussia, Denmark and of course, Germany, before it was dismantled and sent to Manning, Iowa where it was re-assembled in1996. The Historical Trinity Church began as a congregation in 1884 but this church was dedicated in 1913 and remained a church until the congregation decided to close it in 2004. Rather than see it sold or dismantled, the Manning Community Foundation raised $100,000 to move the church in 2006 to its place in the Hausbarn-Heritage Park. The unique thing about the 11 mile of rolling Iowa hills move was that the towering steeple and the contents of the building were moved intact. This church is an ideal spot for a destination wedding closer to home.
majority of mills were deteriorating throughout Europe. Harvey Sornson thought that Elk Horn should bring a Danish Windmill to Iowa and chose Elk Horn because it has one of the largest concentrations of Danes in the United States. Now Elk Horn is host to the only authentic, working, Danish windmill in America. The last stop on the tour for the biker contingency was at Avoca at the Farmall-Land-USA Museum. This is a 35,600 square foot museum which houses an incredible collection of more than 250 IH full-size tractors, pedal tractors, toy tractors, pulling tractors, artist’s prints, and other IH memorabilia. The Jerry Mez collection is a restoration work of art featuring several rare and unusual full size tractors ranging in age from 1917 to the 66 and 68 series. There is also a Tractor Widow Lounge where you can view a large doll collection. Jerry and crew were some of the most gracious hosts, and they love to share their passion for red. Over 500 miles in the two day span, lots of new faces, quite a few new places, and fun was had rolling around with the tourism folks. It just goes to show that if you are bored and cannot find anything in Iowa to do, you are simply not looking hard enough. Don’t be afraid to hop on two wheels and take a day, weekend, or even a weeklong journey of your own. Vernon
Back a bit east and southbound we went, but not without a stop at Albert the Bull in Audubon. Albert was built in 1964 on the south side of Audubon. Albert is a 45 ton, 30’ tall concrete replica of the perfect Hereford bull right down to his toenails. It is usually not the toenails that get the attention though. His rocky mountain oysters have been the target of many pranks over the years. Next stop was in Elk Horn at the Danish Windmill Welcome Center. Lisa Riggs and staff gave a nice presentation on the mill and the Danish heritage of the area. Built in 1848 in Norre Snede, Denmark, this mill and others like it in Denmark and throughout Europe were used to grind grain into flour for farmers in neighboring communities. The vast Thunder Roads Magazine of Iowa on Facebook
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