Day Six - Midwestern Flavor

KOA camps are owner-operated enterprises, and in Iowa City the proprietor is Mom. We checked in at the office/store/café late Saturday afternoon, and waited for her to finish slicing up a watermelon and wash and dry her hands before she tended to us.

The KOA directory describes the cafe hours as; “When Mom wakes up, we’re open. When Mom goes to bed, we’re closed.” We chatted with her for a bit…turns out she’s from Wisconsin, as am I. She was born near Marshfield and after she married they moved to M’waukee (local pronunciation) and lived there for thirty years. When they retired 20 years ago they came to Iowa and bought the camp. So I’m guessing she’s around 70 and still living her dream.

Quite stooped from osteoporosis, she looked tired, but she was serving dinner at 6 pm. Eddy asked her what time she opened for breakfast on Sunday. She said she didn’t plan to open for breakfast because her husband was “laid up” and by the time she got him ready, cleaned the bathrooms and did chores it would be 9:30…too late for breakfast.

Her husband recently had a leg amputated and, according to Mom, wasn’t much help. Still, she had made stuffed bell peppers, pot roast, and chicken and gravy for dinner. The aromas were divine, but we’d had a late lunch. So we bought one of her homemade banana breads instead and had that for breakfast this morning. Needless to say, it was yummy.

One of the great pleasures of travel is meeting interesting, inspiring people. I’m glad I got to meet Mom and taste some of her home cooking.