We recently spent some time in Iowa, staying just outside of Pella. Now, we are going to be honest here. The idea of a week in Iowa in August did not sound all that appealing to us. We envisioned corn fields, flat land, and dust; and while there was a fair amount of those things, we found ourselves really impressed with the area. Let us show you why.
We stayed at Roberts Creek Park, in the East campground, located just a few miles outside of Pella. The sites were spaced out nicely and had a sufficient amount of gravel on them to keep them from getting muddy, not that we had to worry about that. While we were there, it was HOT, HUMID, and full sun all day every day, so we were really glad that these sites are full hook-ups, and at $30 per night, they were reasonably priced, as well. We especially enjoyed that the campground is located right along Roberts Creek and very close to Lake Red Rock, Iowa’s largest lake.
Quite close to our campground were the Cordova Observation Tower, the Red Rock Dam, and the Lake Red Rock Visitor Center. We enjoyed visiting all three to learn about the area and get some great views of Lake Red Rock and the Des Moines River. We would have loved to get out on the water, but we don’t have our own water craft, and time (Jeff worked remotely for most of our visit) didn’t really allow us to seek out a rental.
We did venture into town a couple of times and were so impressed with Pella. The downtown area was a great place to get out and walk around for a bit. All the historic buildings were beautifully kept, there were flowers everywhere, beautiful fountains and murals graced the streets, and the restaurants, bakeries, and other businesses were fun to explore. We also really enjoyed walking through the shade in Central Park where there were flowers and artwork to be seen throughout. During our stay, we had lunch at the Windmill Café and dinner at George’s Pizza and Steakhouse. Both meals were delicious and reasonably priced. The town has a Dutch heritage and they have embraced it with arms wide open! There is a definite windmill theme running throughout town.
Outside Pella on the way to Oskaloosa is the Frisian Farms Cheese House that specializes in gouda cheese. When we saw on the sign that they make fresh cheese curds, we had to go. You may remember our love of curds from our Door County, WI post and video! Lucas, the employee of the Cheese House taught us all about the process of making the gouda cheese and gave us a short tour of the facility. Unfortunately, they were not making cheese the day of our visit, so the curds were a couple of days old, but they were still really good, and even still had a little squeak! The gouda curds are a little different than the Wisconsin cheddar curds that we are used to. The taste is slightly different, and the gouda curds stay softer as they age. Please don’t ask us which we prefer…they are both really good, just different!
All in all, we had an unexpectedly pleasant trip to Iowa. We would absolutely stop again to spend some time if we ever found ourselves in the area! But now you are wondering why in the world we were in Iowa if it wasn’t something we were originally excited about. Well, that is a whole other post. The only hint we will give you is that it has something to do with some big, game-changing modifications to the truck! Check back in a week or so to find out what in the world we are up to!
Until next time!
