Tuesday, August 22

Today was the John Deere Harvester Works Tour in Moline, IL. And in case you're wondering, yes I was on time, even a bit early. Yesterday was a horrible nightmare. Still no photos allowed inside the factory, but there was a beautiful new combine in the foyer we could get inside and all around and take as many photos as we liked. I think I could drive one of those giants!

We toured this facility on a tram with a great narrator, just as we did yesterday in Waterloo. Today there were three trams full of visitors.This is a very popular tour.  We witnessed many similarities between the two factories, but everything here is much larger. We witnessed the same attention to detail throughout the tour.

Everywhere I looked there were  large posters of the the core values of John Deere; Integrity, Quality, Commitment, Innovation. These values have been evident in each building and every story I've heard about John Deere. It seems he was a highly respected person even decades after his death. It makes me wonder if there are still men of his ilk today. I'm sure there are, they just aren't featured on the evening news.


During the trolley tour Sunday, the guide told us about the Tiffany stained glass windows in the St. Luke Methodist Church. Nothing else was planned for the rest of the day so we had plenty of time for a stop in Dubuque. We found St. Luke's Church and took a few pictures there. It was still early afternoon, so we spent some time at the riverfront. I got photos of a Civil War Shot Tower, one of  the last remaining in the country. Lead shot was manufactured there during the war and shipped out on the Mississippi River.  We watched as a  section of railroad bridge turned to create an opening to allow a pilot boat move a barge down river.