Kalona morning trip with Alyssa

Last night Brenden and Alyssa said they wanted to go to Kalona to go to our favorite places there. So bright and early this morning at 6 a.m. I woke up Alyssa, then woke up Brenden. Brenden was less than thrilled and told me I smelled bad and he didn't want to go. So I left him in bed. Alyssa and I ventured out about 10 minutes later. The pictures tell the story. If you want to see any of the pictures bigger, just click on them.

First we stopped at Central Discount to get a number.  Apparently there has been fighting over the years getting in that store, so the Amish set up a number system and you have to arrive super early to get your number.  I have gone as early as 6a.m. before, but it was SUPER cold out and I figured a lot of people would stay in bed so I didn't worry about getting there too early.

We arrived about 6:30ish a.m. I think, can't remember now, but we both got a number.   The numbers are on a number wheel and start off where they left off the last time the store was open, so you never know what number you really are.

We had number 149 and 150 which what we found out later that we were 4th and 5th in the store which is really good.  Usually I'm like #30 in the store, so we had almost our first pick of everything.  I always run to the

Aunt Jemima Butter Lite Pancake Syrup (24 oz.)

 very first so I can grab whatever is on the shelves.  That syrup is usually $4.49 in the stores.  I never get to buy it and it's my favorite.  However  at this store it's only $1.25   SWEET!!!!!   There were only 2 bottles, but I'm okay with that.  Yum.

Our first stop after grabbing a number at the discount store was Kalona Bakery.   Here is Alyssa in front of the bakery.  We were about to go inside and have super yummy items.

The breakfast sandwich, which is better than any breakfast sandwich I've ever had in my life.  Seriously, that good.  It's probably 1000 calories so it's a twice a year treat only.  This was a sausage, egg and cheese on a biscuit.

A cream filled Long John that we shared by the way.

This was a sign on the bakery.  Seriously you wouldn't see this sign in very
many places in the world.  

The sign for the bakery.  Super yum.  I have yet to try all of it.

Next stop was Central Discount and wait outside until the store opened at
8a.m.  You have to wait until they call your number.  Then you run in the store
as fast as you can to get discount food.  It's like a garage sale for food.  It's kinda crazy.

Then we went to Stringtown Grocery.  This is where you get all your bulk items.  We picked up
a few fun things.  You can find just about anything in bulk.  Plus they have handmade candy.

I've never caught a picture of this before because usually it's summer time and you can
see the people and they don't want their picture taken.  However it's freezing cold Iowa
winter and the Amish people were all inside the carriage.  So I got this cool picture.

Alyssa and I attempting to take a picture of ourselves.  I'm not so good with doing that with this
new camera, but getting better all the time.  This was our next stop, The CHEESE House!  We tried all
kinds of fun cheeses.

Today they were making cheese.  That was fun to watch.

Alyssa getting a "cheesy" picture!

I found my most favorite cheese in the world and had to have a picture with the big wheel.  Can you guess what cheese this is?  I asked the store clerk how much the entire wheel would cost and she said $85.00    WOW!  That can't happen on my budget.  I ended up leaving with a small piece for $3 something.

Last stop on the way home was The Rug Cottage.  Such a fun store with all kinds of cute things in there.
This store is so great that I've actually been able to get Jason to go inside twice.

Not the best picture, but we wanted pictures of horses.  We were calling
out to them and they kept looking at us.