A Little Adventure to Usher's Ferry Historical Park

The first weekend of November brought us amazing weather and I thought we better go enjoy it because we probably won't see the sunshine and 70 degree weather for another 6 months.  What better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to go to a park and throw the football around and enjoy the fresh air.  Ryan and I drove up to Seminole Valley Park to do just that.  He would have rather sat at home and watched football but I insisted that we enjoy the great outdoors! :)  The club that I work at was involved in a 5K and 10K trail race in late October called the Muddy Monster Race which took place at Seminole Valley park in NW Cedar Rapids.  I got the opportunity to help out with a few of the training run prior to race and go to do some trail running for the first time.  This race took us through a small village called Usher's Ferry where there were many old buildings, homes, and a museum.  I had wanted to go back for a while now to check it out and see what all was in this village. 

I went online to get some history about this village and came to find out that it wasn't the actual small town that was once apart of Cedar Rapids history, but replications of what it would have looked like in the early and mid-1800s.  Native Americans wandered through and often camped here in this part during the winters.  Steamboats and railroads drove through this valley and provided access for Linn Junction setllers way back when.

Here are some fun pictures of Usher's Ferry Historical Village.

This tree was in the middle of the wide open grassy plain and it kind of reminds me of a picture that my mom has in her bedroom.

Fake airplane, the open grassy area resembled a landing strip, possibly could have been used during Civil War.

Sign says:  "This double log cabin of Lafayette Farms stood here before 1900.  The present farm house was built just eas of it around 1902 by Joseph Dostal.

The McDonald Pitless - The McDonald Bros.  Pitless Scale, I'm sure my dad could tell me a thing or two about what this is used for?  :)

I knew Ryan would take an interest in this stuff once we walked the half mile to get here!

Newspaper Press and next to it was the Pharmacy/Grocery Store

Land Office, probably where they negotiatied farm land and other properties

Guaranty Bank 1895- there are still quite a few of these around!  Kind of looks like it was robbed, he front window was boarded up.

Cute Gazebo!  They host weddings, dances, concerts, and summer activities here in the village center.

This is something I had wanted to do for a while.  This summer we didn't get much of a chance to tour some of the great parks and historical sites of Cedar Rapids because we were gone most weekends.  I'm glad we spent this Sunday exploring and it very much reminded me of the exploring in the groves we did as kids growing up on the farm!

Here's Why Insurance Companies SUCK!

So......I'm in need of a little venting.

Since being a personal trainer and fitness instructor doesn't have the perks of having insurance benefits covered, I have to purchase an individual plan for medical and dental.  I'm not going to complain about the premeium I pay, because I am actually getting an AWESOME deal, but I will complain about the customer service. 

In July I purchased an idividual medical plan with a great deductible and premium that I can afford at this time when all the bills are piling up.  I haven't been to the dentist in over a year and I wanted to add so I could get bi-annual cleanings and check-ups because apparently bad teeth run in the family (right Kyle).  So in Septemember I called and wanted to get dental added to my plan for about $30 more a month, no big deal but here is where stuff got confusing.  The lady taking my application told me that I wouldn't start paying my dental premium on top of the medical monthly premium until my anniversary date??? WHAT? WHY?  She didn't have a logical explanation for that so I just assumed that I wouldn't become affective until July 2010 and I wouldn't be able to use my dental insurance until then either.  That just sounds dumb right?  Then in October they sent me my dental card with my policy number, etc on it.  Okay, so can I go to the dentist and use this?  I hadn't seen any money withdrawn from my account, YET..........

I am set up on automatic bill pay and they withdraw on the same date every month, only this month I see that the payment is over $150 more than the previous months I have been paying for medical insurance!  Again, WHAT?!!?  So I called in to complain and get things figured out and this time 'Crystal' informed me that my dental premiums have started kicking in this month and I have been back-billed for the last four months!!  Living paycheck to paycheck is hard enough without this unexpected withdraw from my account........

Is this my own fault or was I truly misinformed?  Please tell me I'm not that stupid.........  Even when she told me that it wouldn't be affective until July 2010, I was confused and asked questions of WHY is that?  I said, THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, and she still didn't give me a logical explanation at the time.  I get that they have to back-bill me for the months to add dental after the fact that it happened, but why couldn't the rep tell me that in the first place?!  GRRRR..........