Whoopin' it up at the Wasserbahn!

Since we arrived in the Amana Colonies on Thursday afternoon and didn't have to be home again till Friday afternoon, what better place to stay than the Clarion Inn & Wasserbahn Waterpark Resort in "Little Amana"?

We booked a large room that could accommodate our entire family, and the best part was their mid-sized waterpark.  I say mid-sized because it was smaller than most Dells attractions, but larger than the little water attractions like at Country Inn of Prairie du Chien.  It's hard to believe that my kids are almost "too big" for the watering holes like this one now!

My baby climbed up the 4-story "silo" to ride down both the "slow" and the "fast" waterslides.  Here she is coming down the "slow" barrel!

The green slide was slower, just the way I like it.  Wootsie got bored with it and graduated up to the fast, twisty red slide!

The waterpark, along with the hotel, is all Amana-themed.  Note the millrace behind the water tower.  The real Amana Millrace was a 7-mile-long canal that the colonists built to harness water power for their two textile mills and one flour mill.

 

Besides the whirlpool (which literally is a large circular swirl of water) and the hot springs (sauna), there is a sizeable swimming pool with basketball hoop.  On Thursday evening, we had the whole place to ourselves until a few other families came.  Still, it was wonderfully relaxing, as there were only about fifteen people in the waterpark total.  It was great!!

The hotel lobby has a high ceiling and resembles a fancy barn.  There are convention rooms and a restaurant in this area, as well.

Ally and Cy checking out the lobby...Ally has her new contacts in!

The Wasserbahn is about 10 minutes south of Amana, right along Interstate 80.  There are a few shops, restaurants and gas station clustered with the hotel at this intersection which the locals call "Little Amana".

After driving back from our fantastic supper at the Ox Yoke Inn, we all retired to our hotel room for a "good" night's sleep.  I say that with quotation marks because our family doesn't like sharing beds very well. ;)

We hit the waterpark in the morning, then went on our way back to Amana for more touring.  Our stay at the Wasserbahn was very enjoyable...except for the part where we left a bag of laundry in the room on our check-out!  (A case of he-thought/she-thought the other person had it...) Dang.  Anyone going to Amana in the next 90 days?!