Archive for the ‘Iowa’ Category

Summer 2023, Off to NY again!

Friday, June 23rd, 2023

Leaving the end of June is playing it dangerously with the heat but Summer is amazingly cool and we left on the 22nd. So far the weather has been great, very little rain but as soon we hit Nebraska the smoke from Canada interfered with our enjoyment a little.

Things I learn on the road:

  1. You can find a walmart anywhere
  2. We often look for the same place; ie. The Great Coffee place in Green River, WY. We have been there at least 4 times. They have the best baked oatmeal but they don’t have internet, just games and puzzles.
  3. Nebraska has a lot of corn fields
  4. It just might rain anytime with or without clouds
  5. There is a festival for just about anything! The midwest even has a Testicle Festival – deep fried animal testicles is the main attraction

We went from CA on Wednesday to New York in a week. That’s fast for us but we kept to the Interstate and there isn’t much there. We found a beautiful spot for the weekend right on the interstate. The Summit Rest Stop, the highest point on I80 across the US. We actually spent the weekend at the Rest Stop as it was away from the highway, quite, we were alone up on a hill overlooking the area and we needed to be in Cheyenne WY on Monday for a visit.

Salt Lake

On to Iowa where we were doing just a stop over and then on to New York.

Where does the time go?

Monday, September 22nd, 2014

We arrived in Forest City Saturday and began to prepare to move out for 2 weeks!  Paul will be staying in the area and I will fly home,  yippy!

Forest City is Winnebago!  The town is tiny, the factory is huge!  There is an area that looks like a fairgrounds but it is the Winnebago Rally Grounds for everything Winnebago, especially the annual Grand National Rally held in July!  I am not sure we will be in Iowa in July but it looks really nice in September- beautiful green lawns with lots of water and electric hookups.  The factory also has an area for WIT members to park for a couple of days free of charge (you have to own a Winnebago) that is very nice, and then there is the area for you to park when you are waiting for repairs!

Sunday we did get to explore town a bit and found a very creative lot of land between two buildings right off Main St.

Bike Creatures

Bike Creatures

Bike Creatures, They are right in plain site but there is no sign except on the side of the building.  We found it when we were looking for a Geocache across the street.  We found the cache pretty easily but in the hints they talked about taking photos with your favorite creature, so with a bit of searching the area we finally found it!

bikeart4

bikeart2

Bikeart

Not your average tourist attraction!  Very cool though!

Next stop the Twin Cities and then a plane ride HOME!!!

 

We are Free!

Friday, April 18th, 2014

They finished the RV Wednesday afternoon and we hit the road south looking to warm up!  Spring here in Iowa certainly doesn’t look like spring to me!

Forest City Iowa April 15, 2014 22 degrees at 9 am

Forest City Iowa
April 15, 2014
22 degrees at 9 am

Windmills right in town

Windmills right in town

I am standing right under as electricity is being generated!  There are windmills everywhere in Iowa, this one was right on the school grounds in Forest City, IA.  The wind was howling the whole time we were there so I guess that makes sense.

Paul was so excited, on our route we came upon the Worlds Largest Truckstop and of course we had to stop!

If you are traveling and need anything this place has it!

If you are traveling and need anything this place has it!

A truckstop bigger and cleaner than any others I have been to in the past 5 years!  They have a barber, laundry, dentist as well as all the other stuff.  The store is huge and has everything!  Trucks, parts, accessories and if you ever need a Barbie Pink Semi  they got one!  I’m thinking truck drivers are pretty special when they arrive home with gifts they purchased from their trip!

We headed southeast and into Illinois where it is definitely much warmer.  We put the coats and scarves away and by Friday am, I’m back in capris and summer tops!  The sun is so nice!

 

Wednesday, April 16th, 2014

Day three in Forest City, IA and it is still too cold to venture outside.  We get up each morning and hand our RV over to Kirk who takes it behind the gate and begins the task of doing what we have asked and then at 3 pm he returns her to us to repark and get back to life only to repeat tomorrow!

There are about 10 couples who are doing the same thing and each afternoon the men watch the parking lot for their RV to return!  As each one returns you here ” there’s mine!”  it reminds me of the days of picking the kids up from daycare!

Today we are getting the estimate to repair the roof from the hail storm!  We now have to return here in September to have the roof replaced!  Yippy! 10 days of this process although then we will have to be out of the RV and into a hotel-  I see a trip to California for me in mid September!

Burrr….

Sunday, April 13th, 2014

A shiny red golf ball finds snow!

A shiny red golf ball finds snow!

The adventure continues!  Last night we enjoyed a fabulous thunderstorm while overnighting in the Walmart parking lot in Des Moines Iowa.  And today we had buckets of rain and as promised via the national weather service the temp has dropped and we have snow!

The good news is we are all cozy in our home with a nice fire and a good movie!

Tomorrow they fix our motorhome here at Winnebago and then we are off to North Carolina!

Iowa

Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Crossing Iowa was our next task with only 2 things we wanted to do in Iowa, see Paul’s sister and visiting Winnebago Factory.  Leaving Stockton around 10 am we headed west. As we were crossing into Iowa Paul remembered there was one more thing we should see and it was only off the hwy by a couple of miles.  Yep, we experienced the Field of Dreams!  It looks just like the movie and we were there on a Thursday early afternoon and people just kept showing up bringing their mitts, bats and balls.  It was kind of erie but a great spot for lunch.

Field of Dreams

 

If you build it, they will come

 

  

Cheering fan

 

We were back on the road and headed to our next stop, Forest City, Iowa, the home of Winnebago Manufacturing.  About an hour from Forest City we heard this loud noise.  Loud noises are not fun when you are driving nearly 50 feet of vehicle down the highway and you are sure it is you!  Well this time it was us.  Looking out my window on the passenger side I can see our fender waving in the wind.  Not a good thing.  Paul found the next exit, put on the flashers and slowly moved over and onto the ramp.  We get parked in the truck stop and get out to access the damage.  The fender just came loose and bent back.  It appears the fenders on our home are glued on and the glue is not holding!!!!  Well Paul got out his screws and screwed the bent fender in place and off we go!  Next stop was to Forest City where our home was built.  

 The Winnebago factory is like a city of its own, complete with a RV park for free.  Friday morning we were up early and took the tour of the factory.  Winnebago’s are built less individually than the other plants we toured.  Here they are on an assembly line and many are built each day.  The tour was fascinating, even though they are an assembly line each person is doing multiple tasks and they work in small teams as the vehicles move down the line.  Several different models are on each line depending on what is being built.  One girl was applying the caulking to the compartments on the outside and she was so fast and precise.  

As soon as the tour was over Paul visited customer service to see what we could do about our fenders coming loose.  They didn’t offer any warranty as the vehicle is over 5 years old but he did tell us how to fix the problem including a new fender for about $700!  Great, they may be hearing from me as I still think they deserve at least one email request for help!!!  Especially since the other fender seems loose too!  They were very nice in customer service and if we had more time I am sure we could have gotten some help.  We did buy several other little items and then it was off to Sioux City where another of Paul’s sisters lives. 

Saturday, Paul’s sister Susan and her two teenagers came to the State Park where we are staying for only $11 a night including electricity and we are the only ones there!  Very private and pretty.  The kids left around 5 for jobs and we went out to a community theater for a great play!  The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  We couldn’t believe it.  The 3 of us laughed our asses off!!!  A trailer park, cheating spouses, husbands on death row, strippers, crazy boyfriends and a song about road kill!  Perfect!  It was trashy and oh so entertaining! 

We learned something today in Iowa.  We had kept seeing the fuel prices with premium being 10 cents cheaper than regular and figured it was an error.  Nope, premium is cheaper because you are in Iowa and ethanol is made here!  We still are not sure why that makes premium cheaper than regular but our house got the good stuff this morning!  

Today we will be the first of 3 long days of driving to get to Albuquerque, NM by Wednesday.  Over the last 4 months we have done a lot of traveling and Paul got to see all of his family, Dad, all 8 of his siblings, all 6 uncles and their wives and a bunch of cousins.  That is pretty good considering they are all spread out on the east coast, Iowa  

Today we will be the first of 3 long days of driving to get to Albuquerque, NM by Wednesday.  Over the last 4 months we have done a lot of traveling and Paul got to see all of his family, Dad, all 8 of his siblings, all 6 uncles and their wives and a bunch of cousins.  That is pretty good considering they are all spread out on the east coast, Iowa and Colorado.