Tuesday, May 28, 2019

5/28/19. Wall Drug and The Badlands

As Sandy and I headed West along Rt 90 we laughed at the “Wall Drug” signs on the side of the road recalling that when we traveled out west with our kids back in 2002 we stopped at the infamous Wall Drug and found it to be the biggest tourist trap we had ever seen (especially if you have young girls in tow).  

Much to our surprise our campground is walking distance from Wall Drug.  Yes, we walked through the town of Wall and checked out Wall Drug.  I think it has grown.  It has even more chatchkeys (Tourist Beware).  The only thing we bought was a donut and cup of coffee

Although the weather turned ugly (cold, rain, rain, and more rain) we did accept the challenge.  I guess this is one of the reasons they call it “The Badlands” (my opinion)  We hiked in the rain on muddy trails to get some of the attached pictures.  I will say the Badlands is worth the stop (skip Wall Drugs) and that I am surprised at how well the pictures turned out. 

We also toured a Titan 2 Missile silo, visitor center, and launch site.  Who knew that right along side of Rt 90 were 1.2 Megaton Nuclear Missiles aimed at Russia.  These Silo were buried in the prairie’s and the launch sites were disguised as ranch houses.  They were only unarmed in the 1990’s and are now part of the park system.















Saturday, May 25, 2019

5/25/2018. The 1st of 10,000 by Sandy



The First of 10,000

In Iowa for factory service on our coach, we were just 50 minutes from the Minnesota border. Another state so close, we had to go and occupy another day of waiting. So we found the nearest Minnesota state park (Myre Big Island State Park) to spend some time. It had a lake, so number one of the famed 10,000 lakes in the state.... check..., and we spent some time hiking a trail on the cold blustery day. Very windy in this part of the country.   How many more of their 10,000 lakes will we cover?  Only time will tell. 



No this is not us in the photo. 




Iowa on this trip is not as I remembered  from previous drives of endless cornfields, always trying to get somewhere else. Driving through Iowa in the spring, seeing plowed fields and still unplowed fields, with no tall corn stalks blocking our view, it is a beautiful sight seeing the miles and miles of farm fields. Evidence of mini lakes in the fields from the near endless rains this year adds to the beauty of the area. In the high seats of the coach and our no rush travel, we can embrace the views the Midwest offers. We listened to the Blue Stars drum and bugle corp practicing their music for the upcoming season at the local university in Forest City while playing pickleball on a nearby court in town. If we come through this area again, we might consider getting advance tickets to the Treetown country music festival held on Memorial Day weekend each year which brings hundreds of rv’ers and international travelers to the event. 

As I write this, we are on the move again, heading across Rt 90 in Minnesota toward Sioux Falls, SD. We are glad it’s sunny and the winds have died down for travel, as it makes for an interesting drive when windy and trying to keep the coach in our lane. Lots of wind farms across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. 




By Sandy



Thursday, May 23, 2019

5/22/2019. Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, Richie Valens last concert

We are in Forest City Iowa at the Winnebago Plant this week getting some things fixed on the COW.  To my surprise Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens played their last concert in Clear Lake “Surf Ballroom” which is in the next city South of here prior to the plane crash that killed them in 1959.  We drove to the crash site and hiked back a farm field to where the plane went down.  A small memorial is at the crash site.

We also toured the “Surf Ballroom” which is a dance hall right out of the 50’s.  Wooden floors that remind me of a roller skating rink, booths along the side with drawers under the tables for the ladies to put their purses (actually these drawers were used during the prohibition to hide booze).  It reminds me of the dance halls that I have only ever seen in movies.  Throughout the building is memorabilia from many, many bands, and artist that have performed in the Ballroom.  In my opinion, considering it is free (donations only), the atmosphere, the memorabilia, I think it rivals the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.  I would highly recommend visiting if you are in the area.  Pictures below.   










Sunday, May 19, 2019

5/18/2019 It FINALLY happened!! By Sandy

We are in Iowa, driving along a remarkably smooth state road, en route to our factory service appointment for warranty work. Sitting in the navigator’s seat, I realized the 2 lane divided highway we were on had little traffic, and certainly no aggressive drivers. After all, this is Iowa, where the only rush this time of year is to get the fields plowed once they dry out from the endless rains in this area. I thought....Bill might actually give up the drivers seat to me in these gently rolling lands. I mentioned to him “you know, I could drive”. He took his eyes off the road and gave me a good long look to determine if I was serious. I gave him a serious, hopeful face. But this road did not have exits for a rig our size, just local turnoffs. So I waited and he kept quiet, probably trying to assess if he could actually give up the wheel and not have a heart attack with me behind it. Finally 2 gas stations came into view and he pulled off. It was finally my chance to show off my skills. 

After getting adjusted to the seat and all the dash controls, I took off the air brake, pushed the drive button, took a deep breath, and away we went. I felt confident, constantly watching my mirrors to be sure I was in between the white lines. The coach takes up most of the width of the lane. When driving this rig, you practically feel like you’re sitting on top of the white line, but you’re not. I was loving having command of the rig and I think Bill was coping pretty well. I didn’t see any white knuckles on that side of the rig. 

Eventually Bill took over again as we came into the town so he could negotiate the parking, but thank you Iowa for providing the first of many roads I’ll be driving behind the wheel. 

Thursday, May 16, 2019

5/16/18. RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana

This morning we toured the RV/MH Museum.  What I expected would take an hour, took us 4 1/2 hours.  We are not in a time crunch situation as we are 8 hours from our destination and we have 3 additional days to get there. 

Besides this facility has a large Parking lot for free overnight RV parking, is close to the Indiana Turnpike, and a couple miles from a fuel station with Diesel.  Perfect location for us.   

They have a lot of vehicles beginning from the early 1900 up until the current day.  I used to think that Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were pioneers using vehicles to go camping, but we discovered today that many others were custom building pull behind trailers and some early MotorHomes using Ford Trucks.  Many of todays models are just updated versions of what was created by Entrepreneurs 50+ years ago.  Of course the shag carpeting that was prevalent in the 70’s is gone.  Much to my surprise the driver cockpit was an afterthought with some just having an unanchored piece of furniture in front of the steering wheel and others just with one large bench with no back support.





Attached are pictures of some of the RVs.  Well worth the $10 entree fee.

5/15/2019. Back on the road again

We are packed up and rolling again.  This time the destination is the Western United States.  The plan is to be out west for either 12 or 18 months depending upon how the trip is going and how we feel. 

Yes, Sandy has a mapped out itinerary.  I will attach a copy below.

The 1st real destination is the Winnebago Factory Service Shop in Forest City, Iowa to get our coach worked on.  I sent them my spreadsheet (wish list) for them to fix and their customer service team said they will need 5 working days.  We are hoping for the best.  Keeping my fingers crossed that after this visit I will finally have 98+% of the things on this coach working.  I am leaving open 2% just for the unknown things I have yet to identify. :-)




Day 1 of our new adventure we drove from Ohio to Indiana, and on a whim decided to tour the RV/MH Hall of Fame.  We arrived to late to tour today, so we will tour the facility tomorrow morning.  I understand they have 60+ old time RVs in the building.  Tonight, we are camping (for free) in their parking.  

Along side of us in the parking lot are two very unique MotorHomes (Pictures attached) that are also camping for the night with the intention of touring the facility tomorrow.  Both vehicles were custom built by their owners.