Eight States & 4000 Miles in 26 Days

We’ve been writing our blog for over 13 years now, and this is the longest we’ve gone without an update.  But we’ve been busy with our time as program hosts at Farragut State Park, with motorhome maintenance, and a trip to Iowa. 
Our decision to drive to Iowa was made in April when we visited the new Winnebago factory service center in Junction City, Oregon.  The two big slide-outs on our motor home have been operated for over ten years, and some of the part were worn and needed to be replaced.  I asked for an estimate to “inspect and repair” as necessary and left the rig for their evaluation.  Later that morning I got a call with the first words being “are you sitting down?”  The estimate was $5250 and four days in the shop.  I immediately called the slide manufacturer in Iowa (HWH), asked the same question, and was told that if everything worn needed to be replaced, around $800-1000.  So we made an appointment for the end of the summer.
Back to our summer…   ..what a wonderful one it was!  Farragut State Park had all of the elements we look for when volunteering; interesting job, great staff, friendly fellow hosts, and an outstanding RV site.  We were welcomed, given free rein to develop our programs, and given the support we needed to conduct evening programs, school hikes, and Junior Ranger programs.  We had fun cutting parts for the “Bear Bag” craft, gathered pine cones for the peanut butter and pine cone bird feeder, and taught the kids about Idaho predators using a variety of furs.  Our evening programs were well attended – over 1000 people a month came to see us as we taught “leave no trace”, campfire safety, and  showing of nature films on our “big screen”. 
We had pot lucks, bonfires, and evening get-togethers.  With over 40 resident volunteers, it was a large but friendly group.  Many had been coming to Farragut for years – one couple for 15!  And the rangers, from the manager on down, were part of our get togethers, supportive, and great to work with.  I usually don’t mention names, but Errin, our “Interp Ranger” is a special person – and we’ll be back to work with her next year!
In August we had a visit from our daughter Kim, her husband Bill, and Bill’s dad Paul.  We enjoyed showing them around northern Idaho, especially some of our favorite restaurants.  Sitting on the deck of the Lake House, a floating restaurant on Lake Pend Oreille, in 70 degree temperatures was just about perfect.  Bill bravely signed up for the “Tree to Tree Adventure”, an obstacle course built high in the huge Ponderosa Pines.    He completed all four courses, the last being the very high “black” course.  We knew that being married to our daughter that he had courage…..but were truly impressed!
We left Farragut after the Labor Day holiday and headed east, spending a night in Missoula where we met old friends Jim, Heidi, and Deb from our volunteer days at the Lee Metcalf NWR.  All too soon it was time to make the long drive across Montana, cut the corner of Wyoming, and enter South Dakota.  We were able to spend a few days here, at a time of year when the Black Hills are the most beautiful.  We’d been here before in the fall and it’s worth reposting a few of the pictures:



Crossing all of South Dakota, we entered Iowa, turned south then east to the HWH plant in Moscow.  We dropped the motor home off early and expected an all-day wait, but were called early in the afternoon to tell us it was ready.  Picking it up, I expected the worst……and was stunned when the bill was $163!  Quite a bit different than the Winnebago quote – a savings of over $5000.  I asked a tech “what was Winnebago going to do that cost that much?”  He said he didn’t know, but obviously they’d need 4 or 5 days to do it.  My joy in the low price was somewhat tempered by anger at Winnebago – we’re glad we decided to let the experts work on our system. 
Then it was off to Forest City, the home of Winnebago, to have our slide-out toppers replaced by a dealer (Lichsinn) known for their good work and integrity.  In previous visits, we’d visited the Clear Lake area where Buddy Holly gave his last performance, and this time we found the site “where the music died’.  The crash site is back in the cornfield, but these iconic glasses mark the path.
Slide toppers installed, we headed back – up to Minnesota then back  the way we’d come.  An so after 26 days, almost 4000 miles, and $1385 in diesel fuel, we’re back in Bandon for a month of medical appointments, seeing friends, and resting.  Then it’s off to Las Vegas for the winter – so check back!

Woodstock.....By Senior Citizens

We spent over a week in Forest City, Iowa, as we attended the Winnebago Industries Grand National Rally. Winnebago, the oldest motorhome manufacturer, celebrated it's 50th year this summer, and the rally is the 40th. Each year's rally has a theme, and this year's celebrated the (also) 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Since the rally is put on by the Winnebago/Itasca Travelers (WIT) club, it was called "WITStock". The organization of the rally has evolved into a well-oiled machine, with hundreds of volunteers scurrying around on golf carts, manning booths, and directing traffic. The rally grounds, next to the Winnebago factory, has electric hookups for 1600 motorhomes, an amphitheater, restaurant, and a large vendor's building and retail store. It was quite a sight to see so many motorhomes lined up on the green grass - old ones, new ones, small ones.......if Winnebago made it, at least one of the model was there. The rally kicked off with an opening ceremony in the amphitheater, where a parade of the various WIT clubs, with everyone dressed in their 60s garb, had people reliving their youth. Imagine over 3000 senior citizens grooving on loud music and trying to act like teens again....it was a real lovefest! Unfortunately, the smell of marijuana at Woodstock was replaced by the smell of Ben-Gay at WitStock, and we were all truly hurt when the Forest City mayor made an impassioned plea for us not to skinny dip in the river and for the women not to go braless. After all, there were children present in town. Nonetheless, we all had a great time during the week as I attended seminars of maintenance aspects of our humongous machine, and Brenda learned more about convection cooking. A real treat for Brenda was the woman's driving class, where she had the chance to drive a brand-new 40' top of the line diesel pusher. Her instructor, a lady trucker, had them practice backing and turning, then took them out on the open roads of Iowa. She had a great time and gained a lot of confidence - she's taking turns driving ours now, and doing great!
As you can imagine, the town of Forest City (population 4200) revolves around Winnebago and plans a number of activities to coincide with the rally. We had the chance to visit the downtown area during the "Puckerbrush Days" festival (don't know what that means, but I think it had something to do with outhouses and bushes), and enjoyed the small-town activities. We've driven through a number of small towns and cities in central Iowa, and you get the sense that Iowans can't be bothered with frills - there are no nicely restored storefronts or potted plants hanging from the lampposts. Even the residential areas reflect the no-nonsense philosophy; after all, Iowa didn't get to be the number one state in corn production, soybeans, and pigs by wasting time fixing up the house and planting flowers. But they're great folks, friendly and honest, and we enjoyed our visit here. We came away with a greater appreciation for the engineering and craftsmanship of our coach and look forward to attending again down the road. From here we head West to South Dakota, then North into the frozen wastes of Minot, North Dakota. C'mon back and see how we're doing!

The Amana Colonies

Whenever I heard mention of the Amana Colonies of Iowa, I pictured people in Amish garb hunched over refrigerators and stoves carefully assembling these prized appliances. Of course, the question arises: why is a guy who doesn't have electricity in his home assembling electric apppliances? Well, no problem, for as usual, I wasn't even close - there are no Amish in the Amana Colonies. We spent some time here at the Amana Colonies RV Park, in the midst of the seven Amana Colonies, and had the chance to explore each colony and learn how they were established. The colonies were founded in 1855 by German immigrants who were Pietists, a movement within Luthernism, which advocated an emphasis on piety and return to Christian life. First settling in New York, the group, led by Eberhard Gruber and Johann Rock, moved to Iowa to take advantage of the inexpensive land and fertile ground. With 1200 followers, they built the colonies of Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, East, West, and South Amana, and Homestead. The colonies provided a home, medical care, food, and schooling; everything was shared and around 50 kitchens provided meals. They were completely self-sufficient; livestock, orchards, and gardens provided food, and there were craft shops and mills that provided furniture and clothing. By the 1930s, however, a combination of the depression and a desire by the people to achieve individual goals for themselves and their children signaled the end of the communal lifestyle. Today, the colonies are a profit-sharing corporation that manages the mills and other major functions. And yes, there's still an appliance factory here, although it's now owned by the Whirlpool corporation.
Of the colonies, Amana is the largest and is a town of shops, restaurants, and museums. Like so many of these locations, it's become highly commercialized - locally produced crafts sit next to items imported from China, and prices are on the high side. Restaurants featuring German family style cooking are located throughout the village, although our visit to one of them resulted in a pretty ordinary meal. We did find that the smoked meats were a bargain and stocked up on smoked pork chops and bratwurst - just walking past the smokehouse made you hungry! The big attraction here for us was the scenery - beautifully maintained houses from the 1800s, neatly maintained gardens and flower beds, and the gently rolling hills of bright green corn all combine to make this visit enjoyable.
At a shop in West Amana, we found this huge rocking chair. Billed as the "World's Largest Solid Walnut Rocking Chair", it's exactly three times the size of a standard rocker. Our first thought when seeing it was...."Edith Ann", comedian Lily Tomlin's character of a little girl sitting in an adult rocker. As it turns out, when Lily Tomlin was in the area giving a concert, the shop took the chair to her and had pictures of her sitting in it. While Lily wasn't available, Brenda was happy to stand in for her so that you can get an idea of the scale. What's remarkable is the quality of the workmanship - it's a beautiful piece of furniture, even if it is a bit large for our motorhome.
Everywhere we drove in this area we were treated to vistas of beautiful farms and farmland. It's almost calming to see this area; so much beautiful bright green punctuated by white farm houses and red barns. It truly is what you think of as the heartland of America!
Next stop - Northern Iowa/Southern Minnesota and the Mall of America!

Czechin' Out Cedar Rapids

We're spending some time in Iowa, and although it wasn't in our original plans, a segment on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" (click to listen) about the 2008 Cedar Rapids flood piqued our interest, especially the story of Czech Village, a neighborhood that suffered an immense amount of damage. Last spring, the Cedar River, which runs through the center of town, reached what people are now calling the "500 year flood". Swollen by heavy winter snows, a wet spring, and torrential rains, the river became as large as the Mississippi, putting 10 square miles of Cedar Rapids underwater and cresting at over 31 feet above flood stage. 1000 businesses and over 5000 homes were affected by the flood, and a year later, an appalling amount of damage still exists.
One of the hardest-hit areas was the Czech Village neighborhood, an area that we were interested in visiting, since it was home to the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. As a third-generation Czech from Northeast Ohio, I'm always interested in visiting places where there are Czech communities, and more importantly, Czech/Bohemian restaurants and bakeries. Our visit to the area was not what we expected, though. The museum, housed in a beautiful new building overlooking the river, was closed due to flood damage. We visited the temporary location in a mall where we learned that the building may never be reopened as a museum due to the inability to obtain insurance. Fortunately, most of the exhibits and archival documents were saved and plans are to relocate the museum to another building until government studies can determine if and where a flood wall can be constructed. So many people have been affected by this flood and driving through the streets of this blue-collar community, it is rare to see a home occupied. Most of the homes were in the $50-80K range, and many of the owners had no flood insurance which is the reason why so many have been abandoned. At first glance, many homes seem only slightly damaged, but looking closer shows how the water, reaching up to 10 feet above ground here, destroyed foundations and eroded the structures. The water line can be clearly seen on some houses like the one pictured. The main street of Czech Village is only half occupied now. What was a vibrant area of restaurants and stores is mostly quiet. A couple of restaurants remain, one, The Bohemian, is fairly new and offers authentic Czech food and bakery. We loaded up on Kolache, and had a great lunch of pork loin stuffed with sausage for me, chicken paprika for Brenda, and each sharing side dishes of red cabbage, sauerkraut, and dumplings. The neighborhood is rebuilding, but there's so much damage that it's doubtful that it will ever be the same. As you travel around the city of Cedar Rapids, you can see the damage throughout the areas along the river; this was primarily an area of moderate incomes and modest homes, and it appears that many families have left and will not return. Seeing the destruction and realizing the economic catastophe that families and the community have experienced make us thankful for what we have. Our hearts go out to these folks and we hope that their homes and lives can be restored.
Next stop - the Amana Colonies! Are they really renegade groups of appliances living together?
C'mon back and see!