Bloomfield, IA to Forest City, IA – June 18 to June 24, 2012 Click to see our current location.
We kept wondering where all the campers were while we stayed at the Lake Fisher Campground in Bloomfield. It was a beautiful area (but pretty windy) and we had it all to ourselves the whole 3 days we stayed there.
Traveling through Ottumwa, IA the hometown of “Radar” O’Reilly, then around the periphery of Des Moines we made it Story City where we stayed the night. This campground, even with about 50 sites, only had 8 customers, including us. One thing we’re starting to notice is the numbers of Winnebagos and Itascas are increasing. We must be getting close to Forest City.
This is truly Heartland America. Farms and more corn than you can imagine.
Another big feature is the Barn Quilts. Various quilt patterns are painted on barns throughout the area with maps to guide you on a scenic tour.
Talk about diamonds in the rough. In the little farm town of Williams, IA is one of the best antique car museums you’ll ever come across. The population is 344. Downtown there is a post office, an ice cream parlor, a bank, a pharmacy and a bar. The rest of the buildings downtown are shuttered. Then there is the Hemken Collection building.
A farmer and his wife collected cars for more than 50 years, specializing in 1947 and 1948 convertibles. The only criteria were that the cars had to be in their original condition (i.e., not restored) and they had to be in running condition. There are about 60 cars on display. It was a joy to be guided around the collection by Ann Hemken and listen to her stories about each car on display.
They even had an old Volkswagon Camper that brought back memories of our first camper.
Even though we spent way more time at the Hemken Collection than we had allotted Frank wanted to get to Forest City that night. So racing a line of thunderstorms approaching from the west we sped up I-35 at the blazing speed of 62 mph. We reached the Winnebago Visitors campground just as the deluge hit at 4:45. The office was already closed so we couldn’t get our permit to camp over night, but we figured we would take care of it in the morning.
Our main reason for coming here was to get the entry door and bedroom slide adjusted. So at 7:30am Thursday morning Frank was at the Service Center to see if we could swing a walk-in appointment which are supposed to be very hard to get. The service writer was very nice and said to call at 10:30 and she would let us know if they could work in Big Guy in the afternoon.
We decided that in the interim, we would take the 9am Winnebago Factory tour which includes a 20 minute film at the beginning. After the film, we were about to board the bus over to the plant when we got a phone call. It was from the service center and they were ready for us. It only took two hours for them to work us in.
We had to round up the cats and put them in the car as the service techs are not allowed to work on rvs while pets are on board. Guess one too many pets made a break for it while the door was open. Ours were not thrilled with their new digs.
We decided to take the 1pm tour while we waited for Big Guys repairs to be completed. Unfortunately they don’t allow cameras inside the factory grounds or else we would show you all the neat stuff that goes on inside.
Just a little economic news, Winnebago is operating at about one half capacity, but there has been a surprising increase in the number of high end motorhomes being ordered. We saw lots of fancy tile floors being created for installation on the assembly line. We learned a few things that we had always suspected. Washer/dryers, refrigerators and couches are installed before the outer walls go up. That’s why on some rvs the windshield has to be removed to replace a refrigerator or a couch.
Friday morning we got a bit of a late start because the night before we met Russ and Sheri who also own a 2005 Meridian. We stayed up way too late talking about our motorhomes and the Canadian Maritimes. Turns out they are heading to eastern Canada as well. We enjoyed our evening and made plans to try to hook up again in Canada.
Because of the late start this morning, we didn’t get over to the Winnebago store until just before 11am to stock up on some hard to find parts. Of one of the things we wanted had to be ordered from the warehouse which is really no big deal because the warehouse is located right here in the Winnebago complex. The part didn’t show up until about 1:30 (some how the warehouse filled the order then promptly lost it, so the next time they sent a person from the store over to personally pick it up).
Since it was later in the day than we would have liked, we debated whether or not to go to Mason City to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house and hotel. We decided to go for it as we were only 45 minutes from there. EJ suggested this as she knows that when Frank P originally started his university studies he had planned on being an architect, not an engineer.
The Stockman House and the Park Inn Hotel were well worth the trip, even though no pictures were allowed inside the house. The Stockman House (1908) was one of the less expensive houses ever designed by FLW costing just $7,500. From what we heard, Mrs. Stockman had very strong ideas about what she wanted in her house and bent FLW to her will as he was in a very poor cash flow position at the time and needed the money. As a result, the Stockman house has a usable attic and basement, items which are rare in FLW designed houses.
We went downtown to see the Park Inn Hotel also designed by FLW. The history gets a little hazy here as at the hotel it says FLW designed and built the hotel, but at the FLW visitor center it says FLW fell out of favor in Mason City when he ran off with a clients wife and failed to oversee the completion of the hotel. The last story is certainly juicier, but in any case the hotel is still visually appealing with many of the original 1908 structures and furnishings.
Saturday (yesterday) we decided to go see the town where “the music died”, Clear Lake, IA. We got an early start and arrived at about 10am to make sure the farmers market still had a good choice of veggies before the crowds wiped them out. Well, it turns out there weren’t any crowds and there was only one vegetable stand. Oh well, you can’t win them all. At least there was an arts and crafts show as well as an excellent band playing.
We decided to wander through downtown and it’s a good thing we did. We found an item that will fit perfect in Jim and Shelley’s mountain house. Now all we have to do is to figure out how to get it to them.
On the way out of Clear Lake we stopped by the Surf Ballroom, the last place that Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens ever played. The plane they flew out of Clear Lake after their performance crashed in a nearby farmers field and there were no survivors. There is a nice tribute are at Three Stars Plaza.
A high school and college friend, Jeff,(from the Chicago area) called Frank and they spent over half an hour on the phone trying to figure out how we could get together since we’re only one state away. Unfortunately they couldn’t figure out a good way to make it work. We’ll be about the same distance apart again this fall, maybe we can work out away to get together then.
It’s sad because there are a lot more people we would like to visit on this trip, but can’t. Even though it doesn’t sound like it, we do have time constraints. We really want to get to the Canadian Maritimes before it starts to snow! And we really do want to travel back through the northeast during leaf peeper season. So we have to get crackin’ if we’re gonna make it.
We have seen some strange things along the way. Here are a few examples.
On our way back to Big Guy, we stopped at Pilot Knob State Park to check out the view.
Here it is Sunday morning, and we’re wrapping things up in Forest City. We hope to reach Austin, MN this afternoon and visit the Hormel SPAM Museum. That should be a treat. Then we have to decide if we are going to continue north or begin to angle north east to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
We’ll let you know next time.
