Missouri!

October 16, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Missouri welcomed me back to the state!

There is plenty of history in this area of the US.

I am excited to be back in Missouri! I went to school in Kansas City and did a residency at Truman Medical Center, so I have always enjoyed Missouri. However, I have not been here for decades. I am about 2 hours northwest of Kansas City in a corner of Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. I drove about 4.5 hours from Sioux Falls, South Dakota dancing along the border of Iowa and Nebraska and finally crossed into Rock Port, Missouri. When I gave Dish Network my address, I figured I would get local TV channels from Kanas City. However, Omaha is the closest city, so my local channels are from Omaha.

Wow. These guys may have the record for the fewest number of people in a town!

Sorry, this is a poor quality photo from my phone, but I love the colors!

Fall is here! I loved walking around looking at the leaves and wearing a sweatshirt because it is cool. I have been in the desert for so long, I have forgotten the beauty of Missouri fall season. I am going to spend a couple of nights here so I really look forward to breathing in the season change.

I have special memories going to Royals games in Kansas City!

When we lived in Kansas City, the Royals were very good and we enjoyed going to their games. Now the Royals seem to be good, so it is fun seeing everyone wearing Royals shirts and hats. I had forgotten how much fun we had at Royals games.

There is not a college football team in Kansas City, but everyone loves the Chiefs!

It is common for people to name businesses after the owner, but this name gives a very different meaning for a pharmacy. Is everyone stoned?

The Growing Season Ends and Pheasant Hunting Begins!

October 15, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

This RV park is filled with beautiful fall colors!

There is no question that I am in a new area when the two leading items on the local news are 1) It is going to freeze tonight, ending the growing season and 2) Pheasant hunting season begins tomorrow. I drove through much of South Dakota today and there is no question it is an important agriculture state. The top news item about the growing season ending impacts a huge number of people in the state. However, I cannot remember ever seeing that as a leading news item anywhere I have ever lived before.

The trees are beautiful.

Apparently pheasant hunting is quite big here too. People from neighboring states come to South Dakota for pheasant hunting. When I was checking into the RV park in Sioux Falls, the guy started telling me he was exciting about pheasant hunting this weekend. He said some years it was snowing when the season started, but this year it will be brisk cold. For me I would probably say very cold, but for people who live here, freezing is simply brisk cold.

There are more trees in South Dakota than what I observed in North Dakota. I really enjoy seeing the changing leaf colors. The golden yellows are beautiful. This RV park is filled with yellow trees.

How cool…. a huge corn maze!

The RV park also has a corn maze. I have seen them on TV, but never in real life. Can you imagine 100s of children running all through a maze? It is huge! This one is quite popular and families camp here from all over to go through the maze. It is closed now, but you can see how large it is.

On a crisp evening, it is nice to sit in front of the warm (electronic) fire and watch football!

“You Betcha!”

October 14, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Usually, elderly is defined as at least 65 years of age; however, I meet these guys definition of elderly!

Today I drove from the rolling hills of Minnesota to the flat plane of North Dakota. The many trees of Minnesota gave way to the open fields in North Dakota. Big gusts of wind were whipping across the plains and I needed to be careful to maintain our high profile motorhome in my lane.

The Dakotas are nice!

Well, I finally made it to Fargo! I am not sure why I wanted to see Fargo. Maybe it was the movie a number of years ago with the city name as its title. May it was them often using the phrase “You Betcha!” in the movie. I have always wanted to visit Fargo – just not visit here in winter. Mid October is as late as I want to be in this area of the country. You can tell by the vehicles and buildings, it gets very, very cold in this part of the country. Now that I have made it northwest to reach Fargo, it is time for me to pivot and head south. Quickly. It is supposed to get very cold before the weekend.

This guy can see far!

There were many, many agriculture fields that I saw in North Dakota. The soil was rich and very dark. Almost a black color where the ground had been tilled. I imagine it is very rich soil.

Normally, I do not care for long shirts and long pants; however, October means you need to dress warmly in this part of the country.

Originally, I was going to stay at an RV park in Fargo. However, to my surprise, there are NO RV parks in Fargo. Maybe the season is too short? However, an hour south of Fargo was a Casino and they had about a dozen RV spots. For $10 I got a nice space and full hookups with 30 amp electric service. I prefer 50 amp, but I can do nicely with 30 amp.

Welcome to Minnesota!

October 13, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

This was a beautiful scene of the campground in St. Cloud.

I had a final few small items fixed on the motorhome today and then I headed north. Usually, snowbirds head south this time of year, but I bucked the trend and headed north. Forest City is only about 15 miles south of the Minnesota border, so I was cruising through the Minnesota countryside in no time. There were many agricultural fields as I headed towards Minneapolis.

The fall colors are beautiful.

Many of the fall leaves have been falling from the trees. I still saw colorful fall leaves, but many were on the ground. I was able to sneak through most of Minneapolis before rush-hour traffic. It is an interesting experience to be driving a long vehicle (about 65 feet motorhome and Jeep combined) and have cars going by and in and out of lanes all around. I basically picked a lane and tried to not change lanes and kept cruising.

After living in the desert for so many decades, it is nice and refreshing to see fall leaves up close.

I stopped in a RV park in St. Cloud. No one was in the office, but they left a plastic box outside the table with a registration page. I filled out the form, wrote a check for $20 and drove around to find a site with 50 amp electrical service.

There are corn fields everywhere in the midweat!

I was getting set up and discovered there was no water. I tried several camp site and no water was available anywhere. I talked with some other campers and they said the owners just blew air in all the water lines to close down the water for the winter. It is supposed to freeze in a couple of days so they got the campground all ready for the Minnesota COLD winter. I thought I might do a load of laundry, but with no water, that plan went out the window.

I walked around the area and enjoyed the countryside and fall colors. I had a chance to meet a couple from Minnesota that just started living fulltime in their motorhome this past summer. They were staying in Minnesota through this weekend and then were headed to Florida. Another man came over to talk with us and he has been living fulltime in his motorhome for 6 years. I really enjoy comparing stories. I like to ask people where they are headed next. You get all kinds of responses. I think they thought I was a bit odd for wanting to visit Fargo, North Dakota. We are scattering in different directions.

Leinenkugel’s Brewery

October 10, 2015October 10, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Leinenkugel’s brewery is a fun place to visit!

I had no idea that Leinenkugel’s Brewery was so close in nearby Chippewa Falls. Neil and I have enjoyed drinking Leinenkugel’s in Amarillo. For only $5 you can sample 5 different beers and they give you a shot glass. The lobby was fun because they had many different displays highlighting their different beers. You could buy a Leinenkugel canoe paddle for $50. I am sure the paddles are decorations for many dorm rooms around here. The brewery tour was interesting to learn the history of the company and how and when they developed different beers. I was quite impressed that the buildings they started using in 1867 are still in operation today. It was interesting to learn about their German heritage and how they modified production to other things during prohibition.

These were popular signs for people to buy when I was visiting.

I do not always like sweet beers, but I really liked the shandy flavors, especially berry. I also enjoyed their Octoberfest and Honey Weiss beers. I would highly recommend visiting Leinenkugel’s Brewery.

I almost bought a paddle.

Shandy beers were started at Leinenkugel’s brewery.

Hello Wisconsin!

October 10, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

I love this paint job. This is in the camp site next to me.

Wisconsin is a beautiful state. I really enjoyed driving across Wisconsin and saw dairies, rivers, crops, and colorful trees. The second week of October is a great time to visit Wisconsin because the high temperatures were nice in the 60s and the leaves have started to change. The rich red and golden yellow leaves are spectacular. I loved driving along seeing all the contrasting, bright colors.

This is one of the most beautiful camp sites I have ever had!

I drove through Madison where the University of Wisconsin is located and it made me think of the Copper Bowl game in Tucson years ago when Wisconsin played. I still remember Amy and John wearing their sweat shirts at the game.

Very picturesque RV park.

I stopped in Osseo, Wisconsin and am staying at an absolutely beautiful RV park. There are large grassy areas all around the sites and they are extremely roomy. This is truly one of the most gorgeous campgrounds I have seen. There are many activities scheduled for kids and they are having a Halloween decorating contest for the campsites this weekend.

The fall leaves are gorgeous!

The first thing I did after getting the coach all set was to walk to a nearby store and buy some cheese curds. They were ranch cheddar cheese flavored and absolutely delicious! After that I walked all around the RV park. They have a skate park and a basketball court. I have never seen that in an RV park. The pool is closed for the season, but they also have a huge “jumping pillow” and miniature golf course. This is a destination campground for families and quite full this weekend.

Lena, Illinois

October 8, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

This KOA has a nice focus on fun and families.

In my whole life, I do not think I have ever heard of Lena, Illinois, but that is where I find myself tonight. This is a great KOA campground owned by a couple who has put a huge effort into upgrading the facility and making it very attractive for kids since they bought it 3 years ago. It is very nice and I am glad I stumbled upon it.

Nice decorations for Halloween!

I started my day at Flex Steel with them picking up our recliner chair at 9:00 am. I ran to Walmart to pick up some orange juice and see a little of Dubuque. They brought back the chair at 1:00 pm and they had added new padding to the chair. The lady told me that they have had problems with the chair and since it was just out of warranty, she thought it was best to not charge us and to provide the re-padded chair at no cost. I was very grateful and appreciative of her kindness. After that I brought in the slides on the motorhome and headed east.

I cannot remember a campground that has welcomed people by listing their names on the welcome board. They certainly make people feel welcome.

After a couple of hours on the road, I found a campground with openings that had 50 amp electrical service and a sewer hookup available. I have not had a sewer connection since I left Amarillo, so I need to do laundry and a sewer connection and 50 amp electric are required to use our washer and dryer.

There are many areas focused on children at this campground.

I appreciate the opportunity to see a new area of Illinois. I have been to Chicago many, many times over the years (one year I had 6 trips to Chicago in the same year). Now I get to see a new area and enjoy different communities. I plan to head through Rockford, Illinois tomorrow and then go up into Wisconsin. This is a nice way to see the country!

Keep Your Plans Flexible!

October 8, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Electrical hookups were provided for RVs at the Flex Steel facilities.

One thing I keep learning while RVing is that you need to keep your plans flexible. After the technician told me that they would probably finish the next day, I got out a map and started planning where to travel next. Since I am so close to Minnesota, I thought I would head north and check out the state. Since it is October and the weather is still nice, this seemed like a nice time to go. However, things changed quickly at 10:30 am. The Winnebago service advisor asked to see me and said that they coach was almost finished. I had asked to have a powerful internal surge protector added that morning after hearing stories of people damaging their electronics while staying in parks with poor electricity. He said they would be done within a couple of hours and that our recliner chair could be worked on at the Flex Steel factory in Dubuque. I said “where is Dubuque” and he said it was 4 hours away on the eastern side of Iowa. I had planned to spend the night again at Winnebago and enjoy another happy hour with the RV group and then head to Minnesota tomorrow. However, I was a good RVer and pivoted quickly.

Suddenly, I was looking at Google maps on my phone and planned a route east to Dubuque. This could be nice as Dubuque is right on the eastern edge of Iowa and borders both Illinois and Wisconsin. It might give me the opportunity to check out a couple of additional states.

While driving across Iowa, it was nice to enjoy all their rolling hills. Rather than a flat plane, the landscape was always shifting at different angles. One common theme was corn. There were fields and fields of corn. And more corn after that. And even more corn after that. I also passed a sign for the “Little Brown Church.” This is a famous church building in Iowa where many people are married. I have a friend in Tucson who was married in the Little Brown Church.

When I got to Flex Steel, I met the woman contacted by Winnebago. She confirmed that her company had made the chair and that it had started to wear out a bit too quickly. She said workers would come to the coach at 8:30 tomorrow morning to pick it up and they would start working on it to add more padding. Cool. She also told me that there was an area where they had electrical hookups for RVs. I joined another couple who had also just driven over from Winnebago. We laughed, because we had met each other at the barbeque restaurant the night before. It is quite fun to expand the network of RVers.

Enjoy the RV Family

October 8, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

I would expect to see a sign like this in Texas, but I was surprised to find it in a barbecue restaurant in Iowa.

Our mini-city of RV folks has been quite fun. Last night we had a happy hour after getting our coaches back and someone told us about an all-you-can-eat barbeque restaurant in a nearby town. So, spontaneously, about 20 of us jumped into several cars and we drove to the restaurant. It was a wonderful time. We shared stories about how we got into RVing and where we planned to go. One couple is headed to Mesa, Arizona. It was fun listening to them describe it from the previous winter and why they could not wait to get back. They rent a place in a park with all kinds of activities and club groups. We will have to check out the place sometime in the future.

Warren and his books of RV trips. He has superb stories and excellent suggestions for where to go while we were in the Winnebago lobby.

I met a guy named Warren who told me about many of the RV parks he has visited across the country. He prints out something from their websites and they keeps them in a notebook. We went through his trips through the south of the US as well as his trips through the western states. I have visited some of the same towns, but it is really nice to have names of parks that handle large motorhomes with easy access to main roads.

This is my first time to Winnebago factory, so I went on the tour of their facilities. I went in the two huge buildings where our motorhome was made. They make about 35 to 40 motorhomes every day. Some class C, some gas motorhomes, and some diesel pushers like ours. I was quite impressed with how it is set up. I had heard that this facility was the largest RV manufacturing facility in the US. On the tour, they told us it was the largest RV manufacturing facility in the world. They also said they are looking for about 200 more workers because the demand for RVs is large. Their production is currently limited by their number of workers.

Each day, we meet with our technician working on our coach in the morning and end of the work shift. I have been very impressed with what they have done and how they have traced down the recurrent problem with our matrix system. They thought everything might be finished tomorrow.

I made it to my appointment!

October 5, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

While are all lined up in our RVs in a nice community!

Well, I make it to the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa. I discovered a small, friendly city of people bringing their RVs for repairs and upgrades. There are back-in sites available with 50 amp service. Nearby, there is the Winnebago Rally Grounds that has water and multiple dump stations.

The Visitor Center also has RV parking and electrical power.

Forest City is quite isolated. Minneapolis is two hours north and Des Moines is two hours south. The big thing for visitors to do here is a tour of the Winnebago factory. I am going to try and go on the tour sometime this week. Supposedly, this is the largest RV factory in the U.S. It is sort of funny that this small town in rural Iowa has had such a large impact on the RV industry.

The Winnebago grounds are enormous with enough electrical connections for hundreds of RVs.

As soon as I pulled in and unhooked the Jeep, I was greeted by several people already parked. One gentleman from Seattle got out and helped guide me into my site as I backed up the motorhome. Along with several other people, this is my first trip to Winnebago. Others bring their rigs here yearly for various items rather than work with local dealers.

We meet our service technicians every morning at 7:00 am with our rig’s ready to be driven and we get them back at 3:00 pm and the technicians is supposed to tell us what they accomplished that day. The low was 37 degrees this morning, so it was nippy and dark waiting outside for the Customer Service doors to open at 7:00 am.

At 3:30 pm, all the RVers gather around and have a happy hour to talk about the latest information about their coach repairs, where they are going next, and where they have been. Forest City is a very small town and sometimes groups of RVers go to various restaurants together.

One couple has a motorhome that was struck by lightning and they keep discovering different things that were damaged. They have been here several weeks having work done. One guy loves coming to Forest City yearly. He thinks Winnebago does great work. He was telling me some of his favorite RV locations and Vernal, Utah (where I was born) is one of his favorite places. He was surprised when I told him I was born there. He gave me names of a number of places he really likes to take his RV in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. He thought California and Colorado were not very RV friendly. It was fun comparing notes on places we have visited.

Winnebago has an area with WIFI and coffee where we wait while our coaches are being worked on. Groups of people are discussing where they like to take their RVs for winter. One group likes to go to Florida and another group likes to go to Arizona. It is fun to listen to their perspectives.

Fiesta on Wheels

Author: Ed Armstrong

Missouri!

The Growing Season Ends and Pheasant Hunting Begins!

“You Betcha!”

Welcome to Minnesota!

Leinenkugel’s Brewery

Hello Wisconsin!

Lena, Illinois

Keep Your Plans Flexible!

Enjoy the RV Family

I made it to my appointment!