We departed the Thousand Trails park in
Batesville questioning whether we will ever return here again. I
expect we will, but we can also choose from two other Thousand Trails
parks not a far distance away on either side of this one. We'll see.
We continued our trek across the dreaded “I” states: Indiana,
Illinois and Iowa. We have nothing against any of these states, but
the topography is rather bland and boring, and we have passed this way
many times before. The most interesting features are the wind mill
farms: hundreds of them sprouting across the plains.
To break up the
day we had a lunch date planned in Champaign IL with a high school
classmate of mine. I have only seen Bill a few times since we
graduated from high school in Morganton NC; the last time about three
years ago when we were passing through the area. We met bill at the
Cracker Barrel just off I-74 in Champaign and had a very nice visit,
talking mainly about his family and our travels. After lunch we
continued westward across Illinois and into Iowa. We stopped for the
night at the Walmart Supercenter in Mason City Iowa, where bought
groceries and fuel. We pumped 104 gallons of diesel at $3.599 per
gal, perhaps the cheapest fuel we will find on this trip.
The next morning we drove about 30
miles to Forest City Iowa, the home of Winnebago for a factory tour.
Winnebago
Industries has a long history in the RV business. They began
producing travel trailers in 1958 and produced their first motor home
in 1966. Their products initially were very inexpensive compared to
their competitors and the company thrived. Today “Winnebago” and
“motor home” are synonymous for many people. Currently Winnebago
manufactures motor homes, with about a dozen models ranging from
about $100,000-$400,000.
The tour was very fun and interesting.
Our tour guide was a long-time former employee and knew most of the
folks on the production lines. The factory building were rather old,
but the production techniques were modern and innovative. The most
impressive part for me was the automated system that delivered
components to different parts of the production lines. Various
components, such as air conditioners, furnaces, water heater, roof
vents, etc. are transported via an elaborate automated system of
overhead conveyors and elevators to the point on the production line
where they would be installed in the unit. Very cool. Winnebago
also manufactures many of their parts including metal framing,
cabinets, body and wall panels and upholstered parts, keeping quality
control up and costs down. They also produce a number of these
products for other customers. After the tour we spent a while in
their museum which documents describes the history of the company and
its founder. There is a campground on site that has electrical hook
ups where guests can spend the night at no charge, whether or not
they own Winnebago products. They also had about a half dozen
display models there for viewing.
After the tour we zigged north into
Minnesota where we picked up I-90. We continued westbound on I-90
until we entered South Dakota at Sioux Falls. We went into town at
Mitchell SD to visit the famous
Mitchell
Corn Palace. The Mitchell Corn Palace is a city auditorium that
is decorated inside and out with murals made of different colored
corn, depicting historical themes. The original Corn Palace was
built in 1892 as a tourist attraction and to highlight the rich soils
and to encourage farmers to the relocate to the area. In 1905 the
Corn Palace was rebuilt with a larger version as part of the town's
bid to become the State capitol (they lost). In 1921 the palace was
rebuilt for a final time with a larger structure. There are lots of
puns associated with the Corn Palace. I signed the guest register
with the comment “Shucks!” There is a “Corncession” stand
and the mascot is named “Cornelius”.
We are parked for the night at the Cabela's
store in Mitchell. Cabela's is the most RV-friendly store I have
every visited. This particular store had a dedicated RV parking area
on the far side from the main parking area. It had ~50 long, wide
painted RV parking spaces. There was a dump station, kennel and
corral for visitors' use. They really do want you to spend the night
there. We shopped for an hour or so before hitting the sack.
We are finding it hard to sleep late in
the mornings. The sun is setting after 9:00, but rising before 5:30. With summer solstice almost 2 weeks away, it will only get worse ... but we'll adjust.
