Northern Iowa

Our trip across Nebraska and into Iowa was somewhat uneventful … somewhat … but not entirely.  Take for instance the Pilot that wasn’t.  There were many advertising banners and billboards along the way advertising a Pilot truck stop …  turns out they sold Pilot gas but were not a Pilot.  Therefore, no discount! …  slick advertising … but we won’t be back!  Did I mention that there are two seasons in Nebraska … winter and road construction?  Both Lincoln and Omaha were loaded with construction delays, narrow roads, and “J” rails (the 102 inch RV does not like “J” rails!

We passed over the great river (Missouri/Mississippi) and entered the twilight zone. …  You’re not from around here are ya, boy?  The folks on this side of the river try to be friendly … they really do.  They saw what friendliness looked like (picked it up from a cousin on the other side of the river), but just can’t quite manage it.  Now don’t get me wrong …  we visited Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, …  the residents in those states greet each other with a “hale and hearty … good to see ya” type of greeting.  When you cross the river, the people are a bit more suspicious of that type of greeting… maybe it is because Iowa is an early caucus state and they don’t want to be mistaken for politicians … maybe they are too close to the “show me” state …  whatever it is, the folk in Iowa are a bit more restrained (they are strangely suspicious of a smile and don’t really know how to handle a guffaw).

We did meet some really friendly folk … from Texas and working at our RV park.  We give our park at Spirit Lake a 10.  It is a beautiful place with 50 amps, pull through parking, shuffle board, play ground, miniature golf, indoor swimming pool and spa, café, rec. room, ice cream, etc.  We will definitely stay here again … but we must mention that this is a membership park and we are “visiting” members (our home park is in Georgia).  In most parks on the other side of the river members and visiting members are treated equally … not so here … and just to make the point (you’re not from around here are ya … boy?), we are charged $1.00 more for pancake breakfast.  

We noted that people here like their pickups and their cattle … here is a picture of a truck in the Walmart parking lot in Spencer, IA.

One of the highlights of our trip to Northern Iowa was the County Fair in Spencer, IA.  A wonderful location that rivals the LA County Fair in size and scope, the Iowa Fair is typical of the Midwest.  Lynda tasted a deep fried Twinkie (they were offering “deep fried butter, but she didn’t go there … she says next time she’s having it… “) and I indulged in the Triple Bypass Burger  ( a wonderful 1 ½ pound burger with bacon and fixins …  yum!). 

We looked in on the scarecrow judging and saw the winner of the pumpkin contest. 

We didn’t miss the animals either, viewed the winning pigs and saw one of the kid’s horse handling contests.

 One of the best things at the fair was a marvelous model railroad setup that took up a whole room and was one of the most detailed models we have ever seen!  Enjoy the pics:

There actually is not a lot to do in Spirit Lake unless you own a boat … we don’t.  But don’t fret for us … we have discovered a new “sport” … geocaching!  From Wikipedia here is a definition of geocaching:  Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device^[2] and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.  A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value. Geocaching is often described as a "game of high-tech hide and seek", sharing many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.  Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.^[3] After 10 years of activity there are over 1,532,000 active geocaches published on various websites. There are over 5 million geocachers worldwide.

After a slow start we have found 8 caches and a geo-bug (See picture of Lynda with this special find!)!  Again from Wikipedia:  a Travel Bug is a trackable tag that you attach to an item. This allows you to track your item on Geocaching.com. The item becomes a hitchhiker that is carried from cache to cache (or person to person) in the real world and you can follow its progress online.  We are having a great time with this new hobby and getting some exercise to boot!

We would like to stay longer, but have an appointment at the Winnebago Factory … until next time … keep doing what you love.