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Michigan 2022

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero

    St. Louis, Union station

    20 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 95 °F

    Got back in jeep and headed into town to make one more stop. I love looking at buildings, especially interiors, so Tom agreed to go by the old Union Station, which is more the Union Station Hotel. Beautiful! Again traffic not too bad, it's is just Tuesday.
    Wow, this train station was BIG. But it makes sense when you think about the number of people that have used this as a point of departure, and the number of trains moving in and out, back in the early 1900s.
    We didn't actually do a tour, they probably have one. Now it is home to a Hyatt hotel and conference center, restaurants, kids attractions and an aquarium. Would have explored more, but Charlie has been in her crate since this morning so just walked a little remitting some of the renovated older details...
    Across the street is a higher new soccer stadium that will be complete in 2023. BIG, with lots of damage playing fields around it. Sure it is sized for international competition!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero

    KOA Granite Creek (N.E. St. Louis)

    21 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Posting pic of slightly tired KOA in Granite Creek. We stayed here while visiting St. Louis. Plus: mature trees Cons: very little maintenance. This really could be a nice park if some one would do a little grounds maintenance. Yes, this was a tough summer, but you should still mow, water real plants, not stab fake ones in the bed for color, pick up unused equipment and debris. Maybe re-lay some gravel. Bathrooms not bad, they had been renovated. But why do parks continually use lay-in acoustical tile in a high moisture environment? Several times already damaged with water stains.... having worked a park all summer, even in droughts they can looked "cared for".

    Really just wanted to make sure this way point was included on my map!

    Alright, I confess, I am a compulsive gardener. You can make anything look better with a little elbow grease    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Crossing the MissouriChurch of St Mary AldermanburyInterior pic of church. The daylight was greatChurchill himselfSculpture representing the Berlin Wall outside of church

    America's Natl Churchill Museum

    21 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Our drive to Fayetteville is taking us through Springville, Missouri. So as I usually do, I googled interesting things to see on our drive and up pops Fulton, Missouri; America's National Churchill Museum. This was a really interesting stop... Can't believe we actually tumbled on this because Fulton is a pretty small town about 20 miles outside of Jefferson City, the capital.
    This museum, housed under a relocated 17th century English church, is dedicated to a study of Churchill's life and serves as America's memorial to him. The church/museum is located at Westminster College. The story is really interesting.
    The church was relocated and rebuilt in commemoration of Churchill's "sinews of peace" speech that he gave at the college back in 1946. Churchill gave this speech because Truman invited him on behalf of the college. So on March 5, 1946 Truman and Churchill were both there. The "sinews of peace" speech is also known as there Iron Curtain speech. In most respects this speech defines and initiates the start of the cold war.
    So how does this involve the relocated English church??
    40 years later the college wanted to commemorate the event. Their idea was to salvage one of the many Christopher Wren designed churches that had been destroyed with the bombing of London. What remained of the church, stone by stone was brought to Westminster College and rebuilt. The church was gorgeous and below the church is a very extensive collection of artifacts and information regarding Churchill's life. We just didn't have enough time to really spends time in the Churchill Museum, just too many miles to drive before end of day. We buzzed it, but it looked great! The whole history of the church and the start of the cold war was so fascinating!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Harley's mom, LucyHarley (hallelujah), 5 mos old ClysdaleAll legsJust parked in front of the main house

    End of day at Arlies Farm

    21 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    Another Harvest Host stop, just outside of Springfield, Missouri. Wow, this would be a great spring stop. Flower gardens, greenhouse, succulents, veggie garden, hanging flower basket shop, spices and herbs. Would love to see this all blooming! Still awesome property... Visited the horses, the sheep, the cows, the chickens and the ducks, AND we took a peak at 2 Airbnb cottages, and their HUGE new home they'll are building on the back of the property.
    She had a design business so the cottages have the look you would see in Sunset.... One is an India theme with artifacts from her travels, the other a Mexican theme. Lots of colors, eclectic artifacts, lots of color, plants, vaulted ceilings, natural light, custom made light fixtures (her husband worked in metal fabrication), wall murals ( her daughter is a graphic artist) . Creative and Gorgeous. I need to googled and see what they rent for. Very fun people, very nice stay.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Museum entrance
    One off several really well done vignettesSmall sections of the many fish postage stamps issuedBass Force OneInfamous LionfishParrot fish? Kiss 💋They even have a shark encounter cageOn the lower level you can see the rays, we got to feed them

    Wonders of Wildlife, Aquarium

    22 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    There name is pretty appropriate, the acronym is WOW! This place is relatively new, it opened in 2017, and is like a fishermen's Disneyland on steroids! We had planned on just visiting in the morning, heading to Chris's late afternoon. It is about 2.5 hours from this point. By about 1 we had "tackled" the aquarium. Little realizing this represented only about half of the facility, we still had the entire wildlife section to go. We just thought it all was in the area we were visiting.
    If you have ever gone into a Bass Pro Shop you be will sort of understand. The stores always include these fabulous vignettes of outdoors scenes with "stuffed" animals. (probably a better word for it, think natural history museum) the vignettes include water, faux rocks, ledges, plants, trees, etc. Tom and I often stop at these stores just to walk through some of them. It's liked all the environments that Disneyland builds.
    Lighting was all blue lights, dark, but designed to enhance viewing of tanks, and to let's you feel like you are in a water world. And then you just start walking.
    Interspersed in the aquarium displays are rooms depicting all sorts of fishing history, types of fishing, hall of Fame areas of fisherman, just lots of fishing related topics. One area talked about the number of presidents that LOVED fishing. Carter and Bushes mostly. Tracker boats, owned by Bass Pro, built a Bass Force One just for. the Bushes. And all of this was put in place by the owner, Johnny Morris, who founded the national chain of stores. And the mission statement in essence is that through responsible fishing, you can incorporate conservation strategies. ( Everyone has a slightly different position on this approach...)
    So almost 3 hours later we walked our way out of the aquarium and gift shop.
    But I knew we were supposed to see some penguins so I asked where they were,
    "Oh, they are through the wildlife photography exhibit and in the wildlife museum part of the attraction.". What?!
    So we had a quick lunch, called Chris and said we wouldn't be to Fayetteville that day? Felt badly, but not sure if we will be this way again.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Entrance to the wildlife section
    The polar area of the gallery had a penguin habitat.The penguin tank from the upper gallery level came down to the cafe level belowEnjoyed watching them swim and play.

    WOW, wildlife museum

    22 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌧 61 °F

    After a quick lunch and call to Chris to change our plans we went back to see the wildlife galleries. It starts with a walk through the photography exhibit off animal photos. Big photos probably most water 4' SQ and larger. Beautiful, award winning photos of birds and animals.
    Then back into all these different, stunning vignettes of wildlife from around the world. Fabulously designed and executed. It was just a pleasure walking thru them all. The lighting really enhanced the mood of each one. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the galleries.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    After dinner time spent with the pup

    Bass Pro Shop, Natl. Hdqtrs

    22 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Just wanted to include some pictures of the actual store. After the galleries we then spent another hour plus in the "store" because they are a visual treat as well. They typically include wildlife scenes and water scenes. The have a turtle pool, Aquarium, waterfalls, running streams, wooden bridges interwoven throughout the store. If you have never been in one, you should. But those stories was the national headquarters so it was over the top!
    And their prices aren't too bad either!
    Moved the RV to the overnight area and had a easy dinner of Ramen noodles. Thoroughly enjoyed the day.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    1"collectibles" at home across from the bistro1Charlie happily buried in dog toys!

    Finally Fayetteville

    23 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    So we had a relatively short drive to Fayetteville, about 2.5 hours plus when towing...I like the Missouri landscapes, wooded, rolling hills, more livestock than Illinois. Beautiful driving day with white clouds in a bright blue sky. Out here you get to see clouds allot compared to the hazy, grey blue skies of the central valley.
    Took a short business loop into the small town of Anderson. It's always interesting to drive into some of these small towns and find a local deli for lunch, especially if you don't want to make sandwiches!
    Shared a deli sandwich at the Mustang deli, ate outside so Charlie got to get out off the RV also. Looked like an interesting collectibles shop to spend sometime across the street only to find out it was simply someone's home!
    Back in the RV and rolled into Fayetteville early afternoon. Lots of hugs and hellos and then we moved in. A week's worth of dirty laundry, sheets, towels, laptop, dog crate, etc. Etc. Still warm and humid here, but not bad.
    Settled down to clam dip and adult beverages to catch up with each other. Abby joined us for a pizza dinner, while Andy was still at work. They left the next morning to join Shari at Kansas Univ to spend the weekend there as part of the parents weekend events and football game.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    View from gallery to Cafe 11 at Crystal Bridges
    Sierra nevadasWinslow Homer, always love hisTiffany studios lampPartial detail of constitution timeline, special exhibitEarly america art, women's sufferage"our town", painting speaking to housing for lower income black familiesMoving into modern art galleriesOne of the abstracts that I liked

    Crystal Bridges

    25 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Saturday the 24th was all about laundry and some errands. Chris still needs to get around with a cane, and her wounds are far from healed, but she is moving around fairly well. She just needs sometime off of her leg periodically. One of the errands included a great little meat market/deli where we got some marinated chicken kabobs for dinner. Tom barbecued, and Chris and I made some pilaf, delicious dinner.
    Sunday, like most mornings was busy managing pups...Romy and Zoey are a little perturbed by Charlie's presence, especially during feeding time. And Romy does not like to share toys. But between the three adults we manage to keep the tusseling to a minimum.
    Chris and I decided it's would be fun to go out to Crystal Bridges for lunch and a visit to the art museum. We had a wonderful afternoon at this fabulous location. Built by the Walton family, it is free to the public. Great architecture, great landscaping, walking trails, and wonderful art collection and temporary exhibits, early American to contemporary. At this time they also had a special exhibition that included one of the few original copies of the constitution, along with other notable documents and art work that spoke to the era. "We the People ".
    Meanwhile Tom "got" to stay home with pups AND Sunday football. A win-win for all.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    View from Shari's backyard
    Backyard1Wine time with Chris

    Day with Shari

    26 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    We all enjoy slow mornings at Chris's. Coffee on the patio, while waiting for dogs to do their morning business.
    Shari joined us mid morning and we all enjoyed catching up with each other. She, Andy and Abby had been at KU to join Kate for parents weekend. Plus Abby had a soccer game Saturday morning in Oklahoma....
    We had some lunch here at Chris's and then puttered around the house. Neither Chris and I can't actually remember what we accomplished, but I am sure it was a lot! Since we were planning on having dinner with the Heinzelmanns we did have dinner items to prep. We took our food stuffs and had a nice barbecue in their backyard with a view of the city. We tried to get their dogs to play with Charlie, but the dogs were a "no go". The rest of us did get along very nicely! 😀    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Shari at the cabin
    Chris, Rick and his son Rhett

    Spending the day with the cousins!

    27 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Just another cool morning in Fayetteville. Coffee, dogs and chit chat. Watched a lot of storm coverage and caught up with some finances while Chris had her nails done.
    Quick lunch and Shari was by at about noon to drive us out to the "cabin". She needed to check on some construction activity for the garage they are adding, ands to make sure the bats had been removed from the upper bedroom!
    Understand this is a log home that actually had settled and left one or two tiny gaps into the cabin. The guy she worked with put a sort of wire trap in place that allowed the bats to leave at night to find food, but not be able to squeeze back in. It seemed to have worked.
    Beautiful log home on a river that allows for tubing, kayaking, paddle boarding at various times off year depending on the strength of the current. It's is about an hour drive, so close enough for weekends...
    Fort home in just enough time too take a breath and then drive out to Bentonville to see Rick's family. We met at a very good Mexican restaurant, it had been so long for us to eat Mexican! Only had a little bit of time with Michelle and Safi because Safi had a cheer commitment. But we did have a little longer to visit with Rhett and Rick. Lots of fun, sands we did get to know Rhett a little bit better. He was a great conversationalist!
    Home and to bed, we had a very full day with Chris!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Romy guarding her chewies
    Little Zoey... These two pups really love each other. Very cute

    Cooking, cleaning and packing

    28 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    Weather is gorgeous right now in Fayetteville, even humidity is lower. We originally thought we might leave today, but my "to do" list has only one or two items checked done!
    Wednesday I took Tom over you Shari's house (that's where the RV was parked) so he could do some cleaning. Chris and I had some morning errands, CVS, grocery, dry cleaning...after lunch she "unwillingly" pulled herself into her office to do some work and I started cooking. Made a dozen bierocks for the road and also prepped some taco meat. By dinner time we all felt like we had a productive day, my favorite feeling at wine time. We had some warmed up bierocks and salad for dinner.
    Thursday was my revised d day of departure...but gosh darn my check list didn't look very promising, so we decided to stay another day. We all laughed about it, we just couldn't seem to leave. So I finally got all my finances done, some email, and a finally load of laundry since we had been there so long. The afternoon we loaded all our stuff into Chris's car and took it over to the RV and packed it up for a Friday departure. One last dinner with Chris, steak and potatoes!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Chris's home
    2Grabbed a quick pic with Chris (cleaning lady helped), don't we look angelic?Campus RV Park, Independence, mo. You can just see church steeple above trees

    Heading north on 49

    30 de septiembre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Leaving is never easy, saying good bye and hoping you have all your stuff! We packed up our overnight things and headed to Shari's to finish loading the RV. Hooded thing we had too take those extra time because (as anyone who knows me will understand) I had left "just" my purse at Chris's!?
    I think we pulled away about 10 or 10:30, good thing we loaded the bulk of our stuff the day before...we wouldn't have left until later afternoon!
    Heading north towards Forest City, Iowa. We have a tour with the Winnebago factory on Tuesday. Pretty much headed straight up 49 towards Kansas City, mo. I am always checking my apps for possible stops we might want to take. Found one right at the state border between Ark./Mo. In the towns of Bella Vista. It is another chapel, similar to Thorncrown in Eureka Springs. Same architect, E. Faye Jones, an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the Mildred Cooper Chapel, beautiful seeing in the woods beard Norwood Lake.
    When we got there it was closed to a private event. Disappointment. So we took an exterior pic and decided to pick up lunch and groceries at a nearby Harps grocery. ( Chris we had the fried chicken-very good!) Fortunately it was closed enough that I couldn't walk back to chapel to see off it was open again. Happily it was and I got to head inside.
    Very similar feel to Thorncrown. Love these chapels. The woods are as much a part of the building as the ribbed structure. Lots of volume, and every thing, lights, hardware, etc are part off the overall design. So glad I got to go back and sit inside!
    Back on 49, pretty rural drive, Missouri looks pretty dry in this part of the state. About 5 got to our RV Park. Kind of an odd park, thinks it is owned by the church that is nearby. This huge steeple pokes out of the trees behind us. We will have to "drive by" to see what it is.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Truman Home
    Copy of Official portraitsOval office during his termHis office in the presidential library he had built.2The World Hdqtrs of the Community of Christ. (Split from Mormon church) behind RV park

    Independence and Truman

    1 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Honestly my knowledge of history, American or world is horrible! That being said, I think if each student was to visit all the presidential library chronologically, they would have a fully realized vision/timeline imbedded in their brains. Independence Mo. is all about Harry S. Truman. He became president with the death of FDR, approx. 80 days after FDR assumed the presidency for a 3rd term. We visited his museum /library and the home he spent most of his life in with Bess, his wife.

    Great museum, a ton of history. He actually was able to serve in WW1 (inspite of his eyesight), president during the end off WW2 in Europe, and ultimately authorized the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Was in place for the start of the cold war, the Berlin wall (and airlift), the Korean War, recognizing Israel as a nation, and ongoing civil rights issues. He did serve almost two full terms, but still these were tough times and decisions.
    So interesting that earlier in our trip we visited Westminster College where Churchill makes his famous speech about the Iron Curtain dropping.
    We grabbed a late lunch at the UpDog in Independence Square. Like so many downtowns, usually older governmental centers, there are numerous old and vacant buildings. This area has seen some better days. Not bad, just could be more.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Front entry to his home
    The living room. Guide talked about all the notesbles who visited hereStudyThe Vaile mansion, 31 rooms!1Bingham-Waggoner estate

    The rest of the day in Independence

    1 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    So after museum we actually returned to his home. Technically Bess's family home, Truman came from a relatively poor background and had no college education. However he was a great reader. Tour was interesting, this family (includes daughter Margaret) was very frugal. The home was beautiful, but very traditional. As in very few updates. It was surprising to me how old the style looked, he died in 1972 and she in 1982 and she had bequeathed it to the NPS upon her death, so everything is in place as it was at her passing. The style looks like early 1900's. (The house was originally built in the late 1800s.) When he left office Truman effectively was in a poor financial position. No pensions at this time! About 5 years later the government started putting pensions in place. Also no security service. He left office and went back to his home which he loved that sits right in there middle of a regular neighborhood, back to his morning walks. Enough about Truman, although I am convicted to find a book about house life and presidency.
    The rest of the day we just did some drive-bys. Vaile mansion, Bingham- Wagoner Estate, the old depot, relocated log cabin....we could do thses fairly easily because they are all within a 5 mile range. Both places needed a little TLC. but like Meux home in Fresno, they are so costly to maintain. I want to jump in and do a little weeding and pruning! Just a little elbow grease! Back to the RV to give Charlie some outdoor time!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Liberty Tower with WWl museum below
    You look through the floor to the poppies belowPlaza up to museum and towerKC with Union Station in lower leftSwede Point Park

    Kansas City "peek'

    2 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Before heading north we went into Kansas City to just have a peek at it. Independence is east of the downtown. It was a little butt if challenge negotiating interstates and parkways to finally get into the city. Tom needed to take a couple of deep breaths once we got in and we were parked.
    I wanted to see a couple of places, but we knew we only had the morning so had to keep it short.
    We decided to go to the WW1 Museum and Liberty memorial and Union Station. We knew we wouldn't have time for the museum but we did want to do the Liberty Tower, to get a great view of KC. To get Tower tickets you still went into the museum. It looked fabulous, like they all do!
    In this one once your but your ticket you cross a wide see through to the floor below. The floor below is cover with 9,000 red poppies (fake) planted in a "field" of grey dust. Each of these poppies represent 1.000 service men that lost their lives. Very visual reminder of the loss of life.
    Almost forget, Kansas City is also home to Hallmark Visitor Center! But it was closed on Sundays....I really would have enjoyed going in!
    We went back out to the plaza and went up the Liberty Tower. It is about 13 stories high and you are able to get out and walk around a little landing to get the view of the city. Beautiful! I had wanted to see Union Station and because of time my compromise was to see it from the top of the tower! Not quite what I wanted, but hopefully will be back to KC to see this museum and the Money Museum. We both were disappointed, the MM is only open during the week, it's supposed to be a great tour.
    Headed north again on I-35. We wanted to get to Madrid, Iowa to go on a bike ride in the morning. Found a cute little city park with electric on the out skirts of town.
    Ended the day with a Red Cross dispatch event so we pretty much snacked for dinner.
    Nice drive through corn and soy. Good roads.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Not only do you see gold, but a little orange!
    Iowa prairie grassEvery so often I would see this clump of grass with beautiful white tasselsThey looked like feathers

    The beginning of fall in Madrid

    3 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    The evenings are definitely getting cooler and the days shorter! We have seems quite a bit of gold in the forest, but are now beginning to see little hints of orange and even red! I love fall trees!
    Left Tom in bed, and took Charlie for her morning walk. It was cool and he was warm in bed. Spent some time wandering this little campground, maybe two dozen sites, but with showers ( the type you have to keep pressing the button for water) and toilets. Came back to RV and some how the door had locked behind me!? Arrrgh. I want my coffee. Started banging on door to wake Tom up. Nothing was stirring, not even a mouse... So got in storage bin to find something harder then my fist. I must have banged on every window and the door, again. Nothing! Finally decided to get the ladder out and had to crawl through front driver window. Thanks goodness the windows was open and screen slides easily.
    When Tom finally came out I asked him "how could he sleep through all the banging??"
    His answer: "I thought you were killing some bugs that were on the RV".
    Needless to say, we ALL needed some coffee.
    On the way out of camp I did take some pics of the trees and the prairie grass.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    The pic to the left shows the bridge at night
    Towers that frame the entrance to the actual bridge1Overlook on one side of the bridgeEnd of trail in WoodwardMural on one of the tunnels1Orange, and red!

    High Trestle Trail, outside Des Moines

    3 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Drove into Madrid where they had a large parking area for this ride. It is a 25 mile ride, point to point, but we are doing about the middle 6 (out and back) that includes the bridge. This is a "rails to trails" ride, in other words converted railroad to trails for walking, jogging, biking, etc. Oddly enough Iowa prides itself on the over 700 miles of trail they have for biking. This particular ride was completed in 2011 and had to include replacing the old Trestle bridge with this new pedestrian bridge that is actually half a mile long!
    We really enjoyed the ride! Perfect weather. For those who don't know, railroad grades are typically 5% or less, so are very easy rides. Only drawback, they can be straight as an arrow! Regardless, this was a well maintained, 6' wide concrete trail, with a beautiful tree canopy over most of the stretch we were on. We ended up in Woodward, just in time for an early lunch! (How does that happen?) At at this very cute little restaurant, split a burger and some of the best onion rings we had ever had. The thin ones that are actually dipped and cooked in the kitchen!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero

    Air in Woodward

    3 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    So on our ride out to Woodward, I noticed my front tire looked a little deflated, more so than when we started. So I got a little anxious about having to walk the trail at some point going back. During lunch we googled for bike shops, none. But I did see a hardware/toy store on the map. I called the store and he said that he was no longer a hardware store, just a toy/hardware museum. (?). But he volunteered that he did have a compressor. We biked on down and he was able to fill my tires. But then he offered to shower us the museum. Turns out this guy is a serious collector of various things, but mostly toys and hardware. He has built and arranged thousands of items into his "museum". Why? Because he just loves collecting. Two wives later, he is a bachelor. Not sure why?! Any way, we toured all 3 levels of his place. Just crazy, incredible amount of stuff; all organized and carefully placed in cabinets and shelves he has made.
    He was a really fun guy to talk to. And we appreciated the air!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero

    End of day in Forest City, Iowa

    3 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Still had some driving to do after the ride. Only about 120 miles due north. Gad is back up in this part of the state to about $3.60. nice drive, not to much traffic. Lots of corn, some soy, and lots of, something like maybe chickens.... We see those long low buildings. Guessing these are not free range. But we always like the rural drives, just rolling fields, bits of forest that still remain, blue skies, and interestingly enough a number of wind turbines. Iowa can get pretty cold and windy, apparently in the minus 20, plus wind chill!
    Our destination, the Winnebago factory, in Forest City. We will be touring tomorrow. We were both surprised to see the brands that after under the Winnebago industries umbrella!    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    One of the original trailers
    Another trailer, great colors?Toy models at visitor centerDesk of original plant manager and part owner, unchanged

    Winnebago factory tour

    4 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    Started our day with the factory tour. Winnebago started right better in Forest City in 1958. Currently they employ at this campus approx 2000. They have another plant about 15 miles away that makes the camper vans. And at this time they also own Chris Craft, Grand Design, Newmar, and Barletta platoon boats. We were actually really surprised about the other companies. We were here just after the 500,000th RV came off their production line. It's really quite a story. The visitor center has a very small little museum about the company.
    Tour was interesting, no pictures allowed. 200 acres with various buildings completing various items that ultimately get installed on the production line. Upholstery, working, chassis modifications, plastics... The tour included a couple of these stops, but mostly had a view of the assembly line at two points of production. Everything is made to order, so the units on the line vary based on dealer orders. Class A and Class C, including the Ekko come through. You see the modified chassis come in, floor gets dropped and they start building up from there. Really was interesting to see.
    Spent the rest of the day doing some bookkeeping, shopping at the visitor store and the parts store. Beautiful day to walk Charlie around.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Older buildings on main street
    City park across from restaurant

    Dinner in Thompson

    4 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Since we weren't leaving until the morning we decided to go out and have dinner. I had heard some visitors talking about a steakhouse about 10 miles out of town in a small farming community of Thompson. Tom loves a good ribeye!
    Nice drive out, country roads; lots of harvesting activity. So much so that there was a little haze in the air from all the dust in the fields. Interestingly enough this seems to be almost exclusively corn, unlike Missouri which seemed to be both corn and soy. The landscape was just as you would imagine, fields of corn, clumps of trees with farm houses and silos, ands then the big grain bins and silos that are probably part of the cooperatives. And those low, long buildings that we thought were poultry, are for the hogs!
    Sadly Thompson is liked so many of these little farm towns, many buildings seem boarded up, and some still busy and making a living. We ate at the Branding Iron, original owner and cook for the last 45 years. I had some good steak tips and Tom had a 14 oz. ribeye. Well actually he ate about a third and had to call it quits. Definitely tender and tasty, and we plan on getting a whole second dinner from it.
    Just a nice drive and evening out in Iowa.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    Nice shady (but noisy) site

    Drive to Lincoln, Nebraska

    6 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We picked up a couple of the parts we had ordered at the service center and eventually got on the road. We pretty much had to re-trace our drive back to Des Moines and then head west to Nebraska.
    Again beautiful weather, 70% and blue skies. We chased some rain a little bit in the morning, but did not get much.
    Pretty much drove straight thru, we wanted to be in place at the RV park because Tom had a video conference with his primary physician. He is fine, but with some prescriptions, the physician needs to have a regular check in.
    Got here just in time to complete call and then I got to go have a nice long shower vs. an RV shower. Park is a little old, right in Lincoln, nice trees, but has an on-ramp or highway on 3 sides. Road noise a problem, I actually changed sites and it didn't help. Well we do have air conditioning so we can close the windows. But they have a very large, enclosed dog park, so Charlie is happy. Lots of ball chasing time and new dogs to meet.    Leer más

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  • KatbozMichigan 2022Viajero
    South entrance, main entrance on the north was a little grander
    Our classmatesOne of several domed ceilingsThese murals came a little laterNebraska hall of Fame sculpturesDoors to legislative chamberState Supreme Court

    Nebraska State Capital

    6 de octubre de 2022, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Wow, this building is beautiful! We saw in from the interstate on our way OUT to Michigan, but didn't stop. But had read about it and didn't want to miss heading home.
    Just breif history, this the 3rd building on this site. First 2 were not built well. This one was literally built around the old one, old one demolished and this one was completed. The state decided to move away from the conventional design with the columns and one large done and go for the modern, skyscraper look. Built from 1922 to 1932. Cost, 10 million. In today's dollar, over a billion.
    Can't really describe it decently, but it has huge barrel arches, marbles mosaic floors, gorgeous tile mosaic ceilings, solid marble columns, bronze hardware, lots of sculpture and it was all united with history of Nebraska theme, native Americans to the current time.
    Our free tour happened to coincide with a 4th grade class ( actually 3 classes) so it moved a little more slowly, but still fabulous. Google this state building, top notch design team. Ceramic tile murals completed by a young 20 something that has done other notable installations with this particular architect.

    PS I forgot to mention, I don't ever remember seeing security. We just walked in! Also our tour guide recommended we peak in the Governor's waiting room and office to see the wall murals. She told us where to find them. We found it and walked in! The secretary looked up and we told her we just wanted to see this area. No problem!? The door was open to his office...I can't imagine the access to Newsom would be this easy. I never saw security folks....    Leer más

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