Williamstown, WV

We're on our way down to Clifftop for some good old-time music. As soon as we crossed the Ohio River, we stopped off for a while to visit the Fenton Art Glass factory in Williamstown, WV. Their factory tour gave us an excellent close-up view of the steps used in making the gorgeous glassware for which they are so famous. During the tour, we stood on the production floor and watched as a master glass blower created a beautiful vase from a glowing blob of glass. Once he was satisfied, he heated it again and stamped his initials on the bottom. From there, we watched some of the finishing operations where designs are painted or etched onto the glass and any burrs or sharp edges are removed. The tour ended at the gift shop (where else?) where Susan purchased a nice piece for her collection - of one.

Zanesville, Ohio

A short drive from our campground and we're at the Longaberger Basket Factory in Frazeysburg, OH - one of Susan's "must-see" stops on our trip - so this was totally Susan's Day. We started by touring the humongous factory from the second level walkway where all segments of the basket making process could be viewed. Next, Susan got to weave her own basket using one of their production workstations. She even got her new basket autographed by two members of the Longaberger family. She'll treasure this basket for a long time. Then there were several more hours of shopping and looking around the giant, well-landscaped grounds. We even saw the world's largest apple basket which is over 20 feet tall! Quite a place.

Elkhart, Indiana

Yesterday, we had a six hour drive (most of it in heavy traffic thanks to our proximity to Chicago) from Iowa to the little town of Shipshewana, Indiana (near Elkhart) where someone had recommended a nice RV park and an excellent Amish restaurant. They were so right - those Amish really know how to prepare food and we left feeling like we'd eaten it all!

This morning we drove to Elkhart to tour the RV/MH Hall of Fame. This facility, which was relocated last year to its new building, houses one of the largest (if not the largest) collection of vintage recreational vehicles in the world. We saw everything from early 1900s tent trailers to some of the first pop-tops, trailers and innovative motor homes - including many handmade prototypes that led to the future of RVing as we know it today. Highly recommended for all you RV lovers out there.

From there, we went back to Shipshewana (pop. 550) which is actually one of six Amish settlements in this state. We toured the Menno-Hof Amish and Mennonite History Museum where we learned a lot about the history of the Hutterites, Mennonites and Amish people, their current culture and their way of life. Simply fascinating. Everywhere we looked as we drove around town, there were families traveling around in their horse-drawn buggies and carriages doing their shopping or whatever. We were definitely in their town and we loved it.

West Branch, Iowa

On Thursday morning we drove to West Branch, Iowa to visit the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Yep, there's Susan with yet another dead president. ;-) What an amazing person he was! So many things we take for granted today would not have been possible without Hoover. Also on display was a collection of Caroline Kennedy's dolls that really fascinated Susan. As we left the museum, we visited his birthplace, a tiny two-room cottage in a small Quaker village. His father's blacksmith shop, the school he attended and their place of worship were also on display. It is hard to believe that such a great man came from such humble beginnings.

WIT GNR Winds Down

Our last days at the rally were fun. On Tuesday evening we had dinner with the other RVers from NC. As we finished, we were entertained by a traveling polka band complete with a hilarious she-male performer who was looking for a dance partner. Guess what... I got elected... and I don't even know how to polka... but I had fun anyhow. On Wednesday, there was an antique automobile parade through the area. There were over 100 nicely restored cars including a 1914 Ford, a Ford Cobra, an old Willys convertable and an Amphibicar - the first one we had ever seen. Pretty cool rides... One last note to our Sams-O-Wake friends: We ran into Jim and Donna Lamb as we were going to the parade. They are now representing Freightliner at RV rallys and loving the experience. They said to say 'Hi" to everyone.

WIT Grand National Rally in Forest City, IA

Well friends, here we are in corn country - and I'm not talking about the type of comments I'm known for making either. We're at the Winnebago factory with about 1200 other Winnebago and Itasca RV owners enjoying the celebration of Winnebago's 50 years of making quality RVs. The whole theme here is the 50's from Elvis to old cars as you can tell from our first picture taken in the Winnebago Visitors Center. Saturday, we went downtown and watched a local parade that featured not only the usual town bands and celebrities but also RVs of all ages plus some antique tractors and farm equipment ('Only in Iowa', someone commented).

Monday, we took a tour of the Winnebago plant. We saw everything from the bare chassis getting fitted, to installing flooring, walls, cabinets, roof and final assembly. It's all done in a series of large buildings and I was amazed that, other than the Class B line which appeared to be the same model, the Class A's were all different models going down the line and yet the right parts and operations were done flawlessly. Quite an operation!

This morning, we had a special treat. Dave Price, the CBS Early Show weatherman, was here doing the show just a short ways down from our RV. He was only on during the weather portions of the show but he covered a lot of the goings on here. I don't know if you happened to see it, but I even got on nationwide TV this morning (I'm in the green shirt in the upper right) during his last scene. Now that I'm famous... yeah! As I write this, I'm sitting out front of the Winnebago service building awaiting some minor repair work. It's always nice to have good service on the road.

SPAM Museum

Today we headed south from the Twin Cities to Austin, MN on our first rainy day of the whole trip. We hoped that the rain would wash off the RV and the car but no such luck. Once we got there, we visited the SPAM Museum. I think I'll just let their brochure explain it:
"This SPAM Museum contains no artificial stories or preservatives. Items within may be replicas or substitutions but the truth is there. Let's face it. You can't make this stuff up.
Serving size: 16,500 square feet.
Nutrition Facts: This museum is good for you. It contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals required by law. Based on a daily museum diet, the SPAM Museum contains over 20,000 museum calories. That's a lot of museum in one dose. Technically, there is no protein in the displays. They are, however, meaty with information.
Ingredients: SPAM history. Water. Nostalgia. Carpet. A viking. Chairs. Facts. Displays. Old cans. Audio visual exhibits. Shopping carts. A letter from Eisenhower. Interactive kiosks. A conveyor belt. Advertising. A wagon. A tent. A puppet show. Glass. An old refrigerator. A game show. Rope. A light show. Fake pork chops. A map. Statues. A shop. Subliminal pigs in cloud murals. Wooden crates. Truth." That about says it all...

Tomorrow, we head down to Forest City, Iowa to visit the Winnebago Factory where we'll spend the week at the Winnebago-Itasca Travelers Club's Grand National Rally. I doubt that we'll have Internet there so the next blog post might not happen until we leave. Stay tuned...