We had a really strong tailwind as we hit the road along I-90 heading east. When we've traveled from Southern California to Las Vegas on I-15, we've had tailwinds in the past. This was like three times as good of a tailwind as the one on I-15. I know this because I had to stop to tighten up a speaker and rear view mirror, and had a hard time getting the door open to walk outside to and from the mirror. This same wind gave us somewhat of a hard time when we were heading south on I-35 to Clear Lake. It was good that it wasn't more than about 40 miles.
We set up camp and I had a hard time getting the dish to work again. I've kind of decided to just wait until we get to Adventureland USA where I'm hoping I'll get a few more pointers on how to line this piece of metal up so it will do what it was designed to do. I'm thinking this because I know that there'll be more than just a few fulltimers there who've probably gone through this same problem.
Our first stop on Wednesday, June 1st, was at the Visitors Center of Clear Lake to find out what things are happening and to pick up a souvenir lapel pin if one was available. One was so we got it.
The highlight of this part of our journey had to be a trip to the Winnebago factory in Forest City. We took the factory tour which was very informative. Although we learned some things about the new Winnebagos and Itascas being made, I don't think that we're gonna be able use that information in getting another rig; them suckers just cost too much even though they are sooo nice. If any of you readers think you may want a moho in the future, I heartily endorse a Winnebago motorhome. There will be other brands out there that may offer you more, but ya gotta do your homework just like any other purchase. Not all motorhomes are made the same.
If you're a fan of old rock and roll, especially Buddy Holly, Richie Valenz, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, you may know the significance of Clear Lake, Ia. They had just finished their gig at The Surf Ballroom on February 2nd, 1959 in Clear Lake and left from Mason City, Ia airport to go to their next stop at Moorhead, Mn. by plane with pilot Roger Peterson. Unfortunately, it went down in a cornfield about six miles north of Clear Lake shortly after take off. We visited the site which now has a memorial which you can see where Katie is standing. Near the road adjacent to the memorial is a post sign of horn rimmed glasses you can see me standing next to. Later in the day, we happened to drive by the Surf Ballroom. We didn't know the significance of Clear Lake in the history of rock and roll, but it was interesting for us to find out. Question: What's the significance of "Miss American Pie" from Don McLean's "Bye Bye, Miss American Pie"?
We also visited Mason City several miles to the east of Clear Lake. From what we saw of the town, it has a lot of older homes which are quite beautiful. Once again, I didn't realize the significance of Mason City until we got there that it was the birthplace of Meredith Willson, who wrote "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". We stopped at his boyhood home and went to the museum next to it. Had an outstanding time learning about his growing up, his family, and the history of Mason City at the time. For instance, the street that his home was on was paved with wooden cobblestones because the families there didn't like the road noise from normal pavement of the time. These cobblestones were on the main hall in the museum; looked very interesting.
There were quite a few band instruments in the museum. Among them a bass saxophone, a valved trombone shaped like a saxaphone, and a double bell euphonium (I thought they only existed in someone's imagination! Lets ya know how little I really know!). Another curiosity were brass instruments of the civil war with over the shoulder bells which were played by the band as they led the troops into battle; the reason for the over the shoulder bells was so the troops behind the band could hear the music being played (and for distraction from what lay ahead). If you're in the Mason City area, I heartily recommend that you take in this museum.
We cut our stay short by one day so we could head to Altoona to get set up and not have too much stress when we started work on June 8. When we were recruited to work at Adventureland, we were told there wouldn't be any flying, blood sucking insects at the park, which we thought was quite a promise.
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