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Marion to Oelwein, Iowa 60 miles

June 7
 
I had a good day putting up north out of Marion. The first 20 miles was good but when I headed west from Central City, I had rough roads and had I to slow down the rest of the trip and take my time.
I had lots of people stopping and taking pictures and waving to me as they went by.
The countryside looked much greener and there was more corn planted. Looks like they were able to get the corn in early. It looks nice.
I arrived in Oelwein, Iowa, early this afternoon and boy, I was ready to quit.  My body is kind of aching all over from being bounced around all day.
I called ahead to make a reservation and the camp director was quite interested in the kind of vehicle I was coming in with.
She said, “a tractor pulling a RV?”
When I pulled in here, Joyce and her husband Craig were waiting outside of the office for me. They were honored that I choose their camp grounds and said, “we’ve got the right spot for you, the site with the flags around the campsite.
The stay is on us and here is a donation for your cause. Thank you for what you are doing.”
Thank you Craig and Joyce Hansel at Lakeshore RV Resort & Campground. It’s the nicest and cleanest camp grounds I have stayed at yet.
Once I got settled in, I jumped on Smiley and went down town for a hot meal.
I got to a stop sign and this white truck pulls up beside me and the man opens his window and says, “Hey dude, did you ride that from PA (Smiley has PA tags)?” Smiley was offended! They thought that she wouldn’t be able make that long of a trip. I explained and they laughed and went on their way.
I had homemade liver and onions with mash potatoes and boy did that hit the spot! It felt so good to have some of my comfort food.
I asked how far  the John Deere museum is from here in Waterloo, Iowa, and Craig said about 35 miles.
Back in 2014,  I was through Waterloo but the Museum was closed while under construction.
Here I was, right where Johnabilt was built (or born).  The old buildings have been torn down and the museum was built at the very spot where the buildings used to be.  The owner of the camp ground said , “you take my truck and go down and enjoy yourself.” So I decided to stay an extra day and go down and enjoy myself.
I received a call from Donna Brokopp from Lancaster, Wisconsin. Donna said they wanted to drive down and take me to an early Father’s Day dinner tomorrow if I am still in Olewein.
In 2017 when I went through Lancaster, Wisconsin on Father’s Day, they came out to my campsite and took me out for dinner.
Bless them, they will have 80 miles to travel. So much good in America!
 
June 8
I was up early and drove down to Waterloo and toured the new JD museum. On my drive down I found it interesting driving through an Amish community.

 

I got a picture of an Amish man planting corn. You can see in the picture the different cultures in farming techniques.
Donna and Arlen Brokopp arrived and we headed to town. Thank you for dinner and taking the time driving 80 + miles to find me.