August 18, 2018 World’s Largest Truck Stop, Awkward Airplanes, Flying Wienie, Buddy Holly August 19, 2018 The Corn Palace

SATURDAY AUGUST 18, 2018

Walcott, Iowa – World’s Largest Truck stop.

Of course, they are glad we are here!!! Who wouldn’t be?!?

The truck stop started as Bill Moon’s idea of a truck stop for truckers driving between the east and west coast along interstate 80. It was just recently remodeled to where some of the services they offer the truckers are: theater, barber, dentist, chiropractor, dogomat ( to service your dog), laundry, library, workout room, custom shop to customize anything you would like and any part you would possibly want to add to your tractor trailer. Mike was like a kid in a candy store. Oh, and since it also serves as a rest stop it has a convenience store – snacks, clothing, toys, shoes, etc. etc. And there are several restaurants. Violet had a mini blizzard at Dairy Queen and Evie got a bagel at Einstein bagels. The girls were totally amazed also. I think they were expecting the “normal” rest stop.

Here we are outside with old gas pumps. Violet was quite happy to stand on the concrete so she could be as tall as us 🙂 is a truck museum.

A short walk across the parking lot is trucking museum. There were trucks from the early 1900’s to present day. Mike was glowing!! He took a picture of every truck. I spared all of you from them. You’re welcome! :):). This was Mike’s pick for the trip.

Here is one row of the trucks. And, yes, that would be his lovely wife.

Here are the Awkward Airplane Sculptures at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They are sculptures that are supposed to represent abstract seagulls in flight but they resemble airplanes crashing. They were very interesting.

 

We were hungry for lunch. So where else should we go but non other than the Flying Wienie hot dog stand. Complete with a single engine plane on the roof. How could we resist. Mike had the spicy Italian sausage (homemade by the owner), Violet had the bacon and cheese hot dog and I had the Chicago hot dog (which is a hot dog with lots of condiments on it). Evie ate our fries as she had a late breakfast and wasn’t very hungry. Everyone was pleased with their lunch.

Next stop – Buddy Holly’s crash site. It has been kept like it was in 1959 – a lonely spot in a giant Iowa field. Buddy Holly’s trademark glasses mark the access point at the road to the path in the corn field to the crash site.

Here is the crash site. A very small but thoughtful memorial made up from items that people have left. In 1988 a music fan added the guitar and records with the names of the three rockers that lost their lives in the crash – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper”. And in 2009 he added the memorial for the pilot. The farmer that owns the field not only sacrifices the space for the memorial but he keeps the path open for visitors.

SUNDAY AUGUST 19, 2018

Mitchell South Dakota – The Corn Palace.

This is the world’s ONLY corn palace. It was built for a place to celebrate the harvest season. This is actually the 3rd location. The building itself is not made of corn but the murals on the outside are. Each year there is a different theme for the murals. The theme changes in the fall with harvesting of the corn. Last year the theme was Iowa weather and this year the theme is a tribute to the military. They are in transition right now so we were able to see some from last year and some from this coming year. If you look at the large mural on the left it shows a lightning storm and the mural on the right is a picture of a tornado but the wording for both is for the USS South Dakota. Clearly a mix of last year and this year. The murals are very detailed and very interesting. Some interesting facts: for the borders they use 20,000 bundles of sour dock (?), 20,000 brooms of rye, and 500,000 staples. For the corn murals they use 325,000 ears of corn which are cut in half length wise so they have a flat back which makes it easier to nail to the building. One farmer grows 12 different colors of corn. The corn is not painted or dyed. 1.5 million nails are used in the decorating process. There were no new murals put up during the “dust bowl”, during WWII as the corn was used for the war effort and 2006 due to the extreme drought. Yes the birds eat the corn, but they don’t care as they redecorate each year. They consider it the “World’s largest bird feeder” 🙂

There is a large auditorium/basketball arena inside the building that is used for dances, shows, banquets, proms, graduations the high school and university and basketball games.

Violet and Evie with Cornelius the Corn Palace mascot.

This display was inside the corn palace. It shows what is used and is a close up of how the corn is used.

The first three days the weather was very nice. Today, not so much. Shortly after we left Mitchell it poured like crazy for about the next 8 hours and was very windy which made driving difficult for Mike. We made one more stop after the corn palace at the Pioneer Auto Museum. Mike had seen it on American Pickers. The girls didn’t want to go in so they stayed in the motorhome while Mike and I went in. Between the short walk to and from the front door and a little in between some of the buildings for the museum we were soaked. It wasn’t that interesting. Mike only took one picture.

Good night all. Sleep well, we are!!

PS…. Violet was tired tonight so I did the post. I will get her to do at least one before the trip is over.