Winnebago Industries, Forest City, Iowa

Bob and I arrived early on Sunday at Winnebago Industries. We were able to find a site in the customer service camping area. If we had arrived any later we would have had to park at the WIT Center. We got set up and made sure we had everything in order for our appointment the following morning--7 a.m.  Yes, we had to have Sol ready to move at 7 a.m. That meant everything stowed and the the two working slides in with jacks up. Winnebago provided electric at each site. There was a dump station and fresh water across the highway in the rally grounds.

So, bright and early Monday morning we met the tech who would be in charge of fixing Sol. Eric had a sheet with the notifications of fixes and we were able to add a few more small items once we checked in at the service desk. The first day of service, we stuck close to the service area in case we needed to answer any questions. We figured the WIT tour of the factory was close enough. First we walked through the Winnebago Museum and followed the story of how Winnebago came into existence.

Then we toured the factory and saw motorhomes being put together and painted (no pictures allowed.)  Since we couldn't eat lunch in Sol, we went into town to find a restaurant. We ate  lunch in the local Mexican restaurant. After lunch, we walked around Forest City. It is a nice small college town. Waldorf University is located in Forest City.

 

  We found the bicycle art listed on Roadside America. It was difficult to get good pictures of the structures made from bicycles, but here is one of the creatures.

Promptly at 3 p.m., Sol was returned to us. Eric told us what had been done and what would be done the next day.

Tuesday we ventured to Austin, Minnesota. I hear you asking, "Why Austin, Minnesota?" Well, it is the home of Hormel who manufactures SPAM. They have a museum in town that is worth the visit.

 The museum details the origin of spam and its use by the military in World War II and beyond.

SPAM is a favorite in Hawaii and in many countries around the world. There are many flavors of SPAM, but the museum gift shop only sells the top 12 flavors.

If you visited the SPAM Museum before April of 2016, it was in its original location near the Hormel factory. The current museum opened at the end of April in the center of Austin, Minnesota. The museum offers a list of local restaurants that use Spam. Bob and I chose Steve's Pizza...and no, we didn't get a Spam pizza! Bob did get a pizza and I got a lunch order of  lasagna. Both were very good.

We returned to Forest City in time to get Sol and to talk with Eric. He took us back in the work area to show us what they did to fix our slide. He also told us they were going to replace the motors on the living room slide as the casings on the motors were starting to crack just like the ones did on the kitchen slide. We took Sol back to our site to get ready for one another early morning appointment.

Wednesday we went geocaching. We took some back roads in the area and found some interesting sights. Due to heavy rains to the north, the creeks were overflowing their banks.

The deck on this bridge had been replaced. As we walked over the bridge to get a cache, we wondered just how good the supporting piers were....they didn't look so good once we got across.

In the middle of nowhere, we found a monument to Norwegian immigrants. Of course, there was a cache located at the base of one of the flagpoles.

In another little town, we found a cache on the school bell of the local museum.

To complete our day we stopped in at the casino located by the Iowa Welcome Center. First we found the cache, then we ate lunch at Burger King in the casino. After our late lunch, we went back to get Sol and settle in for the night. If all went as planned we only had one more day of work on Sol.

Yes, work on Sol would be completed Thursday afternoon. We spent Thursday geocaching to Mason City, Iowa. We drove past the Frank Lloyd Wright house and the hotel he built in Mason City. Then we took the long way back to Forest City. We stopped at a Winnebago Parts Store just off the interstate. It turned out to be an Internet only operation, but the owner had a collection of Indian motorcycles on display in the office area.

 We enjoyed looking at all the motorcycles and advertisements before we made our way back to Forest City.

When Eric brought Sol around, we were excited to know that all work was completed and we would be able to leave the following morning! Bob and I were both happy with the service at Winnebago.  Now it was time to plan our trip south!