Wrapping it up in Quadopolis

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Today is the last day for the Quad Cities for us, at least on this trip, so we spent the day cleaning and polishing one last time before the journey home to the West Coast.

Sasha demanded a bit of play time, so the back 40 at the Geneseo Campground provided the perfect place.

On Tuesdays and Sundays in downtown Davenport Iowa, just across the Mississippi River from us, the Freight House Farmers Market is held. We zipped over this afternoon after we finished our chores to check it out.

Our first purchase was from Gwen at Allen Grove Greenhouse. She and her husband have a huge variety of farm to table items, including a full array of vegetables, honey, baked goods, and even ice cream that is made at the dairy where the milk is collected! We spent a good bit of time talking with Gwen and sharing recipes with her. She is extremely knowledgable as a cook and a "farm girl". Some of the items she had for sale tonight was an array of six or seven different kinds of peppers, from sweet  to can't talk. Nice lady.

Another enjoyable stop was at the booth from Crosswinds Farm, where they raise their own sheep, shear them, and then card, spin, and sell the wool. As we talked, the young lady spun a bunch of yarn from a huge pile of wool on the floor. Incredible!

We took yet another new highway home after the Farmers Market, and noted that the Quad Cities must have a dozen major roads criss-crossing the area. It was kinda weird because at 5 pm there was not any heavy traffic, in fact, at one point we were the only car on the visible section of road! On a weekday, yet!

The area has been fun to visit, and it has been great to get a taste of the Midwest in the fall. A very nice slice of flyover country. We like it.

Pickin' and Grinnin'

We've been watching the fields around the Quad Cities (Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois), because this is "Harvest". That one word describes the focus of this area no matter the business or trade. Millions of acres of corn and soybeans are being harvested while the moisture content is optimal, and combines and trucks clog the roads.

We ate a breakfast of champions at the Geneseo Donut shop (voted best in the Quad Cities and just a mile from our campground) and chatted with the owner, Bill, about the length of day he puts in. Now, I  knew that bakers got up early, but Bill's schedule is ridiculous! He has two retail stores and delivers donuts in a radius of 100 miles, so he starts baking at noon. At about four pm he goes home to catch some sleep. At midnight he comes in again to get the deliveries going and then returns home for a bit. He tries to get back to the shop at about 4:30 am to prep for opening at 5, but he's given keys to three of his farmer customers so that they can open up, get the coffee going, and start their breakfast. OMG! Near as I can tell, he has about ten hours a day to call his own.

Gotta say, though: Best Donuts in the Quad Cities!

Just north of Geneseo we spotted a combine emptying while harvesting a corn field.

Just a bit farther, another combine was harvesting soybeans. The open doors on top are where the storage bin is.

We watched the operation for about a half hour, waving to the operators as they made their turns and watching the emptying process. The long tube swings out and the grain is augured into a waiting wagon (think: the size of a semi-truck). We went on about our business after awhile, but returned the same way in mid afternoon, catching the combine finishing up the field and watching as it crossed the road and started on another field. We had pulled off the road to watch the finishing procedure when the operator decided to cross the highway at exactly where we were parked. I'll bet he smiled when he saw how fast we moved out of his way! That 35 foot wide cutter head coming at you with rattling scissor teeth is scary!

Our destination today was the home office of Antique Archeology, the business operated by Mike and Frank of American Picker television program fame. They have another store in Nashville, but this store in Le Claire, IA, was close. It is housed in a refurbished service station and garage as befits two guys who have a passion for antique automobile and motorcycle memorabilia.

The boys' van was in the parking lot, but the girls inside the store(s) told us that Frank and Mike were on the road. We also found out that Danielle works from home in Chicago, so we were out of luck meeting any of the stars of the show.

One of the tee shirts had an appropriate saying on the front!

Lots of antique motorcycles are on display in the store, some not for sale. It was amazing to see what has been found lurking in the backwoods and byways of this country!

This Indian still has the original rear tire!

I remember these! This is a 1951 Hoffman Vespa in pristine condition.

This acetylene headlight harks back to the early days of the 1900's.

Even the washroom had vintage posters on the walls.

The store goes on and on, with hundreds, if not thousands, of antiques.

This 1940 Indian, despite its rusty appearance, has an interesting story. Detailed in April of 2014, Season 6, Episode 21 "Legend of the Lost Indian", the machine was unearthed after being buried for 70 years! While picking in Springfield, Illinois, Frank and Mike visited the property of Sylvia Nieves, where legend had it that an Indian motorcycle had been buried by Mr. Dominic Carderopoli. Not knowing for sure if the legend was true, Mike offered $200 and the promise to return the landscape to original and started digging. After hours of frustration, Mike finally brought the Indian from it's grave! Mrs. Nieves wasn't entirely happy with the excavation process, but smiled after the discovery!

The two buildings of the Archaeology store house an eclectic collection of items, including these unusual roller skates.

This coin operated Pepsi machine is valued at $2300.

Laurel and Hardy keep watch from a high shelf.

The famous Skywalk is located on East River Ave in Davenport, IA. It was built to cross the Avenue and train tracks so that pedestrians could easily access the Mississippi River walkway and the Rhythm City Casino from downtown.

Overlooking the Mississippi from 60 feet in the air gave us a great view of Ole' Muddy.

As we were returning to downtown Davenport, a BNSF train rumbled under the Skyway so we could look down at the cars carrying ore and coal. Cool!

At the north end of the Skyway, a number of restaurants have transformed a blighted area into a destination. We decided to try lunch at Woodfire. This turned out to be a Five Star Restaurant, for sure. Donna ordered fish tacos, and a side of corn and beans. They were delicious (she said),

And I ordered the days special, Brisket tacos. They also were delicious, with a soft smokey flavor, but not too salty like so many barbecued meat is. One for our side, Julie.

We managed to finish two tacos and took the rest home. The food was delicious and the server was attentive without being overbearing. A good combination! We left the restaurant grinnin' from ear to ear!

It Ain't Easy bein' Green

Moline, Illinois, is the home of John Deere, Inc. Deere and Co. is a global enterprise with over 60 manufacturing plants worldwide, from Argentina to Russia and China. Each geographical area produces equipment that is optimal for that region, sometimes without emissions or safety constraints that are mandatory in the US, but entirely within the limits of the local jurisdiction.

The story of John Deere is one of integrity, innovation, and commitment to quality. Born in Rutland, Vermont in 1804, John was apprenticed to a successful blacksmith in nearby Middlebury when he was 17. In 1836, with money from an investor, he tried to start his own blacksmith shop, but it burned down. John rebuilt, but the shop burned again, and the investor demanded his money. John was penniless, and had few options. He could stay and go to debtors prison, or he could go west, make his fortune, and return to pay off his debt. John skipped town, ending up in Grand Detour, Illinois. He had $73 in his pocket.

In his new blacksmith shop, John Deere found an abandoned steel saw blade. He figured that it would make a better plow blade than the wood blades in current use, so he shaped it, attached it to a plow frame, and history was made.

Improvements over the next few years produced a self-cleaning plow that was the perfect answer to the sticky mid-west soil.

In 1822, John married Demarius Lamb, the daughter of a prosperous Vermont farmer. When, after 38 years of marriage and 10 children, Demarius Deere died, John returned to Vermont to marry Lucenia Lamb, Demarius' sister.

Mr. John Deere:

The history of the Deere Family, and the evolution of the products it produces is detailed in exhibits at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, IL. You'll notice that Deere and Company is no longer in Grand Detour, IL Needing access to large amounts of raw materials, John moved the company to Moline, which fronts on the Mississippi River.

The Waterloo Boy was one of the first JD products to revolutionize the industry. Previously, large traction engines had provided belt-driven power in the field. Unfortunately, the steam powered machines were pretty much stationary once moved to the field. John Deere foresaw the need to be more mobile, and began to produce smaller tractors, powered by kerosene, fuel oil, and/or gasoline.

The John Deere Model A, although suffering from a strange appearance, was the most successful of the early machines due to its small and maneuverable size.

Of course, there were many new machines on display as well as the antiques. This 6150 tractor with a 569 round baler caught D's attention!

Kent, one of the staff tour guides, gave us a rundown on this harvester, built here in Moline. This machine is set up for harvesting soybeans, although the process is similar for wheat or corn. The mowing blades along the front bottom of the machine cut the plant, which is moved to the center either by augur or belt and moved into the interior of the combine, where the seed are separated from the plant by vibration and vacuum. A series of filter screens further separates the good stuff from the bad. The good stuff is moved to a hopper bin, seen here with the doors open, where it is augured through a tube to a waiting truck or trailer. This is a monster! The cutting bar can be easily removed for transport, and the combine itself simply drives down the road from field to field. The concept of the combine, which is a machine that can combine cutting, separating, and transporting, is a John Deere invention.

The cab contains two seats. Not for a passenger, but as a seat for a trainee. Custom harvesting crews are always training new operators, so JD decided to make it a more comfortable process.

From the cab, it appears that the operator is way up in the air! And he/she is!

Also on display are a couple of examples of products still being tested. A wireless lawn mower and a tractor that doesn't need an operator!

A few miles away from the John Deere Pavilion is the Deere and Company World Headquarters.

In a building designed by Eero Saarinen, another display of John Deere equipment can be seen in a magnificent glass-walled room. I asked the docent why some equipment was painted yellow, not green. The answer? Yellow denotes construction equipment, not farm equipment.

Corporate office buildings surround the display building on the over 100 acre campus.

This has been an informative day and it has been wonderful to see the progression of one man's idea to the multi-billion dollar company that John Deere has become. Truly an American story.

Are We There Yet?

After four nights at the Newmar factory in Nappanee, Indiana, hoping to get into service, we cut our losses and left town.  We had requested a service appointment back at the first of September, but due to a delay by the Newmar estimating department an appointment was not able to be made. We were encouraged to drop by and hope for a cancellation, so we did so, since Newmar provides several sites with hook-ups for customers (and potential customers). We spent the first three nights in an overflow area without sewer connections, getting up at 5:00 am in hopes of a knock at our door, and then moved to a full-hookup site for the last night so we could clean out our holding tanks and enjoy the ability to do laundry!

We didn't want to venture too far from our motorhome in case a service opening suddenly appeared, but we did have the chance to drive about 50 miles to Valparaiso, IN, to have lunch at the Industrial Revolution. We have eaten there in the past, and enjoyed the food and the decor. Decorated with all manner of tradesmen in an industrial iron sort of way, the restaurant has a lot of interest. This concrete finisher has been working on the entry slab just a mite too long!

Another day we drove a few miles north to Shipshewana, IN, to visit Yoder's Meat Shoppe. The butcher shop is without peer, with old-fashioned butchers cutting meat to order. We always try to pick up a couple of pork chops, since they can be custom cut a bit thicker than in most stores. They also have a wide variety of bulk foods, and old-fashioned items like this display of Bubble Up! Haven't seen that in awhile!

Our third and last day at the factory was spent doing the wash, cleaning up a bit, and prepping to hit the road, which we did early on Saturday morning. Fifty-five miles west on US 6, a fairly good two lane highway, got us to the 80/90 Interstate. I say fairly good because we crossed a set of railroad tracks that ran at about a 45 degree angle to the road, and the resulting rolling motion had us going down the road like a pinball! After a stop for checking our condition (like Willie Nelson says: We needed "to see what condition our condition was in". We had to tighten a few nuts and bolts, but otherwise we were in fine shape, and soon got on the interstate to run with the Big Boys.

Two hundred and thirty seven miles west, we pulled into Geneseo Campground, site 1. This is a small, rustic campground, with smaller sites, but Sheri and her husband are very friendly and informative and put us in the best site in the place. With a bit of adjustment we have full satellite access, local TV stations, and free Wifi!

Having gained an hour due to the change from EDT to CDT, we had enough time to cruise the neighborhood. One of the things we found is the Hennepin Canal Parkway, Lock 24. As you know by now, we have a penchant for exploring old canalways, so we had to check this out. There is a great little park alongside the canal lock, and Sasha spotted a pure white squirrel getting ready to jump into a nearby tree! So now we've seen black squirrels, brown squirrels, and white squirrels!

The original wood lock gates are still in place and cracked a bit to allow some water flow. It's incredible to see equipment that has been in place since the 1800's!

The downstream gates are also ajar. A railroad bridge has been built over the canal; ironic, since the railroads put the canals out of business….

A long canal trail is maintained for the enjoyment of hikers and bikers. A great place to "get away".

Note: I've discovered that the campground is immediately adjacent to another portion of the canal….something else to check out on one of Sasha's walks!