MaryJean and Theresa took Zin on a morning walk around a small lake behind Nancy & Jacks place. Then with a little Breakfast and showers it was time to head out the 15 miles to Forest City, home of Winnebago, for the scheduled service. Most of the installation of the new Air Force breaking system involved the Toad but the service folks need both vehicles to make all necessary modifications. The RV was needed so that the technician could splice into the air brake lines and run a line to the back bumper of the RV where an external air hose connector would be installed. That connector would then feed air thru an air line between the RV and Toad. The Air Force 1 installed on the toad would then use the air pressure created by applying the air breaks on the RV and replicate that same result onto the breaks of the Toad.
Carol and Kathy led the way in Carol's van to the Litchtsinn Motors RV Service center, and would then be able to take the team on the planned outings for the day while the service place did their thing.
The first site on the day's tour was Pilot Knob park which claimed to be the 2nd highest point in IA. Carol claimed “You can see 7 counties from the top”. Kathy added “My dad helped in the construction!” The trail to the top was short and steep and at the top there was a rock turret with stairs leading up to an observation deck. The view was truly spectacular and no doubt could see 7+ counties that included rolling farm land speckled with wind generators. A few moments were spent there until Kevin got a call from the service place requesting for us to return to remove the bicycles from the Toad so they could put the car on a lift.
The first site on the day's tour was Pilot Knob park which claimed to be the 2nd highest point in IA. Carol claimed “You can see 7 counties from the top”. Kathy added “My dad helped in the construction!” The trail to the top was short and steep and at the top there was a rock turret with stairs leading up to an observation deck. The view was truly spectacular and no doubt could see 7+ counties that included rolling farm land speckled with wind generators. A few moments were spent there until Kevin got a call from the service place requesting for us to return to remove the bicycles from the Toad so they could put the car on a lift.
The team returned to the service center within 20 minutes. The bikes were extracted after removing the severely torn and beaten bike covers purchased on Amazon Prime just for this trip. Those were a disappointment!
The tour resumed with the next stop for lunch at 'The Other Place' which had as special 'The Other Sandwich' which was a yummy French dip that could be easily shared!
After lunch Carol drove everyone over to Elma's house on the South Shore of the lake. This was the site of many upon many Smit family get togethers that Kevin fondly recalls from his youth. Days of walking down to the State Park beach to swim and savory holiday meals with smells that filled the ranch house and basement apartment. Elma wanted Kevin and Theresa to see her garden that was patriotically decorated with a flag and old bicycle that would illuminate at night. The flowers were in prime bloom and a bounty of seasonal vegetables consumed the back half of the garden. Elma truly has a green thumb!
MaryJean had looked up a GeoCache on the other side of the state park which would give Kevin an opportunity to snap some shots of the park. MJB used an iPhone app to guide the treasure hunters to the cache coordinates. All three crawled into a thicket of pine trees looking high and low for the target object (geo cash), described as a Kitty litter container. After 30 min of searching and covered with tree debris all efforts were abandoned as it was time to head back to Elma's for the rest of the tour.
At 4:00 Kevin got a call that the RV was ready and it needed to be picked up by 4:30! Back to Forest City to check out the new breaking system! The service guy took the RV crew thru the steps to set up the Toad. One thin spiraled hose replaced the bulky Blue Ox Patriot Break Buddy. Nice! No struggle, just a simple visual verification that the break on the car was applied when the break on the RV is applied and ready to go! Kevin paid the bill, the team hooked up the toad and headed back to Clear Lake to dock the Smitanic once again at Nancy and Jacks.
At 4:00 Kevin got a call that the RV was ready and it needed to be picked up by 4:30! Back to Forest City to check out the new breaking system! The service guy took the RV crew thru the steps to set up the Toad. One thin spiraled hose replaced the bulky Blue Ox Patriot Break Buddy. Nice! No struggle, just a simple visual verification that the break on the car was applied when the break on the RV is applied and ready to go! Kevin paid the bill, the team hooked up the toad and headed back to Clear Lake to dock the Smitanic once again at Nancy and Jacks.
It was Carol and Bill's turn to host dinner in Swaledale, IA just a 10 min drive away. Bill and Carol had recently remodeled the entire inside and outside of their house. Bill did all the woodwork that included the kitchen cabinets, floor to ceiling built-in selves, several chests and bathroom vanity. His first attempt at tiling was perfect in the new bathroom shower. Better than any DIY show! Carol had every room decorated with a theme and coordinated colors and motif. The outdoors had 3 platform seating areas as well as a firepit. This home was truly the definition of comfort and warmth!
Bill cooked Pizza's and Carol had prepared lemon cupcakes, and white chocolate chip Brownies. Yum Yum Yum.
As food coma began to take hold the trio bid farewell with a promise to return soon.
Returning back to the RV a load of laundry was started while hijacked bandwith from Nancy and Jack's helped upload more pictures and post blog write ups.
Returning back to the RV a load of laundry was started while hijacked bandwith from Nancy and Jack's helped upload more pictures and post blog write ups.
Tomorrow would be a transition in the trip from family visits and reminisce to bucket list destinations!
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