Is this heaven? No. It's Iowa

Early Winnebago travel trailer

On Thursday morning, September 13^th, we watched a family of three deer snacking in the campground as we ate breakfast. Shortly afterward, we packed up and left Pilot Knob State Recreation Area and headed straight for the main attraction in Forest City, Iowa…the Winnebago Factory Tour. Winnebago began producing towable trailers in 1960 and then building motorhomes in 1966. We toured the small museum exhibit in the visitor hall which showcased the company’s beginnings and steady evolution to a leader in the motorhome business.

Fabric choices from
the 70s...yikes

One of the first Winnebago motorhomes

Our tour guide, Jerry, led us on a two hour tour of the company’s factory buildings, beginning with Stichcraft, the soft goods division of Winnebago. Along with all the curtains and pillows for each RV, the Stitchcraft division also produces all the floor mats, bed comforters and cushion covers. Jerry showed us one assembly line where the foam cushions are shrunk temporarily via an ingenious vacuum board that sucks all the air out of the cushion so the cover slides right over it, thus eliminating all the fighting and tugging that would normally take place during such a task. In another area we watched an obviously seasoned seamstress sewing cording onto a king sized comforter. In yet another area Jerry showed us how a laser cutter automatically cuts the cushion pieces out of 25 layers of fabric at the same time. Stacked together, the machine easily cuts through the fabric layers by vacuuming the stack down to the table using a sheet of plastic over everything. Clever!

In the next few buildings we saw various steps in the overall construction of each Winnebago. In one building we saw several workers on a line building the walls of the RVs. They applied the interior paneling to the top of a sandwich including the outside skin, foam insulation, wiring and metal studs before running the whole wall through a roller to squeeze the layers together. Another worker showed us the product of the new machine he was operating: a water saw. The water is used at a tremendous pressure to precisely cut almost anything needed for the RV. While we watched, the machine cut openings through an interior wall piece, all automatically done by computer program. Fascinating! Jerry explained the new machine will replace the numerous old dies formerly used in the process while simultaneously eliminating some of the waste and all of the blade sharpening.

Old Winnebago ad for their
new mirrors

In another area we watched some workers laying the flooring down as the first step in the construction of the interior. Some folks stapled down a vinyl floor while others grouted new tile flooring. Cabinets and door fronts were strung along a conveyor belt in the ceiling leading to the area where they would be installed, programmed by bar code to arrive in a specific order. Other workers were installing televisions in nearly completed Winnebagos, and roofs were being sealed in another area. Outside one chassis after another awaited its turn in the assembly line.

Jerry drove us back to the visitor center and wished us all well, though not before throwing in a pitch for us to replace our Coachmen with a shiny new Winnebago. We'll see. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learning about Winnebago's innovations over the years. After leaving Forest City, we headed to Cedar Rapids. We set up camp at the delightful Palisades-Kepler State Park, where we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the day and happy hour.

Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA

On Friday morning we awoke to a beautiful sunshine-y day and after a leisurely start, headed north toward Dyersville. We drove through the rolling corn fields and past tidy little yards in front of old farmhouses along the way. Dyersville is an adorable little town and home to the Field of Dreams, the same field and home used in the filming of the movie by the same title in 1988. After a nice lunch at the Country Junction, we headed out to see the field for ourselves.

Grandstand at the Field of Dreams

The field and house look just like we remem- bered from the movie, released in 1989. We learned that the first tourist was a man from New York driving through the area on his way to California sometime in May of 1989. Since then folks have been visiting from all over the world, sometimes as many as 3,000 people on a busy summer weekend. On our visit, we found it almost empty and only three or four other people there with us.

"If you build it, they will come"

Toe-dipping in the grass

We strolled around the infield and admired the perfect grass in an unseason- ably dry summer. The grass is watered and the field meticulously maintained, all for the enjoyment of visitors like us. Tourists are encouraged to bring a bat, ball and glove to play, because no organized games occur on the field. We took off our shoes and tiptoed in the soft grass. Then we walked into the corn stalks, like the ballplayers from the movie.

A program about the movie and the quirks of shooting in Iowa on a tight Hollywood schedule made for interesting reading. We learned that with the drought in 1988, the corn wasn't growing tall enough for the filming to begin in June, so permission was granted by the county to dam the nearby stream to irrigate the crop. So successful was the irrigation that the corn was then too tall for a scene where the main character walks through the stalks, so the director had Kevin Costner walk on a platform so the corn appeared only shoulder height.

With free admission to the field, a small souvenir stand is the only money-generating operation at the Field of Dreams. We chatted with the friendly clerk briefly before heading back to the campground. What a beautiful day and a perfect field, designed to be a place where busy folks can come to remember what simplicity and the elegant game of baseball mean to them. We headed back to the campground where we settled in for the evening over drinks and then...a roaring campfire complete with toasted marshmallows. Yum! What a serene day.