June 4, 2024
My phone alarm woke us up at 5:45 am. After coffee and a light snack, we got dressed and hastily began transferring items from the RV to the car. Predictively, the last several minutes of transfer became hectic and Jane accidently broke our coffee carafe and cut her finger. Despite the hassle, we were parked in front of the large glass-doored Lichtsinn service bay in time for our 7:30 am appointment.
We reviewed our list of repairs and improvements with the Lichtsinn technician. Two improvements we’re especially looking forward to having are automatic levelers and improved solar panel capacity. It was a little disconcerting at the end when we had to walk away from our home for the past month and a half.
We drove from Lichtsinn to downtown Forest City, a small town of 4,500, and had more coffee and a hearty breakfast at Sally’s Home Cooking.
We had a 9 am appointment to tour the Winnebago factory and showed up at their Visitor Center in time to walk around the gift store and a room with displays about the company’s history.
Soon, we donned orange vests and safety glasses, boarded a shuttle and were on our way across the street with 6 others to the 28-building Winnebago production complex. It’s located on 100 acres with an adjacent 100-acre area for RV rallies. Mark, our guide, explained what was done in each building we passed by.
The first of two buildings we toured (no photography allowed) was Stitchcraft where RV soft goods such as cushions, curtains, etc., are assembled. The second building we visited was the assembly line, called Big Bertha. Here, chassis frames began at one end and finished RVs (minus final exterior painting) exit the other end. There were separate lines for Class A versus Classes B & C units but models within classes were jumbled in the line. The vehicles were pulled through at a rate of 6-9 inches per minute and took 3 days to complete their 400-yard assembly journey. We observed several stations from overhead gangways and witnessed among other things, flooring, slide-outs, and roofs being installed. The magnitude and co-ordination of the operation was impressive but much still relied on the hands-on skills of women and men employees.
After the Winnebago tour, we walked through a few Winnebago RVs on display in the Visitor Center parking lot. Then we drove to the Cobblestone Inn and made a reservation for our return trip to pick up our RV.
Next, we departed Forest City and Jane drove us 120 miles north to the Minneapolis Southwest KOA Journey near Jordan. We checked in and after moving into our cabin (DK1), instantly plopped into bed for an early afternoon nap.
We napped so hard that we worked up an appetite so that Jane selected a restaurant for an early dinner, Charlie’s on Prior. We drove to Prior Lake and enjoyed a great meal and beer in the popular marina restaurant. Jane had their blackened walleye dish with a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA and I had the pan-fried walleye with a Castle Danger Cream Ale.
After dinner, we couldn’t resist backtracking to an attraction we had passed on the drive up here, Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store which also claims to be America’s Largest Puzzle Store. We pulled into the parking lot of a huge yellow building complex. The circus funhouse mirrors outside were irresistable. Inside, we walked through long aisles of candy and other sweets as we passed through room after room. Large vivid pop culture decorations were embedded throughout the store. The puzzles were also spread throughout the store and often displayed above the candy. I made a quick pass through the store then went outside to wait for Jane who showed up later with a bag of purchases. Meanwhile, the front of the rain storm that we had been tracking on our phones arrived.
We drove back to our KOA cabin where we indulged in some candy while the storm intensified. We played a board game before turning in early for the night, but not before listening to Weird Al’s “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” in anticipation of a stop on tomorrow’s road trip.
