Cedar Rapids, IA - Jun. 22 - Jul. 6, 2006
The last you heard from us our home was sporting a substantial duct tape patch over a rather large gash on its port side. While duct tape is a miracle product capable of solving many problems, this particular wound proved to be too much for it. We determined we would need to take extreme measures by seeking a professional solution. Bill consulted Jenny at Thor California, our home's manufacturer, and was referred to Tim Wentz at Truck Builders in Marion, Iowa, just outside of Cedar Rapids. So after St. Louis it was off to Marion.
Tim suggested we stay at the Squaw Creek Regional Park just a couple of miles away from the Truck Builders facility. What a great recommendation! Squaw Creek is a lovely park with water and electric sites, and great walking and biking opportunities. The park encompasses wetlands and restored prairie that are teaming with wildlife and flowers, and majestic hickory trees.
Much to our surprise Tim came over after work shortly after we arrived to take a look at the RV. He determined that the repairs could be quite extensive and started communicating with Jenny back at Thor California.
The Repair:
Recreational vehicles suffer a lot of stress while traveling over some of this nation's roads. Amazingly, they hold up quite well considering how much bouncing around goes on. Unfortunately, our trailer had a flaw in the front left side of the trailer where the bedroom slide comes out. Inside of the sidewall there is some aluminum framing that is welded in places. One of these welds broke during our travels. This caused flexing in the sidewall and ultimately a crack developed in the fiberglass skin. As one might guess accessing the damaged area required removal of a portion of the sidewall and bedroom slide, repairing the problem welds and replacement of the fiberglass skin. The repair was labor and time intensive. Our pictures show where the damage occurred and how much of the trailer was affected. It seemed we would be in Marion, for a while so we started checking out things to do - and there was plenty.
Activities: Cedar Rapids initiated its annual two-week Freedom Festival culminating in Fourth of July Fireworks the weekend we arrived. WooHoo! Let the festivities begin!! The Festival included a Bar-B-Q Cook-off, concerts, softball events, marathons, a water-ski show, several fireworks displays and much more. Naturally, we hit the cook off, tried to see the water-ski show but everybody in the Midwest seemed to have the same idea and we couldn't get near it. We learned our lesson and arrived hours early for the Fourth of July Fireworks display over the Cedar River. During the festival we also attended special events at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library and African-American Museum.
Tim suggested we visit the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum and Library in West Branch just outside Iowa City. It was a great recommendation. Like many children of parents that experienced the Great Depression, we had only heard horror stories about President Hoover and how he had turned his back on the hungry and dispossessed. We were not aware that as a Quaker child orphaned at 10 years of age he worked his way through Stanford to earn an engineering degree and went on to make a fortune working for mining companies around the world. Nor did we know about the amazing work this great humanitarian and his wife devoted themselves before entering politics. They expended much of their personal fortune organizing the private sector to feed the starving civilian population in Europe during and after World War I. He was so highly regarded in this effort that President Truman (a Democrat) enlisted Hoover's (a Republican) services to help organize the relief effort to feed Europe after World War II.
In addition to the Museum and Library, the West Branch facility has restored a couple of blocks to circa 1900, including Hoover's boyhood home, father's blacksmith shop, and the Quaker meeting house. Interestingly, people currently reside in the restored homes.
Also, we spent an entire day at the seven Amana Colonies. The Amana Colonies have their roots in the 18th Century German religious movement known as Pietism. One sect that evolved from this movement was the Community of True Inspiration. The group came to the U.S., eventually settled in Iowa and established the Amana Colonies in 1855 adopting a communal way of life, sharing property, business and labor. The Amana Colonies would become one of America's longest-lived and largest religious communal societies.
The colonies were supported by the production of wool and calico, farming, brewing and wine making. There were 50 communal kitchens supplied by village bakeries, smokehouses, icehouses, dairies and extensive gardens, orchards and vineyards. Women and men were equal. Celibacy was prized, but not enforced.
The Amana Society discontinued their communal lifestyle in 1932, each family receiving shares in the corporation. Founded by religious faith and community spirit, today the Amana Colonies are a thriving community with a population of over 1,700 people. If in the area, we highly recommend visiting these beautiful, friendly and peaceful villages.
We visited Iowa City during a Jazz Festival at the University of Iowa. We didn't spend much time at the festival because it was incredibly hot and humid. Instead we toured the newly restored (and air conditioned) Old Capitol Museum. The Museum served as Iowa's state capitol from 1846-57, and then became the University of Iowa's first building. It underwent four years of restoration after a fire in 2001, and was opened to the public in May 2006. It is a beautiful building with an incredible reverse spiral staircase.
Cedar Rapids boasts several bicycle paths and we decided to brave the heat and humidity to ride a portion of the 50+ miles Cedar Valley Nature Trail.
The rest of our time was spent moving from Squaw Creek Park to Truck Builders, from Truck Builders to the Longbranch Hotel, and finally from the Longbranch back to Squaw Creek. The good thing in all of this was the Midwest was continuing to experience a heat wave and our six days at the Longbranch were blissfully air-conditioned. We enjoyed the swimming pool on the second floor just outside our door, a fruit-heavy complimentary continental breakfast each morning and an extensive gym just down stairs. Clearly, we were being very spoiled and loving it.
We also spent several days liquidating our gift certificates. During the winter we realized we weren't going to use our air-mile credits before they expired, so we redeemed them for gift certificates. We used the certificates to purchase a new sound system for the truck, since the old one quit working properly several states ago, and a Weber barbeque that Bill had wanted for several months.
Alas, Tim's team completed the repairs on our home and after a couple of days of cleaning the RV and doing laundry we hitched up and headed for Madison, Wisconsin.
Additional note: We cannot overemphasize how helpful Tim Wentz at Truck Builders was. He and his wife made every effort to ensure our stay was as enjoyable as possible and as noted above they provided us with many hints at things to do in the area. Also, Tim worked hard to make the repair process proceed smoothly. He communicated with constantly with Thor California and insurance adjusters associated with our extended warranty. We had a very positive experience during this repair and Tim and his staff of capable technicians are largely responsible for that. Further, we have to say that we are very impressed with and appreciative of Thor California. Since our rig was beyond the two-year warranty they could have easily said you are on your own. Many companies would have dropped us like a hot potato, but Thor California did not. They helped us at every step of the way from finding a reputable repair facility to the final repairs. To top it off they offered to pay for the repairs. Outstanding! Thank you Thor California!.
