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Left Worthington after a great stopover - sensational room, free brekky that included bacon and eggs - touring the US sure is cheap and cheerful!
We kept on I90E and got to Jackson where we stopped at the AGCO factory (make Massey Ferguson tractors) for a look at their Inivity Centre, which is part museum, part showroom and had a quick look - strictly a man thing, but the girls enjoyed the brief look too.
Then it was a turn to the south, leaving the main freeway and taking a lesser road - the area we passed through was again a cropping area, with soy beans joining corn as the crops! The farms and houses were lovely and it was obviously a prosperous region.
After seeing thousands of RV's on the roads during our trip so far we all were interested in seeing what was in them etc., so I did a bit of research and found that Winnebagos are made in Forest City, Iowa and so I made a call and got us a tour today!
The plant was absolutely huge - over 250 hectares, employing 2900 workers with a wage bill of $2 million per week and they turn out 10,000 units a year! Takes about 14 weeks to complete an average one! The tour lasted 2 hours and was awesome - seeing all parts of the production process and then we had time to inspect some of the models! The largest one costs $460,000 and had an ensuite, king bed, gas log fire and full cream leather upholstery! Wowser! It was some rig and the smaller bus type ones, the 5th wheelers and the caravans were equally impressive! We all enjoyed the morning immensely.
It was quite late when we took off from Forest City and we drove about 2 hours to Waterloo where tomorrow we have booked a tour to see the John Deere tractor factory! The girls aren't quite as excited as Greg and I, but they'll get their turn to shop in Chicago!
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Kate Wendy and I are really enjoying your travelpods. Thanks Trevor