A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 11 – July 25:
After Breakfast this morning, I headed south for 30 minutes on SR-29 where I had planned to visit the Historic Chippewa Village located in Montevideo, MN. I pulled up in front of what I thought was the entrance to the Historic Chippewa Village, but I soon discovered it was the entrance to the Artigas Plaza there in downtown Montevideo. I’m not sure why Greeta (My Garmin) took me to this address, but I was disappointed to miss that interesting re-creation of a late 1800s rural Minnesota community.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Of course, it was early, and this small town of Montevideo was not awake yet, and the streets were empty. I drove around looking for the Historic Chippewa Village, but for some reason, neither Greta nor I could ever find it. So, I headed just a few blocks down Main Street and stopped to see if the Montevideo Railroad Depot Museum was open. Nope, it was not open yet. I gave up on this town’s museums and gave Greta the address of the next museum on today’s list.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Now it was only 15 miles southeast on US-59 where I visited the Fagan
Fighters WWII Museum located adjacent to the Granite Falls Municipal Airport in Granite Falls, MN. This museum is situated on several acres and includes three large hangers filled with 13+ beautifully restored WWII aircraft that all fly. The museum also displays realistic WWII scenes of German & Japanese prison camps along with a flight Ready Room and Control Tower. Rides “Into the Wild Blue Yonder” in several of their historic WWII aircraft can be purchased.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After that great trip into aviation history’s past, I headed southeast another 50-minutes on SR-57/19, passing thru Redwood Falls to visit the Lower Sioux Agency located in Morton, MN and see what it was all about, but they were closed. I got back to US-71 and headed south an hour or so, across the border into Iowa, to visit what I thought was the Okoboji Classic Car Museum located in Milford, IA. This turned out to be a 65,000 sq. ft. display of some 70+_beautifully restored classic cars and trucks (most for sale) dating from a 1902 Nash. A walk thru the display area (I would call it a museum) included a life-size diorama of a 1950s Main Street, a huge Arnolds Park scene mural, and several other large unique murals. I especially liked their 1901 Fleming Motorcycle and their 1902 Nash Runabout. If you check out the video on the internet, it will show you what words can’t describe. I don’t believe I have ever seen a more impressive “Car Museum” in all my travels. It was simply amazing!
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
After that amazing visit, it was only about 15 miles south on US-71 to check out the Parker Museum in Spenser, IA. This museum is situated in the 1916 house that was first inhabited by Roy Webb and his family. The museum displays artifacts and memorabilia of the lifestyle of rural Iowa at the turn of the century. The James E. Parker family owned and lived in the house from 1928 to 1969, and most of the period furnishings in the museum today date from the early 1900s and were donated by surviving members of the Parker family.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
Heading east out of Spencer on US-18, it took almost an hour to get to the Camp Algona POW Museum located in Algona, IA but they were closed. As I was leaving town, I saw an interesting-looking building and stopped to take a photo of it. I am always looking for unusual looking structures, and this one turned out to be the Methodist-Episcopal Church there in Algona. I had never heard of that branch of the Methodist Church, so I Googled it and discovered that the building was built in 1885 and was known as the Methodist-Episcopal Church of Algona. It is now known as the First United Methodist Church of Algona. Well, I learn something new every day on these road trips.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
It was another 45-minutes south on US-169 to visit The Fort Museum & Frontier Village located just across the Des Moines River from Fort Dodge, IA. The museum and fort are a replica of the Fort Dodge (originally Fort Clarke) military outpost built in 1850, and displays an authentic log cabin and 12 other mid-1850s structures to describe to visitors the history of how the pioneers to this area lived, worked, and traded with the early Indian tribes in this western part of (what was then known as) the Wisconsin Territory.
Photo Credit: Bill Lites
By now I was ready to call it a day, and gave Greta (My Garmin) the address for this evening’s motel, there in Fort Dodge, and she took me right to it. After I got my things into my room, I asked the desk clerk for good places to eat close by, and he recommended the Mineral City Restaurant. I ordered their home-made Lasagna, and it was delicious. After that wonderful meal, I took my leftovers back to the motel, and recorded my activities for the day. No TV, just a good night’s rest.
Photo Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;mineral+city+restaurant+fort+dodge+iowa
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
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