John Deere in Moline and Grand Detour, Illinois; Visiting Dan's Parents in Oregon, Illinois

-- John Deere Pavilion in Moline --

The John Deere Pavilion in Moline is not as interactive as the Caterpillar Visitor Center in Peoria. There are no simulators, but I was able to sit in the cab of a large combine and a tractor.

The pavilion is one large room with several pieces of equipment and one employee to answer questions. The John Deere product line is mainly centered around farming. The largest piece of equipment in the room is an X9 Combine, and it is huge! It has different configurations, depending on the crop being harvested, and has an interesting array of connectors in the back.

I climbed into the cab and looked down at the showroom. I also had the employee take a photo of me sitting in the cab.

John Deere was originally a blacksmith, and made plows before branching out into other equipment like tractors. He was also an abolitionist, and active in the community.

The pavilion has some legacy tractors on display. A Model D is on display, and there are videos celebrating the Model D's 100th anniversary.

There is a 4010 Diesel with its engine showing, a John Deere snowmobile, a 4x4, a modern tractor with treads over the wheels, lawn mowers, and a bulldozer.

 They also have a few vintage children's toys on display.

The gift shop has some expensive Lego toys. The first one, below, is priced at over $40, and the second one, which includes hydraulics, costs well over $200.

It was interesting to see the John Deere equipment, but I spent a lot less time at the John Deere Pavilion today than I did at the Caterpillar Visitor Center yesterday.

The John Deere Pavilion is next to the train tracks in Moline, and I saw back to back freight trains after I left the pavilion and went to my car. The most interesting part is that the two freight trains were separated by only two minutes! I watched the track as the trains rolled over one of the connectors, and was surprised to see how much the connector rose and fell with the weight of the wheels. I've got to think that much play in the tracks isn't normal!

Since I spent less time than expected at the John Deere Pavilion, I drove back across the Mississippi to Davenport, Iowa, and had another ice cream cone at Whitey's before continuing to my next stop -- the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois.

-- John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour --

I really liked the tour at the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour -- especially the part when we visited the blacksmith.

The tour started in a visitor center with a theater. An old wooden plow blade was on display, and compared against John Deere's sharp, steel bladed plow. His plows were durable, worked well, and caught on quickly among other farmers.

We watched a short movie about John Deere's life. Archeologists did some digging, with the help of a metal detector and an old lithograph of the property layout, and found the location of John Deere's original blacksmith shop. The room where we saw the movie surrounds the archealogy dig of the blacksmith shop, ans we sat on benches where we could see both the movie and the excavations.

After the movie, we went to a replica blacksmith shop, where we were greeted by a blacksmith. The blacksmith on duty spent most of his career shoeing horses, before he took this job. He was very personable and had good stories to tell. He made a decorative leaf out of an iron rod while he talked with us.

It was interesting that he could tell the temperature of the iron based on its color.

Farmers would hang ears of corn to dry on the wall, to be used as the seeds for next year's crop. Although nobody knows exactly what John Deere hung on the wall of his blacksmith shop, historians have taken a stab at it, and have hung tools and drying corn on the walls here.

John Deere was a hard worker. At the time he lived here, neighbors commented that they heard him hammering away late into the night.

After visiting the blacksmith, we toured John Deere's house. When he first built it, it only included the taller section with the squared-off roof, but he later expanded it. He had dug a well for water, and didn't want to dig another one, so when he expanded the house, he left the well where it was -- and it ended up being on the porch of the addition.

The interior of the house is decorated with furniture from the time period, but the docent mentioned that much of it wouldn't have been things John Deere could have afforded on his blacksmith wages. The floors and walls are original, though.

They probably wouldn't have afforded wallpaper, either. Notice the ropes on the bed frame, below the straw matteress. The ropes would have to be tightened from time to time, as they stretched -- sleep tight!

The wooden bathtubs used during that time period would typically be set up near a window, so the bath water could be thrown out the window after everyone finished bathing. They would bathe oldest to youngest (don't throw the baby out with the dirty bath water 😄).

-- Visiting Dan's Parents in Oregon, Illinois --

I always enjoy seeing Dan's parents -- Bob and Ginger. I've been to their house several times in the past -- for the 4th of July, before and after fishing trips to Canada, and during Oregon's Autumn on Parade festival. They are very welcoming and make me feel at home.

I also saw them in North Carolina earlier this Summer. They let me stay with them in a beach rental at Carolina beach when they took Dan and the members of his family who could go to the beach.

Bob and Ginger are very nice, and it was good to see them again. Ginger fixed ribs for dinner, which were really good. Then we sat around and talked, and watched some TV while I did a batch of laundry. Visiting them is like visiting family -- like a home away from home.