GRINNELL, IOWA
Exit 182 on Interstate 80
‘EYRNE’ Episode 180
By: Randy Scott
Published July 17, 2018
ENJOYOURIDE Next Exit is the World’s Largest Road Trip. We travel to each exit of the U.S. Interstate system and bring you along for the ride. In this episode, we travel to Grinnell, Iowa at exit 182 off of Interstate 80.
We start the episode off with me having a little fun between exits pretending that we only film between interstate exits. I was trying to make Meredith laugh, and it looked like it worked. We came across the Prairie Fire Center, which had an abandoned building (which, of course, got my attention). Later, I was trying to make a joke about a Hy-Vee grocery store having an employee named “Vee,” and I think it might’ve fallen flat. Meredith got where I was going with it, though.
We then got out of the van and explored Arbor Lake City Park. It was a fun chance to unwind and walk around. On the way to the next nature preserve off the exit, I made a Jim Carrey joke from the movie Dumb and Dumber when he was running in the car at the beginning of their road trip. We then visit Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve where Meredith was giving me grief for parking in the sun. I thought it was pretty funny. During this entire time, our handheld camera had the audio switched off so when we got out, we couldn’t use any of the footage where we explain the history of the park.
Nevertheless, Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve is a 400 acre park with over 7 miles of hiking trails. The city holds an annual “Off the Beaten Path” race there each September. From the little time that we spent there, we could tell that Jake Jacob Krumm was a good man with a great vision to donate the land to the town and to preserve wildlife. For more information visit:
http://www.grinnell.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Krumm.pdf
or
https://www.mycountyparks.com/county/Jasper/Park/Jacob-Krumm-Nature-Preserve-East.aspx
As we were traveling through downtown Grinnell (Iowa), we saw a lot of older buildings that featured great architecture. One of them look like it came straight from California.
In the nozzle knowledge segment, Meredith reads a fun facts about Iowa potatoes (or are they Idaho potatoes?) and how many chromosomes each one has. She mistook Iowa with Idaho, but I’m sure Iowa still grows some potatoes. I think she gets a little frustrated with me when I keep on interrupting her, but that was out of love and me trying to be funny again.
We passed an older house that looked like a house from old cartoon show called the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends. Some of you might remember it, for those who don’t we added an image to help maybe jog your memory.
In the scene where we can be seen pulling into a gas station right after the first nature preserve, we met a Grinnell police officer who happened to be filling up his squad car. As we were refilling EYRNE, we had the pleasure of speaking with him. As you notice, I always wear a firefighting wristband to honor the people of public safety. In speaking with the police officer, I noticed that he had a police officer blue line wristband on and he also noticed my firefighting one. I had an extra band that I gave him and he gave me the Blue Line one he was wearing at the time. A very cool experience that I will not forget.
Not shown in the video, we stopped at a Pizza Ranch to get dinner. Although there is a Pizza Ranch next to the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells where we frequently visit, neither of us had ever been to one. We both enjoyed the pizza. A lot. I mean, who can go wrong with an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet?
Later that night, we stayed in a hotel there in Grinnell. At the end of the episode you can hear us talking about a storm that had passed through that night. It had 65+ mile per hour winds and heavy rain. We both enjoy thunderstorms, but this one was probably one of the gustiest storms both of us had ever experienced. We went down to the lobby to check for a tornado watch, and when we got there the winds were so powerful that they had blown the sliding doors off their tracks.
Knowing a little about how sliding doors work (NERD), I was able to fix them. It also blew a picture in the lobby off the wall, breaking the glass. The front desk attendant was scared for the storms, but Meredith and I were right at home.
Thank you all for joining us on this episode of ENJOYOURIDE Next exit in Grinnell, Iowa. We hope to see you at the next exit. If you enjoyed this one subscribe to us on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/ENJOYOURIDE
For more information on Grinnell, Iowa and everything it has to offer visit: https://www.grinnelliowa.gov/
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Thank you and Safe Travels,
Randy Scott
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