To recap, yesterday was a really long day. We rolled into the Iowa 80 Truck Stop late in the evening. We’ve reached our destination!
This morning we made our way to the truck stop for breakfast. We walked through rows and rows of vintage and custom trucks; all incredibly beautiful. It was well over 100 degrees on the pavement and after 8 days of it, we could all tell we needed some cooling off in our air conditioned vehicle before spending some quality time roasting out there.
We found out that Highway 6 was the old trucking route until the Interstate 80 was put in. Highway 6 was built in one day by 10,000 people back in 1910. Well, that bit of news was good enough for us! We headed to the actual town of Walcott and made our way west towards Iowa City with the air conditioning blasting. A few towns over was a neat little town called Wilton. We could kind of make out a great vintage sign on the front of a bright white building. As we got closer we realized it was a candy shop called Wilton Candy Kitchen.
We walked inside and an elderly man was behind the soda fountain and his wife, dressed in bright red, greeted us. Well, we spent the next two hours with Thelma and George. George’s father had been running the store until George himself took over. He is now 92 and was joking and laughing with us the whole time. Well, right up until we wanted to take his photo.
We ordered some sandwiches, which Thelma carefully prepared. She shared stories of their Greek heritage and explained the pictures and newspaper clippings on the wall. Then she sat us down at Gregory Peck’s table, which of course is right beside Brooke Shield’s table (they both ate there). Then came picture time and Thelma was eager, George not so much. He was hiding in the office. “He doesn’t like his photo taken, but I know this is important for business.” she said. She gently nudged him out and they sat down on the stools and we got the shot!
Just as we finished, the crowds started rolling in. We hugged our new friends goodbye and headed down the road. We made it to Iowa City and back, driving through various small towns. This time we just enjoyed the trip instead of worrying about photos.
So now our goal is to get great trucker shots. Early to bed, as tomorrow is the last day of the jamboree. We’re about to put the hammer down!
