No, it's not about banjos

I got exposed to American Pickers today

     When I watch television, I pretty much watch a few kinds of shows.  I like comedies, English period pieces, House Hunters.  Did I mention comedies?  And Chicago sports.
     I had heard of American Pickers, but I honestly thought it dealt with banjo and guitar players.    Pickers.   People who play the guitars....  don't judge, that is what I thought.
     But my cousin Sal and her husband Warren are here from Alaska and she wanted to go see the American Pickers store/garage in LeClaire, Iowa.
     Now I have been in LeClaire.  We went to the Buffalo Bill Cody homestead about 20 years ago.  It was pretty neat, but the town was not much, as I remember.
     Dan, you will like this.  I missed the turn off of 88 onto 80.  So we ended up going through Moline, which turned out to be ok because we visited the John Deere Pavilion, which has a gift shop, equipment display, and very nice restrooms.
     If I had taken the right lane (literally, it is the lane on the right.  I was in the left lane), we would have missed the chance to spend American green on Deere green products.
     I saw a giant machine that was described as a walking insect.  It was a prototype but only two were produced.  (The lady giving me directions for the third time was telling me all this.)  It was designed to harvest trees and was supposed to be better for the land than the wheeled or track harvesters.  It would "walk" up to a tree, snap it off at the base, clean the branches and load it on a truck.  I think you could also program it to scratch your back and brew coffee, but I am only guessing.  It was way cool.
     We went to a wood working shop in Davenport.  There were hundreds of hand carved Santa Claus figures on display, but not one for sale!  They were all Santas collected by the owners, who may be related to Jackie in some way.  (She collects Santas.  If you knew that, I would not have to explain that.)
      We stopped at Lock and Dam 14, but Sally wasn't up to the walk from the parking area to the actual lock, so we putzed around the parking lot, taking pictures of the river.  I can see why it is the Big Muddy.
     Next stop:  American Pickers, AKA Antique Archaeology.   Conveniently located behind the BP station on the way into town.
     If you have not watched the show, it seems to be based on this premise:  A couple of guys travel the country and buy stuff that people don't want or need and bring it to LeClaire where they sell it to people who don't need it but want it.  And they make a profit.
     Some of the stuff is neat, like the giant Laurel and Hardy heads.  There are old motorcycles, old cars, old clothing, old postcards....you get the idea.  There is some really neat stuff, but there was also some.....how can I put it?  ....... junk.
     I did hear it takes 12 hours of filming to make one 15 minute segment.  There is another Pickers store in Savanna, Il.  No, they are not at the store today.  They are pretty neat guys and they are bringing fame to the area.
     And it shows.  Le Clair has a great looking downtown, with antique stores, specialty shops, a couple of coffee bars, a wine bar, a couple of ice cream shops and beautiful old buildings and houses.
     We stopped at the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum of Regional History.  There were video clips of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show that were made by his company.  (For some reason, I thought the film industry started later than that.  But then I remembered seeing films of the Wright Brothers flying their plane at Kitty Hawk.)
       And Renee....you have a doppelganger!  I almost said hello to you, but you didn't look just exactly like you...but she laughed like you and could be your twin.
      Then we headed back to Rochelle.
      And I took all the right roads this time!