#theserenade

DB wandered over to the pond near our campsite in Knoxville, IA and discovered a perfect scale model of a steam boat. The boat was accompanied by the man who built it, Father Steve Ebel of Knoxville. The boat was under construction from 2005 until its launch in 2012.

The Serenade is a remotely controlled vessel. The perfectly scaled model is a replica of a real steamboat.

It has lots of bells and whistles including a music system with an mp3 player containing two hours of music appropriate to that time in history.

The railing is cut by laser. The people are dressed in clothing from the period.

In the unlikely event that the steamboat breaks down mid-voyage, its pilot sends out Little Toot o retrieve it. Little Toot is a remote control towboat; it's the blue vessel on the back of the table.

The ship is moved with a carefully engineered carrying system.

Father Ebel will retire in late 2013. He has other RC models. His primary interest is cars moreso than ships.

Knoxville in a nutshell

We woke up to mist rising over a pond on Thursday morning.

Returning from dinner on the shuttle bus Wednesday night we were serenaded by riders who had enjoyed drinks with their meal. It started when one of the group made a colorful comment to Kathy as she bent over to pick up something.

Kathy, no shrinking violet, responded in kind suggesting that due to his drinking her eye was in no danger of being put out. The musical performance began shortly after that. It was preceded by discussion and tuning up on the part of the singers. They missed the upbeat on their first attempt and had to restart a minute or two into the song.

While we were at dinner there was excitement back in the campground. The local police determined it was in everyone's best interest to remove skinny dippers from the pond across the road from our tents. No photos available.