(male announcer) Production funding for this program is provided by the DeBruce Companies, proud to serve agricultural communities throughout the Midwest with high-speed grain handling facilities, fertilizer and feed ingredient distribution terminals, and retail fertilizer operations.

(man) ♪ Welcome to a show about things you can see ♪ ♪ without going far, and a lot of them are free.

♪ ♪ If you thought there was nothing ♪ ♪ in the old heartland, ♪ ♪ you ought to hit the blacktop ♪ ♪ with these fools in a van.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out art in their own backyard.

♪ ♪ Randy does the steering so he won't hurl.

♪ ♪ Mike's got the map, such a man of the world.

♪ ♪ That's Don with the camera, ♪ ♪ kind of heavy on his shoulder.

♪ ♪ And that giant ball of tape, it's a world record holder.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out art in their own backyard.

♪ ♪ Look out, they're driving hard, ♪ ♪ checking out the world in their own backyard, ♪ ♪ checking out the world in their own backyard.

♪ (Mike) We can't stop here.

I'm not going into this place.

I refuse.

(Randy) Our standards are something higher?

(Don) Dear TV Mailbag: Did someone say standards?

Hi, Don the camera guy here.

Looks like those two producers up front have nixed nostalgia-ville and decided to make straight for Mexico.

Where, much to our surprise, we found Graceland.

No, not the one with the jungle room, but still somewhat prophetic, since Elvis in a sense is what brings us here.

Seems that Mexico is also home to one Kay Murphy, owner of a one-woman company doing what very few do: making jumpsuits and lots of them for those who would impersonate the King.

You mean ones like this?

(Kay) Ye ah, that one's in progress.

The one behind it's ready to go.

Ooh.

You know, this one's gonna be a phoenix suit.

And I've got a fringe.

I've got a pinwheel, a chain, a concho, an aloha a black king of spades, a dragon.

My price to start for th e real basic, early Elvis-- They start at $400.

They go up to $1,250.

And then a capes are additional on top of that.

(Murphy) Were you a big Elvis fan, or?

(Kay) I've always been an Elvis fan, but never ever went and saw an impersonator until I met Steve Davis.

And I just started talking to him one day.

I said, "Let me try to make one of those," you know.

So it just kinda gradually built into a business.

And then, of course, it advanced to the website, and when it went to the website, it just went crazy.

Went all around the world.

Now they're coming in from everywhere.

When did he first put on a jumpsuit?

I believe-- What was he thinking?

Yeah, Liberace, from what I understand, was the one that encouraged him to do that.

This is actually one of the more plain designs.

'Cause these two-- the sleeves don't have any ornamentation on them.

But some of the others are just encrusted.

(Randy) Wh at's the biggest one of these you've had to make?

(Kay) Oh, probably, uh-- 51-inch chest.

Same size waist.

[laughs] (Randy) Th e Butterball Elvis.

Yeah, the older Elvis, I guess.

(Randy) Does it make a difference to them that it is authentic?

(Kay) Oh yeah, oh yeah.

And a lot of them do contests, and when you're in a contest, they're judging you on your costume.

And if you're up there in something with little rubber duckies all over it, you're not gonna win.

It's not that difficult.

It's just the accuracy is what they're looking for.

I've had guys contact me, and they want to know what size stud I use for part of the design.

And, you know, I'll tell them-- it's a 30.

You know, "Oh, no, no, it's a 20."

And it's like-- Well, I make it with a 30, sorry.

(Randy) Is it safe to say that Elvis impersonators are a little obsessive sometimes?

Some of them are very obsessive, yeah.

Some of them are very.

And some are very good-natured about it, just have fun with it.

But perhaps the key to any good Elvis outfit-- Is a big belt.

Donny, uh, can you-- can we fix this in post?

I'm in.

You're in?

I'm in.

It's kind of presidential.

(Kay) Yeah, that's--that's-- 'Kay, sort of.

(Kay) Whoa.

(Randy) Would ever think of crossing into, say, a Wayne Newton territory or somebody else like that or is it Elvis and only Elvis?

Elvis only.

I mean, it's-- it's all the work I can handle.

It keeps me busy.

Constantly.

(Don) Now, Kay is not the only jumpsuit maker out there, but she's right near the top, doing it all by herself with only some hound dogs to help.

[as Elvis] Thank you.

Thank you very much.

(Don) You might notice I've waited until we were gone to unleash my powerful Elvis growl, followed by another of the camera guy's greatest hits.

[as Elvis] There's your damn water tower, thank you very much.

(Don) Looks like a tower in search of a town up here in a not-so-populous part of Missouri we've seldom seen.

And what could be fina than some fuel in Shelbina?

After which we proceeded on to Plevna, your proverbial wide spot in the road, made more memorable by the scrap metal sculptures Bob Smithy's lined up alongside it.

(Randy) And there's Bob.

And this is some friend of his, I guess.

[laughing] (Bob) Well, I got started welding when I was in the trucking business.

I got a welder, you know, to do my own work.

And just kept going from there.

(Randy) Now, how long ago was that?

(Bob) I don't know; I think I bought the first welder about, oh, '61 or '62, or something along in there.

(Randy) One day, something clicked in you, and you said-- What clicked?

(Bob) Well, I didn't have nothing else to do.

I had a bunch of junk laying around, so I started welding it together.

And I come up with a metal man and a metal lady.

And a guy come along, bought 'em from me.

So I just kept going.

(Randy) Do you use parts off of everything that you can find?

(Bob) Anything, uh-huh.

Just--yeah, you never know what I'm gonna use next.

(Randy) Are there themes that you particularly like to make when you're welding?

(Bob) Oh, no, not really any particular thing, no, just whatever.

That's probably an old propane tank of some kind.

(Bob) Pr opane or water--I think pr obably a water heater.

Part of a water heater.

An awful lot of these ar e water heaters.

You know, after you take the outside skin off of 'em.

Oh, sure.

I have never skinned a water heater.

Okay, uh-huh.

(Randy) Well, and I like the little things you got out front here too.

There's--they're sort of a-- (Bob) Oh, the little black and flower faces and things, uh-huh.

Are those blond girls?

(Bob) Yeah, uh-huh.

(Randy) Kind of sweet.

I like the guy with the lederhosen.

Lederhosen, yeah.

Are you German?

Well, no, I was in German, though, so while I've got some German in me, but I'm not really German.

I sell a lot of these horses like here too.

Those look pretty sturdy.

Oh, yeah, yeah, a lot people want them for the kids play on.

See there?

That'll hold you up, see?

Uh-huh.

(Mike) Do you draw these out first, or do you just start working?

(Bob) Oh, sometimes I draw them out a little bit.

A lot of times I just lay stuff down and start putting it together.

I try not to just actually copy.

You don't make them exactly alike.

You know, that makes it more artistic, you know, if you make them a little different.

Kind of a devil riding a horse, something like that.

(Mike) Kind of like Joan of Arc riding into the-- (Bob) Uh-huh.

(Mike) Joan's anatomically correct.

This guy's--this guy here is kind of like the angel of death on here or something.

(Bob) Uh-huh, yeah, he is something like that.

(Mike) Kind of spooky.

What were you thinking there?

I don't know.

(Randy) This angel looks pretty-- looks pretty happy.

Could we strap that onto the van?

(Mike) I don't think so.

Well, we could have him welded to the front.

(Bob) There you go.

(Don) Perhaps Mike has forgotten we're driving a rental, which could be a problem.

Oh, turtle in the road, no.

(Don) So after he performed another brave roadside rescue and Randy showed off our pride and joy... That's the world's largest ball of videotape.

(Don) We bid farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Smithy and headed off, sans any angels, our van, as always, crammed to the max with all the crap it takes to make TV.

Iowa, here we come.

[humming] ♪ I'm trying to get some sleep ♪ ♪ but those motel walls are cheap.

♪ (Don) They say Virginia is for lovers, but judging from the folks in 105, this date isn't doing bad at all.

My ambient noisemaker didn't quite work.

And call it coincidence, but procreation does play a part in today's agenda.

Kinda.

As every trivia-loving Trekker knows, this town, Riverside, Iowa, is where Captain James T. Kirk will be born sometime in the future.

Though Paramount wanted big bucks to license their names, the townsfolk have found a clever way around it.

(Randy) U.S.S.

Riverside.

(Don) Good enough for us.

Let's play catch.

In the future I'll catch that.

(Randy) Do Klingons play catch?

Klinger?

No, you're getting that mixed up with Radar O'Reilly from Ottumwa.

(Randy) I kinda thought it was going to be bigger, to be honest.

(Mike) I'm disappointed that it's not a little bigger.

But the sentiment's there.

All I know is it just feels good to get out in the morning and play a little catch.

And if everybody did it in America-- oh!

(Don) Well, I know the couple in the next room did it.

Whoa.

Hey.

I knew that was gonna happen.

(Don) We can only imagine how wild it gets here when Trekkers are a-festin'.

But right now, Riverside's pretty quiet and quieter still now that we're moving on up the road, the road to Cedar Rapids and yet another grotto.

This one's on the campus of Mount Mercy College, saved from extinction by a rare mix of town, gown, and a federal project called "Save our Sculpture."

(Jane) I mean, memories are so associated with place.

And this is the most unusual place on campus, so this is where they came, you know, to make out.

This is where they came--this is where they didn't get to come.

If they were in trouble, they had to-- When it was a all-girls school, if they had to hang laundry, they couldn't come down here on Saturday night.

In the year I came here in 1974, they tore down the main structure.

It was a 10-acre site.

And then they took out the pond because the neighbors were complaining about mosquitoes and there was lots of vandalism.

And they couldn't afford to keep it up.

I did some research on who built it, William Lightner.

He was a builder, and his company was building Warde Hall in the 1920s when he married a woman who was Catholic and so he converted.

And he was just supposed to start and build a container for the Virgin Mary.

And it was a very--it became a very large container full of lots of rocks.

And the Virgin Mary didn't really arrive until '41, so he worked on this between '29 and '42.

Once he got done with that, he just kept building.

And eventually the nuns sued him because he would not stop building outbuildings; he had more and more plans for things.

Now, this bridge was meant to be about his crossing from one faith to the other.

And so that was sort of the connection.

This was one of the l-- actually the Ten Commandments was the last thing built.

Structurally, it was all okay.

I mean, we were just on the verge of it not being okay, and that's one of the reasons that I applied to S.O.S.

'cause it really was S.O.S.

If we didn't get it within a year or two, we were going to start having major, underlying structural problems.

And then we would've not probably been able to get the money.

(Randy) Th en you'd be S.O.L.

S.O.L., yes.

We had to repour sidewalk, and so we originally-- people said, "Oh, let's make a mosaic out of it."

But we decided that we had to keep it very simple and in tune with his vision.

It became a community project.

We--actually, the Cedar Valley Rock and Mineral Club, which is a huge rock club in this county-- they gave us lots and lots of rocks, and they came and helped clean up.

Lots and lots of students helped.

(Randy) Looks like it's your legacy in a way, now.

(Jane) A little bit, but I think what I contributed was to get people interested in it.

You know, I constantly try to broaden my students' idea of what art is.

I mean, one thing about an outsider artist is that they aren't motivated by money and they aren't motivated by some of the things that contemporary culture does to motivate the artist.

It's purely out of will and drive, and they have the same obsessions that every artist sort of has.

And it just comes out in a different way.

Also, they have a vision.

You know, there really is-- you can see a difference, once you start looking, between one grotto and the other and how he used the stones.

He was really good with fine, delicate patterns and incredible with color.

(Don) Now, keeping sculpture safe from the need for more parking places can be a tireless task.

Good thing Jane's enthusiasm has rubbed off on others, like the student whose piece fits right in with Lightner's.

And the class that built its own Grotto Auto.

In fact, Cedar Rapids may be infected.

In a neighborhood not far from Mount Mercy, in this unassuming ranch home, Michelle Buchanan's been up to some grotto-riffic work of her own.

(Michelle) I collect seashells.

I buy those wherever I can find them.

The other things--they're confiscated by me out of trash piles.

Sometimes I get chased away, but I always go back.

Actually, this is only one layer all the way around.

And I'm kind of hoping for three layers, eventually.

(Mike) There was a starting point somewhere.

There must've been something-- You're right.

And it's right there.

There was a little hole.

Well, actually it was a dent.

And I thought, "Well, I better cover that hole up."

So that's where it started.

My--that is my timetable.

(Mike) You're slowly covering it all the way.

(Michelle) Yeah, that's--that's been about a year in progress.

Oh, here's a trash pile item.

This is very nice.

That's a throwaway lawn ornament, and then the panels behind the Buddha are off of an old dresser.

There was a period when I was a little wild with the can of gold spray paint.

I think the most interesting thing here, now, is probably the table.

That thing hung in my garage for three years, and I kept telling my friends "Yeah, I'm gonna make a coffee table out of it."

(Randy) Art schooled?

(Michelle) Never.

I'm a high school dropout with a GED.

I don't remember taking art in school because it wasn't there.

It's kind of sad to see all those things that were thrown away, you know.

So I go get them, and it's like they want to-- these things want to come with me, and they want to--they want to be appreciated again.

So it's sort of a spiritual thing.

I'm doing my kitchen wall right now.

And then I'm just kind of mosaicking with broken plates.

And then I'll come to a certain point where I have buckets full of broken plate but nothing's working, nothing--you know, nothing will fit.

So I go looking for more somewhere.

You know, the materials are very important, and the trick is, you have to keep a lot of them around.

(Don) Nothing here is for sale.

Michelle just likes the process.

And what she likes best is when kids come in and get inspired to make something themselves.

She does want us to get a shot of her car, so here it is.

And here we go again, heading north into what by all accounts could be some very bad weather, but stopping nonetheless in Charles City for a quick peek at the world's first tractor... if we can even manage to find it.

Do we know where this is here?

No.

Does it say in here?

It's on the highway.

It's on the highway.

Not seeing a tractor.

(Don) I merely said look for a-- John, dear.

That's it right there.

You can see it through the window; perfect.

Come on, Don.

Let's go see the tractor.

Come on.

Come on out of there.

Okay, there's a--there is a flaw in our plan here.

You can't really see it.

You can't even see through the window on this one.

Problem here is that it's not open.

Yeah, closed.

(Don) Leave it to weasels to restate the obvious.

Not open.

Now, bad research often means bad news, but this time it might even be fatal.

Viewers like you.

(Don) Time to batten down the hatches and lace up my storm-chasin' shoes.

Wish us luck.

(Randy) Haha, I got that one.

I got that one on the TV.

(Don) Well, as you can see, we survived our night in Clear Lake, unlike certain famous musicians for whom this was sadly the end of the road.

We wanted to say we saw the last place Buddy played, so we saw it, and now having seen it we're headed for Swaledale.

Once upon a time, Burma-Shave signs like these lined our highways and byways with their pithy prose.

Not so much anymore except perhaps up here, thanks to a pair of farming brothers who've been bitten by that old sign-painting bug.

(man) "Listen, birds, "these signs cost money.

"So roost a while, "but don't get funny.

"If you are worried "'bout growing old, "watch Orv's signs, instead of the road."

It's the only entertainment we had when we was kids.

We used to go over from here to Mason City.

There was a few Burma-Shave signs along roads, and we tried to memorize them, of course.

(Randy) Do you remember the first one you put up?

What did it say?

(Orv) Probably this one right south of town here: "A plump woman, "and a big barn "never done any "a man harm.

Burma-Shave."

Is there a plump woman that inspired this?

Not necessarily.

It's just good poetry.

And it's true.

(Randy) What did the people say in Swaledale when the brothers start putting up all their thoughts?

(Orv) They're used to it now, you know.

It's no big deal anymore.

(Randy) Well, of course, Swaledale has seven exits, right?

(Orv) Well, yeah, did you count them?

That's--you're right on.

(Randy) And we also saw a sign for poison ivy.

Didn't look like poison ivy to me.

(Orv) Well, I'm sure it isn't.

It's good conversation.

So--so hold on here.

Basically you're just out there giving a little misinformation for the sake of doing it.

(Orv) Don't believe everything you read.

I'll put it that way.

It's all foolishness.

(Randy) 80 years old, did I hear you say?

(Orv) Just about 80.

Well, how hard a work is it to go put up signs and do all this?

(Orv) Well, you gotta have a hammer and a nail.

Apparently I haven't done that much since-- They didn't teach him that in college.

Okay, note to self.

You wish there were Burma-Shaves still out there?

(Orv) Yeah, yeah, I really do.

(Randy) Are you offering yourself up to a big company to, you know, go do their signs?

No way; no way.

(Don) Turns out these signs of the times aren't the only way Orv and Dale keep busy out here.

There's clocks, covered bridges, and windmills too, as you can see, though only briefly before we're heading out of town on one of those seven exits.

Destination: Algona, home of an oversized snack food in a league of its own.

But don't take our word for it.

(Randy) But you do have something that no one else has.

That's right; the world's largest Cheeto.

Wow.

Whoa, exactly.

(Don) Of course, there's a story here, and the story goes like this: Stunned to find this freak of nature in a bag he bought, a sailor in Hawaii put it on eBay, and a bidding war began.

180 bucks and a pledge to promote tourism with it was enough to bring the orange colossus here.

(Randy) Did it arrive under heavy security?

(Tom) It arrived in a cardboard box with bubble wrap.

We had a charity auction that night.

We had a Cheeto Princess that we designated.

So all told we raised about $3,000.

This artwork here-- this glass was handblown by a New York-- a woman that was in New York City; she heard about the Cheeto.

And she was so enamored of it, she wanted to create this piece of artwork, which she did, of course, and her and her friend came out and hand-delivered that thing.

Ironically or sadly or whatever you want to say, I've been working as a chef, cook, or whatever for close to 20 years now, and I'm best known for having a Cheeto.

(Don) Sounds familiar, since we too often find ourselves playing second fiddle to an inanimate object of our own.

And this is the world's largest... (Mike) Ba ll of videotape.

Okay, fantastic.

(Don) Just like that, tales are being told and new friends are being made.

Where's the paparazzi when you need them?

No drinking for us, however.

We're still on the job, and before you know it, back on the road heading west.

Something called the Dragoon Trail runs through here, though probably not through this parking lot into which we've inexplicably turned.

We're looking for a Kopp.

Richard, to be precise, overlord of something he calls Planet Garbage and a slew of other handmade creations he creates out back in his Fort Dodge Garage.

(Richard) I've been doing it ever since 30 or 40 years, and I been making things.

I just did it because I-- it's a pastime, a hobby.

(Randy) So you made everything right out here?

Everything I made in the back right there.

And then my wife would help me sort the cap.

We wash them and bleach them and everything else to make them so that they wouldn't stain, because they do; Ragu especially.

(Mike) Wait a minute, now, this is not just a table you found and then covered with caps.

No, absolutely not.

You started from scratch with this.

I made everything fr om scratch.

So you've got some woodworking skills too.

Well...

They're pretty good.

I don't know.

(Randy) I'd say they're pretty darn solid.

(Richard) Well, they're solid; they take-- Dang, you couldn't pull that apart if you wanted to, I don't think.

(Randy) Now, did you make this from scratch like you made the table?

(Richard) Yes, everything.

Some of it I document how many caps, how many bottles of beer; some of them I didn't.

And if you--so you can count them yourself.

And these are all full of caps that have been cleaned.

And believe it or not, Lydia-- I made her feet first.

And I made a case for her just like I did everything else 'cause if somebody did buy it, how in the world are they gonna haul it?

(Randy) Now, do you get in there sometimes, did I hear you say?

(Richard) Yeah, I've been in there, yeah.

(Randy) How is it?

(Richard) Well, nice; I'm warm.

If I was making something, sometimes I just want to stay right on it.

I don't know why that is.

You just--you get engrossed in it, and you just want to finish it.

If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have-- 'cause she's put up with a lot.

'Cause I bring them in and put them on the kitchen table and sort them, and then the table gets sticky.

And it's, you know-- (Randy) Did we ask what you did for your career?

(Richard) I dealt with floor covering-- linoleum and carpet and tile.

I took art in third or fourth grade, but that's the only time that I ever-- nothing, except that you see some things in the floor covering that you see people, you know-- and I picked up some of that.

Sometimes I don't-- it don't look-- maybe, you know-- but to me it's fine.

If I sell it, okay.

If I don't sell it, okay.

I had fun doing it.

It's better than doing a lot of other things I could be doing.

I--I don't know what else to say except that it's fun.

(Don) Dick's also fond of boxing, baseball, and golf.

all of which he's made pieces about too.

And hey, don't forget, he's made cases in case you want to haul them away.

Whoa, man.

You know how to handle a lady.

(Don) Is it something I said?

Hope they come back to get me.

This is Don the camera guy signing off.

(female announcer) To learn more about the sights on this show and how to find them, visit us on the web at: DVDs, tapes, and a companion book to this series are available by calling: Captioning and audio description provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Captioning and audio description byCaptionMax www.captionmax.com ♪ There goes my brain, and I said ♪ ♪ it's all right.

♪ I'm rolling for-- The rental car company?

The rental car company.

Said, "If you do anything dumb, make sure you take pictures of it."

There seems to be some kind of protective force field on this thing.

We just can't hit it.

Oh!

[laughing] (male announcer) Production funding for this program is provided by the DeBruce Companies, with facilities providing customers with market information and marketing opportunities for domestic and international grain, fertilizer, and feed ingredient businesses.