The Spirit’s in Clearwater, Minn., until Friday

Life is good for Jon Osburn, skipper of OOIDA’s tour trailer, because he is stopped for a few days in Clearwater, Minn.

The Spirit of the American Trucker is scheduled to be at the Clearwater Petro through Aug 21. It is at the junction of I-94 and Highway 24.

Clearwater is on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River where a tributary, the Clearwater River, joins it. Clearwater is 10 miles outside of St. Cloud, Minn., and 50 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The Clearwater Travel Plaza has a new owner since the last time The Spirit stopped there. In October 2019 Dave Olson of Clear Lake, Minn., took over the operation from Joel Nelson, a second-generation owner of the business, according to the St. Cloud Times.

The new owner and his family own two other truck stops in central Minnesota, Olson’s Truck Stop in Hasty and Trucker’s Inn in Sauk Centre, as well as some convenience stores, according to a news release.

There is still a good restaurant and a large bakery there. There also is a beer garden area under a tent and cordoned off by orange snow fencing, Osburn reports. He was living large in Clearwater.

Good stop for The Spirit in Waupun

The Waupun Truck-n-Show in Waupun, Wis., was a great stop, Osburn said. There were 225 trucks entered in the show. The Friday-night fundraiser for Special Olympics of Wisconsin raised almost $11,000 for the charity. On Saturday night, a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation raised $8,800 and a benefactor added $10,000 to the pot.

At Waupun and other places, drivers have appreciated OOIDA having free face masks available. OOIDA secured 12,500 masks to distribute to truck drivers.

“As long as you’re a driver, we’ve got a mask for you,” Osburn said.

Here are some pictures Osburn snapped during setup at Waupun. Click on the images to see a larger picture.

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see OOIDA’s tour trailer, stop by and say hello to Jon Osburn, its skipper. He enjoys visiting about the Association’s activities and current issues. He usually has copies of Land Line Magazine to hand out. You can join or renew your OOIDA membership for $10 off the regular price there. Free face masks are available at The Spirit. You also can get vouchers for flu, shingles and pneumonia vaccines from Jon.

After Clearwater, OOIDA’s tour trailer is scheduled to stop in Fargo, N.D. Here is the schedule for The Spirit.