(Radio Iowa) – Iowans will have a rare opportunity this week to get an up-close peek at one of the national Christmas trees without having to journey all the way to Washington D-C. Susan DeCourcy, a regional administrator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says the 74-foot-long spruce is being trucked more than four-thousand miles cross-country and it’ll make a festive pit stop in central Iowa.

“It’s a 54-year tradition in which there’s 154 national forests that provide a tree for the West Lawn at the U.S. Capitol,” DeCourcy says, “and so this year, the tree is coming from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. It’s making its way across the country.” The truck carrying the giant tree will stop at the Bass Pro Shops along Interstate 80 in Altoona on Friday from 11 A-M to 1 P-M.

Photo courtesy of the Truckload Carriers Association

“People are going to be able to sign the side of the trailer that it’s on,” DeCourcy says, “and they’ll be able to see the massiveness of it.” In addition to seeing the tree, DeCourcy says staff from the N-H-T-S-A will be on hand to talk with folks about highway safety. “This is the time when people are going to start making travel plans, and we really want to make sure that people are traveling safely,” she says. “We’re going to take this opportunity to interact with people and share traffic safety messages with them.”

That will include topics like child car seats, teenage drivers, bicycle safety and pedestrian safety. The event is free.