Goshen, IN to Elkhart, IN 5/28/14

Wednesday, Day 26 of our summer trip.

We don’t have far to drive today.  We had made arrangements, while we were at the Escapade earlier this month, to have some work done on our trailer.  You see, a piece of the siding had come loose and we needed it to be repaired before there was any damage to the inside where we could not see.  We took it to Charger RV Repair for service.  When they looked to see what they would need to do, they discovered that that section of siding had not been caught with the screw and aluminum strip that was supposed to hold it in place.  There is a trim piece over that connection that hid that fact from us until it came loose, probably from all of the jostling and twisting that happened as we navigated through all of the potholes as we crossed country. This is what it looked like.  We were worried that rain would run down into the gap and cause something to get damaged and we would never know until it was too late.

 

 

The folks at Charger Enterprises, Inc. RV Repair services in Elkhart, IN said that they will be able to repair the siding and a couple other minor things tomorrow.  In the mean time, they have been very accommodating and have let us connect to their  30 amp. electrical outlet and park in their lot for the night.  Here we are, in our campsite for the night.

We toured around Elkhart for a short time and discovered that there is a railroad museum there.  They have many things to see.  The passenger car and the locomotive are among those items.

 

We went out to dinner then back to the trailer for the night.  We don’t know how long the repairs will take, so we don’t know if we will get to continue our travels tomorrow or not.  We’ll see.

Medina, OH to Goshen, IN 5/27/14

Tuesday, Day 25 of Our Summer Trip

We got up early this morning to call the Montrose Ford service department to see if the replacement sensor in our DEF tank had come in.  It had, so we got ready and took our truck to the repair shop.  Mom and one of my sisters met us at the shop and we all went to breakfast while the truck was being fixed.  That was a much more pleasant way to spend the time waiting, rather than sitting in the waiting room.  It was a great breakfast  and we were glad to be able to spend a little more time with family.  Bumble enjoyed it, too.


When we got back to Montrose Ford, the job had been finished.  It was so nice of them to work us into their busy schedule so that we could get back on the road at the time we had planned.  We took the truck back to the campground, finished packing and prepared to leave for the next leg of our trip.  We plan to be in Canada by June 4th.  Here we are, all hooked up and ready to roll.


Bumble, the bee, is very excited to go with us on our adventure.  See, there she is, in the window, checking to see where we will go next.


Mom and my sister came to the campground to give us a proper send off.  We will miss everyone.  We don’t get to see the family often, but hopefully this blog will help us stay in touch with our family and friends while we are gone.

So, we are on our way.  We made reservations to stay at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds in Goshen, IN tonight, when we were at Escapade earlier this month, so we could take the trailer for service tomorrow.  This is our campsite tonight.  We are in a different area of the fairgrounds  from where we were during Escapade a little over a week ago.  It is still wet, but it seems to be much more solid ground than the infield of the racetrack.


These are some of the buildings near where we are camped.

Tomorrow, we find out what needs to be done to fix the trailer.

Cincinnati, OH 5/18/14

Day 1 - Sunday, May 18, 2014
Goshen, IN to Cincinnati, OH

This was a travel day.  We finally had some nice weather in Goshen.  Between the gravel that they put down and the rain giving us a break, we were able to get out of the infield and onto the road headed to Cincinnati. 

Most of the driving for this leg of the trip was on U.S. Highways going south in eastern Indiana and then east into southern Ohio.  The rural Indiana countryside was very serene with farms large and small.



This is a caution sign that you will see only in Amish Country.  There is even a buggy to demonstrate what the sign is talking about.

 

 

When you see the Amish buggies on the highway, you notice that they are very well marked with lights and placards so that they are quite visible at night.  They even have license plates.

 

There were many small towns along the route that we took.  This is a clock tower in Berne, IN.

 

The town of Linn, IN was having a carnival as we drove through.

Another small town had a nice little memorial park.

After we entered Ohio, there were still farms.  Here is one with the quintessential red barns.

 

This water tower let you know it was in Eaton, Ohio and the diversity that is in the area.  You can also see some of the large farming equipment that is for sale here.

 

Here is a closer view of the water tower.

 

 

This is a scene from the town.

 

At a stop light in Cincinnati, we saw this small old street rod?

And across the street was this artwork that looked like a sailing ship mast.

Once we got to our campground, in Cincinnati, we dropped off the trailer without setting it up and hurried off to meet some of Earl's cousins for dinner.  We were late because the local highway driving and traffic from detours, surrounding constructions areas, took us much longer than we had expected.  Thankfully, they were patient and waited for us to arrive.  We really enjoyed getting updated on what they were doing.  It was great seeing everyone again.

 

 

 

Escapade 5/17/14

Day 15 - Saturday, May 17, 2014
Escapade Day 6  Hitch Up Day

Hitch up day is the departure day from an Escapees event.  There was a continental breakfast, but we slept in.  You may remember that we are camped on the infield of the racetrack at the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds in Goshen.  It has turned into a mud field after several days of rain and the fairgrounds staff has requested that those of us camped here stay for an extra day in hopes that the field will dry out and solidify somewhat.  All of the big rigs would tear everything up even more as they left and if they  got stuck in the mud, no tow truck would come to pull them out.  We have already experienced that earlier in the week.  Some folks have left because it is drier than it has been, but most people are going with the advise of the fairgrounds staff. 

We ventured over to where we parked the truck to bring it back to the trailer.  That worked pretty good.  We didn't get stuck, although there are some pretty soggy areas out there.  While we were walking around, the horse people were exercising their horses again.  I like the way this picture turned out.  To me, it looks like one horse with two heads.

But you can see in this next one, that there are really two complete horses.  Ha!  Ha!

Most of the day was spent cleaning and putting away all of the things we had gotten out, in preparation for actually leaving Goshen tomorrow.  Since there are no activities tonight, we went shopping for something that we could fix for dinner that wouldn't mess everything up. 

Wouldn't you know!  It started to rain again, as you can see below.  It was a short storm, so I think everything will be OK for tomorrow's continuation of our trip.  Interestingly, to us, there is covered parking at Walmart, here in Goshen.

We also rented another movie from the Red Box.  This time it was Gravity.  Maybe we will see some of the movies that everyone has been talking about, during this summer.  We usually don't go to the movie, so this method of renting movies has worked well for us and it is so simple and inexpensive.

Escapade 5/16/14

Day 14 - Friday, May 16, 2014
Escapade Day 5

We had a lazy day today.  After breakfast we went out to find a geocache that is located on the fairgrounds property.  It was fairly easy to find and we got some exercise by walking to it.  Somewhere in this area is a geocache.

 

Across the road from here was an interesting smiley face painted on a rock as a yard ornament.

 

On our way back to the trailer, we took this photo that looks back toward the racetrack.  Notice the clouds.

Also, the horses were being exercised.  This is a twofer, one horse pulling the cart and one being pulled along.

The infield is starting to solidify.  Hopefully, we will be able to safely move our truck from this spot back to where our trailer is located.  As you can see, the ruts are still there.

Even the gravel that was put down in the really wet areas didn't help when someone tried to leave.  They are gone, so I guess it didn't slow them down too much.

You may notice that I have my winter jacket on.  The high temp was 50 again today and it was about 47 when this picture was taken.  It is supposed to get down to the mid 30's again tonight.  We thought we might need our heavy coats in Alaska, but not here.

Today was the last day of the Escapade.  There was a pet parade and a chili cook off , but I didn't get any pictures of them.  The closing ceremony was at 3 PM.  It was announced that there were 540+ registered rigs and 1066 people attending Escapade.  Everyone who had a hand in putting on the Escapade was recognized.  The grand prize, an Adventure Caravan trip for two, was awarded.  Also an Escapees HOP trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was awarded.  A farewell social with music and snacks was this evening.  Tomorrow, there is a "hitch up breakfast", but we won't be hitching up until Sunday.

I guess we will take tomorrow to reorganize our home on wheels.  If we can get the truck out of the infield, we may do some sightseeing.

Escapade 5/15/14

Day 13 - Thursday, May 15, 2014
Day 4 - Escapade

It has been raining for the last three days and now it is cold, only in the mid 40s this morning.  We had to get out our heavy coats and long sleeved shirts!  The storms were not severe, but a lot of rain has come down making for a soggy racetrack infield.  Since it was raining, we set out to drive over to the seminar.  This is what happened.

Now, this doesn't look very bad, but we could not move without spinning our tires even after Earl locked the differential.  We do not have a  4X4.  Luckily, the fairground staff were trying to fix things by dumping gravel along the most heavily traveled area of the infield and the guy running the Bobcat pushed us out of these ruts and onto more solid ground.  We didn't dare take a chance of trying to get back to the trailer, so the truck is parked in a different area of the infield.

 

Here is an example of the ruts made by other trucks and the Bobcat that rescued us.

Actually, we left the truck stuck in the mud and walked to the seminar.  We were rescued later in the day.  The two photos above were taken in the afternoon.

After the seminar, we went over to the market to browse around and ended up buying one of the tire monitors.  This is what the market looks like.

Tonight, the entertainment was provided by Escapade participants.  It is called Hamorama.  There are some very talented Escapees members.  There were singers, musicians, a comedian, and someone who read poetry.

The sun came out late in the day.  We thought, "Yea! maybe it will dry out so we can get out of here tomorrow, a day before the end of Escapade, and head to Dayton for the Hamvention (amateur radio convention) that takes place this weekend."  However, it was announced tonight at the general assembly when door prizes were given out, that the fairgrounds is encouraging everyone in the infield camping area to stay put and not try to move our RVs until things dry out because tow trucks won't come into the area, if you get stuck, because they will get stuck too.  They are even offering free camping for Saturday night for those of us parked here. Tonight's weather forecast is calling for more rain during the night and tomorrow morning.  Also, it is COLD for this time of year.  High today was about 50 and it is expected to get down to 34 tonight.  Frost warnings are up.  I guess we will not be going to Hamvention after all and will be in Goshen a couple more days.

Escapade 5/14/14

Day 12 - Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Day 3 - Escapade

There were more seminars today.  We learned about blogging with Google Blogger and how to manage our photos with Google's Picasa from Chris and Jim Guld, Geeks On Tour.   We also learned about remote tire pressure gauges to monitor the tires on the trailer or any of our tires, up to 22, if we needed that many.  The new truck comes with a tire monitoring system, so we don't need one for them. 

We mentioned that we are parked in the infield of the racetrack of the fairgrounds, here in Goshen.  That has made for some interesting signage that we pass as we drive around.  Here is one.  The Rvs in this photo are on the outside of the track.

 

This is a caution, look both ways for horses.  Here is the area we are camped in.  Notice that it is the infield of the track, therefore, we need to cross the track to get to our campsite.  It has been raining and there is a puddle at the far side of the track leading to the infield.  Things are beginning to get torn up by the traffic as the campers go in and out to attend activities.  Of course, most of them walk or ride the shuttle golf carts, but the trucks and cars are taking their toll on the grassy area and paths between rows of RVs.  You can see the clouds that are dropping all of the rain.

 

As we were leaving to go do the laundry, we saw the quintessential way to exercise your horses.  It reminds me of those people who run their dog while riding their bikes.  There are two horses here, not one with eight legs.  We had to wait for them to go by before we crossed the track.



A little farther on the way out of the fairgrounds, this horse was headed to the track.

 

There was no entertainment this evening.  The optional activities were card games, bingo and a jam session, if you played an instrument.  We did not participate in any of those activities, so we went out to dinner at Ponderosa, after we finished the laundry.  The Ponderosas near us, in California, have been closed so it has been awhile since we have been to one.  Well, it turned out to be "Senior Wednesday", so we got our buffet for half price.  What a deal!

 

It was raining quite a lot by the time we got back to the trailer, so we had to rush to get the dry laundry in before it got wet again. 

 

Tomorrow, there are more seminars and the last day that the market will be open, so it is our last chance to shop till we drop for our must have RV items.  Better rest up for that!

 

 

 

Escapade 5/13/14

Day 11 - Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Day 2 of Escapade

The educational seminars began today.  They cover all sorts of topics that might interest an RVer, such as products you can add to your rig, handy tips for making life easier while traveling, ideas for places to go, safety, volunteering or working while RVing, full time living in your RV, etc.  I attended three seminars this morning.  One was by Jim and Chris Guld.  They are Geeks On Tour and travel full time giving seminars about all sorts of electronic devices and programs for them that one can use while traveling.

I went to two different seminars about RVing to Alaska this morning as well. 

At the one, given by Adventure Caravans, there was a door prize drawing at the end of the talk.  I was lucky enough to win the gift certificate worth $500.00 toward one of their adventures.  We have been to their Rose Parade and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta rallies and really enjoyed them.  I am sure that whatever trip we choose to apply the certificate will be just as much fun.

This afternoon, we toured the Montana Trailer assembly line.  It is amazing how the trailers are put together.  They were not building our model of Montana, but the process is basically the same.  They start with a frame, attach the under belly insulation, axels, wheels, tires and jacks.  Then they run wiring, hoses, water lines and drop in the holding tanks for waste and fresh water.

After everything is in place, the floor goes on top.  Here, the board is on and some linoleum has been placed.

 

Next, the interior walls and cabinets go in as well as some of the fixtures are completed.  The shower is about ready to be put in place on this trailer.  The trailers are on dollies that you can see fairly well here.  This allows the units to be moved side ways down the assembly line

You may have noticed a lot of pieces higher up on a second level in the previous pictures.  All around the assembly line, various cabinets, fans, light fixtures, etc. are prepared to go into the trailer as it passes the appropriate point on the line.  That is some of what you are seeing.  Here, toilets are placed, one on top of the other, ready to be installed on a trailer as it arrives at that spot .

These are the exterior wall units that have been fabricated and laser cut for where windows, doors hatches, and slides will be put on later in the process.

Now the outside walls have been attached.  This is the pass through area before they hide it with black fabric covered walls, such as you can see off to the left in this photo.  You can also see the plumbing pipes, water heater, and water pump (little black thing at the bottom right with a white label).  Interestingly, you can see into the next trailer ,that is further in the assembly line, through the hatch opening of this trailer. 

Ceiling and fixtures have been added.  Since this trailer will have a large slide on each side, it is easy to see the trailer that is preceding this one down the line.

The roof and slides have been added, trim, windows, exterior lights, and vents installed and hatches are covered.

 

It is just about ready now.  The graphics have been added and furniture is in the process of being added inside.  The company is still recovering from the recession, but they are finishing the assembly of 18 trailers per day now.   Our tour is finished.

There was another evening of door prizes.  Getting ready... 

And the winner is out there...

Entertainment, tonight, was the Homestead Pikers from Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO.  The guy in the middle played the harmonica as well as sing.  The acoustics in the hall, that we were in for the performance, were not very good to be able to understand them.  I'm sure that they sound much better in their own theater.

That was a pretty busy day.  I think I'll get some sleep to be ready for tomorrow.