Travels

Two short days on the road has us in Goshen, Indiana at the Elkhart Fairgrounds with perhaps 600-700 other owners of Fleetwood motor homes from all over the country and Canada for our 4th annual Fleetwood Motor Home Owner's Association Rally. Our next door neighbors are from Ontario, Canada.   Finally the Association has begun to collect annual dues which has not appeared to decrease attendance.  Fleetwood has been very generous sponsoring the rallies so there is no downside  and most easily afford the $20 annual pittance.  I found this great blog which tells lots about Goshen and has some dandy photos which I do not yet have to post  http://www.lincolnhighwaygoshen.blogspot.com/
This was an easy trip, a fun time 463 miles from home only 9 hours and 20 minutes driving time over two days.  We see the decrease in gas and diesel prices and a corresponding increase in traffic as families take to the highways.  In May we filled up at Flying J in South Beloit WI at $3.85 per gallon with our RV discount card and yesterday it was $3.40 per gallon, cheaper than regular gas at home in La Crescent. Do you think with the decrease in cost of fuel  that other prices will come down just as they escalated with the rising cost of fuel?  Don"t hold your breath as Mom used to say. That'll be the day!

 We found a delightful RV spot off I 80 in Utica, IL where we stopped last night, Hickory Hollow RV.  We seldom travel I 80 coming east but this trip it was the easiest route.

We thought we would be early because the Rally events begin tomorrow evening, so arriving today was  a day and half ahead, but others were already here.  Maybe 2/3 of expected attendees are already in place.  Tomorrow AM we board a charter bus to the Fleetwood Plant in Decatur to  tour the factory where our 2nd homes are manufactured and put together. We stop in Decatur almost every trip going east and we have said many times that we  should take the factory tour.  Do we?  No, so it was offered tomorrow and Thursday from the Rally and we will take advantage of that which means an early AM rising as the bus departs at 8:15AM.  That early curtain call is a challenge for the likes of me who has become accustomed to sleeping  in almost to 8:00AM and it's a challenge for Jerry who is accustomed to imbibing his entire pot of coffee and reading  a newspaper before he ventures into the shower and then begins his day.  We notice many RV'ers are early to bed and early to rise, but we have overcome that.
I continue to be amazed at the number of these people who cannot or choose not to walk short distances to the rally events in the buildings, , and or who all ride scooters or golf carts rather than get a little bit of exercise walking.  So there they are almost immobile and then they climb behind the wheels of these big rigs!  Something in not right about that, there should be a licensing and testing of RV drivers just as there are with truckers.
It has been very dry here in Goshen where rain is badly needed (but not while we are here)  All the lawns are brown, dried up and the farmers are irrigating their crops. This reminds us of northern California where everything is brown after spring unless irrigated.   Meantime Florida is getting the Debby Deluge.  Mama Nature is just not fair.  We are now adjourning for the party  forming outside as the sun goes down, it is warm here. Bad new is 101 degrees  predicted for Thursday!  That's just too hot for me, but without rainfall it should not have the accompanying Indiana humidity, still hot is hot and I don"t like it.   I"ll be inside at the activities in the heat of the day.

May Travels 1 of ?? posts



Rainbow at Mt Top RV
Tarentum, PA

Just for fun I'm posting our trip looking back over the road miles so far while starting out with the rainbow here this evening in Pennsylvania after the short heavy cloudburst.  It absolutely would not be my home here if we did not have a shower or two duriong our stay, good PA rain just as I remember it from childhood when I  always tried to sneak off the porch or out the door  to run through the thunder storms, attracted to the downpours and distressing my grandmother or mom, both of whom sought to keep me dry while explaining to me the dangers of thunder and lightning.  My fascination continues today with living in the Midwest, although I do know not to get involved with lightning, I did outgrow that attraction, still I do enjoy watching a good downpour which I fancy as earth cleansing.



Jerry at Longhorn's door

We celebrated Jerry's birthday this evening at a favorite chain Longhorn Steakhouse,  and Jerry being a steak guy was quite pleased to return there.  Sure wish we had such a quality restaurant and steakhouse back home in MN.  We were early this evening but business was booming which indicates the economy is just not that bad in this neck of the woods.  Longhorn is at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall which hosts the gamut of restaurants Smokey Bones, Olive Garden, Red Robin, and ever so many more and every single one was busy--imagine that in Tarentum, PA on a Monday night, every one is eating out.   To the right is the birthday boy himself ready to enter although it sure looks as if he is questioning whether this is the place, whether this is what he wants to do, or maybe whether Longhorn is ready to provide the meal and service he expects.  We did and they did and all was great, goodtime had by all.

We are here 886 miles more logged onto the motor home this trip, 16.5 hours drive time, 132.9 gallons of diesel including a full tank now, $527 poorer with diesel fill ups, and the end of our  5th day of this venture but only $225 for lodging and that is paid up through next Sunday.  We have been blessed with good travels so far and today checked on Uncle's house (it will always be Uncle's house to me although he is gone  and I have the estate to  administer).  All is in order and other than a couple burned out light bulbs where evidently the realtors who have been inside neglected to turn lights off after leaving. all is OK.  The lawn needs a good mowing, so that meant a follow up nag to my nephew who runs a lawn and landscape service and assures me he is taking care of it all.  If that is really so, and I have to trust that it is, why when we showup  isn't the lawn freshly mowed?    We used all the roundup that we had left behind last year  on the bumper crops of weeds and giant thistles in the flower beds which no longer sport the flowers that Aunt Marge used to cultivate.   Because I worry about getting this home sold so that we can close out and settle the estate, I am grateful that all seems as in order as can be expected.  We will be meeting with the  realtor this week as well as the estate attorney and accountant.  Sigh......

Our first night of travel  we stopped for an over night  at  Caboose Lake Campground RV in Remington, Indiana.  This is a lovely RV site used by many local families in the area as a destination for weekends. Downside is that it is right along interstate 65 and the constant traffic from that highway makes sleeping difficult.  Jerry can sleep anytime anywhere, but I didn't get much rest despite using ear plugs.  There are many amenities here including a trout stocked lake and  easy access off Highway 24 which we drive across Indiana, wide pull through level sites, but I wonder why they don"t  plant trees  as a sound barrier to the interstate.  

Our first destination on the way though was  Decatur, IN to visit  friends Barb and Paul, who live on the outskirts of Monroe, IN and to  see their new home; they sold the farm house and barn to one of the sons and built a beautiful spacious home on the property.  I did not take a picture of their spacious 2000 sq ft. open floor plan with the same square footage downstairs in the finished basement complete with another kitchen.  Barb joked that not only could  they wheel around if they ever end up in wheel chairs but if they  need live in care takers, they can live on one floor and the caregivers on the other.  Barb has retired from her catering and cake decorating business but with 7 grand daughters from ages 3 to 23 and 2 sons and families all living near along  with cousins and long time friends she is always cooking and baking. She has a small chest freezer  filled with cookies alone that she bakes continuously for everyone to enjoy.  She had a pie ready for us, something called Indiana Cream which is delicious and which Jerry, the pie eater in chief has been eating nightly.  Barb has been using the kitchen downstairs and said since moving in Thanksgiving she still has not cooked a meal in the upstairs kitchen. 



Berne, IN Clcoktower  

Saturday May 5 was Kentucky Derby Day but we were both so full from dinner the night before with Barb and Paul and constant food from breakfast to midday, we  watched without snacking.  However before the race, I journeyed into Berne to see the local attraction--the Swiss clock tower park.  This area is replete with Amish but many of the others are descendants of Swiss settlers.  For several years the tiny town of Berne hosts Swiss Days right around the July 4th holidays; and for a few years there has been work to build  a clock tower park in the midst of the town.  There are local jokes about the cost of this, but it is a beautiful center and certainly a place depicting their heritage.  The massive clock tower still needs work and friends said the hands of the clock fell off shortly after they were attached calling for more craftsmanship. 

I think they can be rightly proud of their park, completed now at a time when so many municipalities are barely able to make a go of it, the hardworking diligent citizens of Berne with strong work ethic have built a monument to their heritage and the wisdom of remaining true to their values is center visible to anyone who drives by.




Swiss banners in the Clocktower Park 
Berne, Indiana