| Geneva and Berne, Indiana - Old Order Amish
We wanted a few relaxing days so we headed to Amish country in eastern Indiana. Geneva and Berne, Indiana have large settlements of Amish and Mennonites and we settled in Amishville USA Campground, a campground on an old Amish farm. It is a promising campground with a beautify entrance, but much work needs to be done. The center of the campground is full of older permanent trailers and fifthwheels and many have an unkept appearance. We parked in the back of the campground on open level ground in a water and electric site and the water was a beautiful brown and rust color. Luckily we had a half tank of fresh water so we did not hook up. Even though the campground is named Amishville and it is located on a former Amish farm, the Amish are not connected with the campground and no Amish work there. Matter of fact, the Amish are not too happy with having a campground in the middle of their farms. We have visited Amish communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio and northern Indiana, but the folks in eastern Indiana are Old Order Amish. They don't work in businesses with English (anyone not Amish), they dress in black (other Amish can wear pastels), they farm with horses, ride in open buggies with backless seats, shun electric and telephones and speak a dialect of a Swiss-German language at home and in religious services. They have no churches and hold services in homes every other Sunday. The children are taught in Amish schools and receive an eighth grade education because that is all they need to get through life. The number of Amish is growing because the average family has 6.8 children. Using our Garmin GPS we drove about 50 miles
through Amish farmland and stopped to study their houses and barns, the
cows and horses in fields, windmills, men working the fields with horses
and buggies going down narrow roads. We drove down one dirt and gravel
road many hours after a rain and there were no tire tracks - only buggy
wheel and horse prints. Several Amish stopped in their tracks to watch
us drive by like we were strangers from another universe, but many waved
so I suppose we looked like a friendly couple. There must have been some
Amish farms behind our campsite because often buggies went by our motorhome.
Later when leaving the campground in the motorhome we came upon buggies
and not wanting to scare the horses we eased by them at 10 mph.
In the Swiss community of Berne we found
Moser Motor Sales, a Ford Mercury dealer, that is the oldest Ford dealer
in Indiana being established in 1904. It looked like they were in their
original building. Linda wanted to buy a few items so we stopped in Briggs
Hardware and the store reminded me of the old hardware stores of rural
Kentucky when I was a boy. Just try to buy one nail and three screws at
Home Deport or Lowe's. You can do it at Briggs Hardware. We were amazed
they had so many items in the store and it was like a combination store
and museum. Linda had to climb a ladder to reach some items. On our drive
back to the campground we passed the last covered bridge over the Wabash
River that was constructed in 1860. I'm glad we didn't have to drive our
motorhome across it.
Newmar at Nappanee, Indiana The three year warranty on our Dutch Star was expiring May 9 and we had an appointment May 6 so we drove to the Newmar plant in Nappanee, Indiana and selected a full hookup site in front of the customer lounge. As I was setting up a Newmar technician, a group leader, recognized me from working on our motorhome in 2005. He walked over and shook my hand and asked why we were there. I told him our warranty was expiring and we had a few items that needed repairs. He said we had paid for the warranty when we bought the motorhome so be sure to write down every minor item we could find and they would fix them all. In our opinions Newmar builds great motorhomes and then backs them with excellent service. When our service writer arrived I had my list ready. The headlights were starting to yellow slightly (they replaced them), the entrance steps had stopped working on our trip to Newmar (they replaced them), the stove grates had scratches (they replaced them), three knobs on the day/night shades were cracked (they replaced them), there were two hairline cracks in fiberglass (they repaired the fiberglass and repainted), a clearance light did not work (they replaced it), the power patio awning arms had chipped paint in three places and the wind sensor did not work (they replaced the awning arms, the roof sensor and control assembly). Every minor item we mentioned they repaired or replaced and they always do their work with a smile and handshake. Then they asked if there was anything else they can do for us. It took three days for repairs and the only problem is they pick up the motorhomes at 6:00 a.m. which is the middle of the night for me. We had to get up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. to get cleaned up and have the motorhome ready to be driven away (utilities unhooked, slides in, jacks up and air bags inflated) all by 6:00 a.m. Then we drove to town and ate breakfast and tried to drink enough coffee to wake up. Back at Newmar Linda taught crafts to the women waiting in the lounge and the hit this year was making wine bottle totes from Wal*Mart bags. Linda has a knack for getting women involved and before we left the ladies were raiding stores collecting colorful shopping bags to make more totes. While Linda worked with the women I stood on the porch with the men and we solved most of the motorhomes' and worldly problems. We had one exciting day when the camping area and parking lot was being re-graveled. About a dozen of us pointed and told the worker where he missed a couple of inches of rocks and told him where to dump the next load. We must have done a good job supervising because the graveled areas looked level and professional when he finished. After the motorhome repairs were completed
we decided to stay a few more days. Hey, with the price of fuel so high
we love to save money by staying put on a free camping site. A special
visitor stopped for a visit. Ken Sherwin is an engineer for Tuthill and
he designed the Comfort Drive system that is installed on all Newmar diesel
motorhomes. It is more than a steering system - it is complete comfort
driving system and it was interesting listening to Ken explain its conception,
development, trials and errors and finally the "almost" perfected product.
(He is still working on perfection.)
Shipshewana, Indiana One day we drove to Shipshewana, town of
flea market fame, and Linda bought some items at a sewing center. Then
we stopped at two Amish furniture stores and marveled at their handcrafted
items. Some day we plan to build a small retirement home and we may furnish
it with hand made furniture by skilled Amish. Just hope we don't
have to start working again to afford it. We did write down the designs,
woods and features of items we liked and we may return some day and place
an order.
RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum, Elkhart, Indiana In 2001 we visited the old RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart, Indiana and now it has relocated to a new and modern building in northern Elkhart off exit 96 on interstate I-80. The 80,000 square foot building houses the Hall of Fame honoring industry leaders, a museum of vintage RVs from 1913 up to the 1970's, a Go RVing Hall showcasing the latest models, an Exhibitors Hall where supply firms tell their stories and the world's largest library of RV and manufactured housing related literature and photos. The building was funded by donations from the RV industry and individuals and construction and expansion is still in progress. We loved looking at the vintage RVs and most were open so we could go inside and study the features. The oldest known RV is a 1913 Earl travel trailer and it is on display being towed by a 1913 Ford. We toured and studied a 1931 Ford Model AA House Car, Mae West's 1931 Housecar, a 1954 Holiday Rambler travel trailer, a 1964 Clark Cortez Motorhome, a 1974 GMC Motorhome, a "modern" 1967 Winnebago Motor Home and many others. It was interesting to study how RVs have
evolved over the years, but we were happy to return to our Dutch Star that
is luxury on wheels compared to the old RVs.
Stupid is as Stupid Does..... The last year I have enjoyed my Sprint air card and staying connected to the internet 24/7. During our travels last year I could not get connected to the internet in only two places and both were way out in the boonies. In Nappanee I could not connect so I reverted to the old slow phone line in the customer lounge. We drove to Shipshewana and there was no connect there either. Then we stopped in a campground just east of Indianapolis and just off I-70, still could not connect. But I did get connected in Goshen and Kokomo. I wondered why I could connect most everywhere for a year and then could not get a connection in 75% of the places. Ah, I finally remembered before we left Louisville I played around with some software settings and I had told the air card to only connect to EVDO towers which give ultra fast speeds. But most of the country is still on 1XRTT which is about twice the speed of a landline. I changed the setting back to accept any signal and it started working again. I went 2 1/2 weeks without internet connections because I was STUPID. |
