2013-27 Goshen Indiana to Lima Ohio

2013-27

It's a hootin good summer

Goshen Indiana
Shipshewana Indiana
Elkhart Indiana

Lima Ohio
Wapakoneta Ohio

Campground:  Elkhart County 4H Fairground.  $20 for Water and Elect.  17746 County Road 34  Goshen, IN 46528.  Lots of spaces.  Full hookup and Water/Elect. sites.  Free wi-fi.  Good TV and cell phone coverage.  Continuous train noise throughout the evening as the rails border the park.

Campground:  Ottawa Metro Park, Lima Ohio.  $25 reg, $20 senior rate.  Elect (30 amp) & water.  Exceptional camp sites.  Fully paved, back-in and pull-thru’s first come first served.  Grassy sites, no large trees to worry about.  Paved walking and bike trails, swimming pond and lake for boating.

Distance Traveled:  156 miles
Goshen Indiana

Sunday driving is the best.  Less traffic usually and it was pretty much a straight route to Goshen Indiana from Blue Lake park.  This part of the journey is basically to get a new window blind replaced that was defective.  On Monday I drove over to Shipshewana, isn’t that a great name? I arrived at the factory repair department by 8:30.  The folks were great at replacing the blind and tightening two of the aircraft steel wires that are used to slide the bedroom slide in and out.  Had a chance to talk to the manager and a few other Open Range owners.  All enthusiastic about their 5th wheel campers.  Some were here the previous week for an owners rally.  I may sign up for the next one.  The company was started in 2007 and really has taken off since 2009.  They’re building campers that the camper community want with all the features that we RV-ers are most interested in.  Well built, good design, standard features like the auto-leveling, stabilizer bars, PVC roofing (not rubber), Corian counters, LED lighting and more vinyl flooring in heavy traffic area, reducing wear and tear on carpeted areas.

I took the tour the next day after going to the Shipshewana Flea Market which is open on Tuesdays and Wednesday.  Bought a few things and then had lunch at the Antique Market Restaurant which sits right out front of the flea-market.  Crowded but worth the wait.  What a great home town meal.  Then as I mentioned it was off to Open Range’s factory where they make close to 400 5th wheel campers per month.  Another one of their factories produces about 350 travel trailers and other models each day.  The tour guide wasn’t all that good, but having become quite familiar with the brand, I knew quite a bit about the company already.  The Owner of the company had originally worked for KZ and Keystone as an upper management type and eventually felt it was time to show he could make a better camper.  Randy Graber started the company in 2007 and it really started to take off in 2009.  Now, all the units made through the next four months have already been purchased or ordered by RV dealers.  The company is one of the fastest growing RV companies out there.  I discovered that my unit is the last one to have the Alder wood cabinets and paneling which is partly what sold me on the unit.  Seems a few customers complained that they didn’t like the natural knots in the wood.  Something that I particularly love.

It was really great to see where my camper was manufactured and to meet some of the great folks that are making it all happen.  As I sat in the lobby waiting for the tour, I heard the HRO person calling up people telling them they’d been hired and to come in the next day for orientation. This and many of the Rv companies in the area are certainly hiring workers.  Nice to see an industry back on the mend.

If you look on the map, you’ll see I’m on the Indiana and Michigan border.  On  local TV they refer to it as “Michiana” when discussing the weather and other events in the local area.

Elkhart, the other town in the area noted for all the RV manufacturers, also has the RV/MH Hall of Fame where they have a great collection of antique campers on display.  My favorite being the May West House Car.  I’ve been here before but knew they’d have a few new vintage campers.  They’d added so many that many of the ones I’d originally seen had been tucked away in the far corners of the large exhibit area.  Many of the early campers were one of a kind inventions created by some very creative folks.  What fun to walk down memory lane (someone else’s as I’d never seen these) when car camping was in it’s infancy (1910 era).  Some were built onto the Ford Model T, others designed to be towed behind a car.  There were even the very first designs of pop-up campers.  I spent a couple hours viewing all those great old campers and you can view all of them on my Picasa web site.  One of the very first Mobile homes is also on display by Shasta which is still in business today.

the May West Housecar

Inside the May West Housecar

the Spartan MH

1954 Spartan Mobile Home

Distance Traveled:  125 miles.
Lima Ohio

As I left the Goshen area, I realized I was traveling on part of the original Route 30, The Lincoln Highway.  The first highway to go from the east coast (starts in Times Square NY) all the way to the west coast of California.  As I crossed into Ohio I saw mile after mile of windmill generating farms.  Except everything was still as there wasn't a breeze to be had the entire way.  When I arrived at the campground in Lima Ohio, I was stunned at the modern and easy setup for campers.  Self check in, no reservations.  Large grassy sites with young trees planted between sites.  What a change from constant railroad noise in Goshen to the stillness of a quite little park on the outskirts of town.

The next day I drove down to Wapakoneta Ohio the hometown of Neil Armstrong the first man on the Moon.  They’ve created a really nice museum called the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.  It’s right off of Interstate 75 so very easy to get to.  As one walks through the museum, a timeline of events brings the history buff from the beginnings of space travel with the dreamers.  Writers like H.G. Wells and Jules Vern, past the sci-fi writers who inspired a young generation to dream big, recounting the first flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright from Ohio to  60 years later and Neil Armstrong’s first walk on the moon. Neil also from Ohio.  Learning about the Rocket Society.  Clubs that were forming around the world to work on building rockets that would one day go into space.  Neil had joined one of these societies early.  And a reminder that our space race was “born out of war”.

Portrait of Neil and his Dad

moon rock, that's the closest I've come to a piece of the moon

With more displays of actual space suits and objects including a moon rock and a couple of movies chronicling that first step onto the moon on July 20, 1969, this is the type of history I enjoy.

My final day in the area and I drove down to St Mary’s and New Brennan to see sections of the original Miami & Erie Canal.  They started building it in 1825 and it took 20 years of hard labor to complete the 249 miles from Cincinnati to Toledo Ohio.  Cost:  $8 million dollars.  It was used through the 1850’s when the railroads pretty much took all their business away.  A flood in 1913 completed the final blow to it’s use.  As I was driving south towards St Mary’s I had glimpses of the original canal as it passed through farms and near the county road.  New Bremen has a great bike museum as well.

canal in St Mary's Ohio

I’m heading east tomorrow and plan a visit with RV friends, Kaye and Rich Murwin.  Had no idea I’d end up in Ohio this summer, but here I am.  I’ll start my trek south after my visit with Kaye and Rich.

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2013-26 Whitehall Michigan, a family visit

2013-26

Whitehall Michigan

Campground:  Blue Lake County Park 10701 Nichlos Road, Holton, MI  49425.  50 amp, water: $25 per night.  Dump station available.  A small county park on Blue Lake.  Over air DTV available.  Virtually no cell phone coverage, unless you go down to the lake and stand on one foot.  Caution:  the end loop is deceptively a tight turn-a-round, big rigs should be very wary.  

I crossed over the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world, the Mackinac Bridge Monday morning. $8.00 toll leaving the U.P.  Free going north.  Construction as always on the bridge, painting and maintaining keeping the traffic going a comfortable 40 mph.  I traveled south on I-75 through the heart of lower Michigan for a while.  Noting the sparse traffic in this part of the state and giving me time to enjoy the forests, farms and orchards along the way.  All undulating over rolling hills.

I’m heading towards Whitehall to visit with my other sister Dorothy once again and her daughter Kim and family will also be there for a few days.  Knowing that Dorothy won’t be living in this wonderful western part of Michigan much longer as she plans on selling her home and moving to Florida.  I know I’ll miss her living here, but hope to travel much of Michigan even after she leaves the area.  As I was traveling across the U.P. I often noted that many of those remote homes all had campers waiting in the driveway for the usual migration south each winter.  

Boo Boo time.  Well you know I have a new camper and for the last month or so I’ve been wondering if I should possibly get a slider hitch for the truck.  I kept wondering if the new camper could make those tight turns that one has to make to get into campsites on occasion.  Especially since I’d had a few close calls already.  Well I got the answer yesterday as I was attempting to get into a campsite at Blue Lake.  Actually I’d already picked out a great site, backed in perfectly and then discovered the power pole was too far away for me to connect.  So after pulling out of the site and starting to turn around a very small cul-de-sac heading to the next site over and what did I hear but pop, crunch and the tinkling of glass.   

$174 later the window was replaced.  Over charged on the installation fee, but it’s done.  The next day, after a bit of research on the internet and some great help from my sister Dorothy, I found a great place to purchase and have a new slider hitch installed.  Van Kam Trailers and Hitches in Muskegon Michigan.  Unlike many Rv sales places that seem to be booked up for weeks if not months in advance for service work,  Van Kam’s was able to get me in right away.  Remove the old hitch and install the new one.  $633 later, I have a new hitch which obviously I should have gotten at the same time I’d purchased the new camper.  Those are a couple good examples of unexpected expenses that an RV-er has to endure and budget for.

Nice to be able to get bigger projects like those accomplished with little effort and great results. Making for more time to visit with my sis and her daughter Kim and kids.  Aaron had to head back to work early, not easy being in a high pressure job but they make it work and are very supportive of each other.

House for sale

shopping in Pentwater Mich

My sister Dorothy has put her home up for sale and since her house is the only one in the local area in her price range, there’s a good chance it will sell quickly.  She’s eager to move closer to one of her daughters and avoid another winter in Michigan.  How she’ll fair in Florida is anyone’s guess, but we all need to at least try changes in our lives and except for the long summers, I think she’ll do fine when the time comes to make the move.  She’s been awfully busy getting rid of stuff and sprucing up the house.  She’s quite a good painter and the house looks brand new inside and out.

The weather is back into the mid 70’s with the sun shining once again.  One couldn’t get better summer weather than what we’ve had off and on here in Michigan.  With just a bit of cooler weather and rain mixed in to make the good days that much sweeter.  

Pentwater stroll

You will travel 

at the candy shop

Dorothy made pasties (pasty) the other night and it’s the first time I enjoyed eating one.  I’ve  always enjoyed the aroma of them baking in the oven.  Though I never was a fan of  eating them in the past, I guess my taste buds have been kicked up a notch.  Pasties originated in Cornwall.  They’re a pastry filled with meat, potatoes, carrots and onion and often rutabagas.  Baked, they were easily carried by miners down into the mines and could be reheated on their torch lights.  Pasties are very popular in the U.P. having been adopted wholeheartedly by the Finish and one can find shops that only make pasties.  Often sold at bake sales and ordered for parties and reunions.  

Cammy, Grandma Dorothy, Megan

a couple of little monkeys

Note to travelers:  Michigan is noted for all of it’s lighthouses.  Take a tour along any of the Great Lakes and you’ll have a fun time visiting and snapping pictures of all the lighthouses. There’s even one in the U.P. that you can stay in overnight.

I’ll be heading out Sunday morning with my next destination Elkhart Indiana and Shipshewana where I’m stopping by the Open Range manufacturers of my camper to have a blind replaced and hopefully take a tour.  I’ll let you know next week.

Till then, enjoy your summer.  

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2013-25 Marquette to St Ignace Michigan

Crossing the U.P.

Campground:  Ojibwa Casino, Marquette.  Free camping, 50amp, large back in sites with picnic tables and large pine trees.  7 campsites, first come first served.  Sign up daily for the campsite and they give you $5 cash and a drink ticket.  No water or dumpsite.

Campground:  Kewadin, St. Ignace.  $10.00. 50 amp elect/water.  A promotion was going on and I got tickets for 4 nights free.  Campsites are back-in around two sides of the lower parking lot.  Dumpsite available.

Distance Traveled:  115 miles.

I left the Keweenaw Peninsula on Monday knowing my sister Ann is doing well and enjoying that new top floor apartment.  The drive along U.S. 41 to Marquette takes about two and a half hours pulling a camper.  Speed limit is 55 but many folks go around 60.  The forests along the way have recovered beautifully from a couple years of drought.  Looking lush and green.  Even the narrow spruce trees surrounding many swampy areas look very healthy.

The U.P. has many wayside picnic areas and I stopped at one overlooking one of the many beautiful lakes with a smattering of cabins along the shore line.  The sun is out but it’s taking a while for the temperature to warm up to a high of 70 today.

Distance Traveled:  165 miles

I remember as a young boy, selling copper to the tourists of the North American
and South American

a traditional birch bark canoe

lights at the Maritime Museum in Marquette

a pretty little cottage in Marquette

The Marquette Lighthouse

the mystery of the Lake Superior jeans, found floating
in the water

A few days later, after touring a bit of Marquette I headed out on hwy 28 across the northern part of the U.P.  Wonderful views of Lake Superior from Marquette to Munising with many scenic pull-outs to view the lake, walk along the shoreline have a picnic lunch or go agate hunting.  Then the road travels more inland providing mile after mile of forested woodlands.  Very few farms are in this area, it being somewhat swampy with numerous rivers  winding their way through the thick forests.  I’m heading for St Ignace where there’s a casino advertising $10 a night camping.  I luck out and get a four nights free with a seasonal promotion going on.  You know how I love a bargain and with it being senior day, I got the soup/salad/dessert special for $4.95.  I’m living high on the hog as they say.  

St Ignace is one of the closest towns that has ferry service to Mackinac Island.  A major tourist destination.  St Ignace is a seaside town or in this case actually Lake Huron, but like most of the Great Lakes feels like an ocean.  Sail boats, fishing boats and numerous ferry boats use this charming little town to anchor their boats.  There’s even a tour boat that goes to all the lighthouses on Lake Huron and Lake Michigan with a crossing under the Mackinac bridge.  It takes ten years to paint the entire bridge and repairs and maintenance are done all summer long.

I stopped at the Father Marquette National Memorial.  Father Marquette was a Jesuit priest who established settlements in Sault St. Marie and St Ignace but is probably more recognized as one of the first explorers to travel the length of the Mississippi. The memorial is perhaps one of the least impressive sites I have visited.  No statue, just a few plaques a nice voice recording to tell a brief history of Marquette and a map on the floor of the open pavilion showing what routes he explored.  Though the voice recording was done with a heavy French accent, hard to understand.  Well, still a nice trail leading to views of the Mackinac Bridge.  

the floor of the pavilion has this map showing Marquette's travels

St Ignace is an ideal place to take a ferry over to Mackinac Island and I took the Classic Ferry by Arnold.  That’s an older ferry and only costs $15 round trip.  On the way back I could take any Arnold Ferry and ended up taking the new catamaran.  

The Mackinac bridge

Mackinac Island was a strategic island in the development of the U.S. and has Fort Mackinac on the Island.  Sitting imposingly on the top of a hill overlooking the small town.  It was not de-commissioned for many years after it’s usefulness evaporated, leaving the soldiers with little to do but maintain the fort and tend to their vegetable garden. They were then given the task of improving the island with roads and paths and pretty much made it into a park by the time they were done.  

An odd note in history, it became the 2nd named National Park in the U.S., after Yellowstone NP. Shortly thereafter the government decided to turn over the park and fort to the state of Michigan with the only provision being that it remain a park.  It’s been a state park ever since.  Today the whole island is considered historical with about 15% of the land privately owned.  Many of those grand homes have been in the same families for generations.  

The only mode of transportation on the island is by horse drawn carriages or bike or on foot.  I saw many college age porters lugging baggage to and from the nearby hotels by bike and cart.  The Grand Hotel has it’s own stable of horse drawn carriages or people and supplies.   I took one of the carriage rides around the island (1 1/2 hours) along pristine paved roads including highway M-185 which surrounds the island.  Imagine, roads with no motorized vehicles.  Now you’d think it would be peaceful wouldn’t you.  Well, add hundreds and hundreds of novice bikers on the roads and horse drawn carriages and it becomes quite a comical scene of bikes versus horses as they weave in and out and barely miss hitting each other.  

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island

Downtown scenes of Mackinac Island

Only bikes and horses allowed on the island

Hollyhocks have always been a favorite of mine

the bear makes me look slim

photo reproduced from Mackinac Island website

Overall it was a pleasant tour enjoying the scenery and history of the island at a klopoty klop pace. The Governors summer home is here and has two tours a day.  I missed both.  And a really odd and somewhat creepy statue of Gerald Ford’s head in gold stands out on the lawn near the scouts barracks. Now if I were a boy scout seeing that for the first time, I think I’d have nightmares all week long while staying on the island.  Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts alternate each week with a full week's stay on the island.

The main shopping area of downtown Mackinac Island is very crowded but if you go one block over, where many of the historical buildings are located and can be toured, it becomes a pleasant walk back in time.

Not a bad way to spend a cool August day.  Temps never got above 70 degrees all day long.

And that’s life in the North Country.  

I always love those roadside attractions, St Ignace Michigan

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