Pictures are from the RV and Motorhome Museum in Elkhart. The first picture is an 1913 travel trailer pulled by a Model T; reported to be the oldest travel trailer in the world. It was made for a Cal Tech professor.
The second picture is a 1935 Covered Wagon brand with genuine leaterette stretched over thin plywood.
Next is a 1955 Ranger crank up tent trailer.
Last is a 1931 Mae West Housecar used to carry her and friends between her dressing area and the set. It was also where she could rest between shootings.
9/6 Thursday It was another up and on the road early days. We were due to have some service work done at Equalizer Systems, so we should have been there a little after 8. Instead we were on the road at 8:05 on about a 30-minute drive. It turned out this was not a problem; they were just standing around waiting for something to do. We told them the problem and headed off for breakfast.
We had just finished breakfast when the phone rang and it was Cisco, the tech working on the coach advising us it was ready. We made a tour of Elkhart trying to find Mandalay and managed to get turned the opposite direction from where we needed to go. Finally we found our way in and they said to come in tonight and they would see what might be done to get us taken care of early.
We picked up the coach and headed to Mandalay with a stop at the local Wal-Mart. We settled into Mandalay where we will likely be for several days. Most of our punch list is stuff that should be easy for them, but we will wait and see - quite literally!
9/8 Saturday We had a lazy day with on and off rain, so we headed to a new farmers market we saw under construction when we were here in February. This is a really nice market unlike any we have ever seen before. The floors are thick, clear finished wood as is about everything else in this facility. It is a two-story building with 12” x 4” planks creating the open stairways. The building is about 6-stories high, but the real market is on the first and second floors. It is a large red barn like building that is almost as impressive outside as it is inside.
After getting some produce there, we headed to DeMartini to see if we had any mail. On the way there we passed gasoline at $2.89 vs. the $3.09 elsewhere. We topped off and thought we were doing well. We went up the same road about a mile and found it for $2.74. We could only laugh and drive on.
While in the same area, we found the plant or plants next to each other that build the UPS, Fed-Ex and Centis (sp ?) delivery trucks. The lot is full of units ready to be driven away to their new homes.
Some of the farms here have corn that is higher than my eye level when in the RV driver’s seat. This is by far the tallest corn we have seen and it is advertised as sweet corn like we have been seeing elsewhere, but that corn was considerably shorter; more in the 5’ range.
9/9 Sunday We found the Faith United Methodist Church was about the only one that we could attend. It seems most Baptist churches in the area begin their service at 10:15 and we were unable to dress and drive to any in time. Faith UMC began their service at 10:45. This appears to be a young (both in time in the area and age of the members), but very active in their work. Rev. Larry, Sr. Pastor gave a very strong sermon on the need of Christians to live their lives out in public where others can see Christianity practiced. Further, we need to stop our race to be politically correct and so afraid to offend others with our religious fervor. It appears we are hiding our God and our Savior for fear of offending some while at the same time providing the water and facilities for others to bow to their gods multiple times a day. It is a shame our politicians appear to be at the front leading us in this direction that is contrary to the results of polls where Americans say they are predominantly Christians and want to maintain our Christian heritage.
9/10 Monday We are now having to get out of our RV around 7AM so it can be worked on at the factory service center here in Elkhart, IN. It appears we will be following this early exiting routine for possibly the whole week; we have several things on our list to have done. Meantime we are seeing the sights of the area. We went to the RV & Motorhome Museum that moved from downtown to a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility just off I-80 a year ago. They have started an additional building program to enlarge the building by about another 30k sq. ft.
They have many old cars and RV equipment showing the evolution of the industry. They have many donated units from various RV builders that have been restored to their original beauty.
We had just finished breakfast when the phone rang and it was Cisco, the tech working on the coach advising us it was ready. We made a tour of Elkhart trying to find Mandalay and managed to get turned the opposite direction from where we needed to go. Finally we found our way in and they said to come in tonight and they would see what might be done to get us taken care of early.
We picked up the coach and headed to Mandalay with a stop at the local Wal-Mart. We settled into Mandalay where we will likely be for several days. Most of our punch list is stuff that should be easy for them, but we will wait and see - quite literally!
9/8 Saturday We had a lazy day with on and off rain, so we headed to a new farmers market we saw under construction when we were here in February. This is a really nice market unlike any we have ever seen before. The floors are thick, clear finished wood as is about everything else in this facility. It is a two-story building with 12” x 4” planks creating the open stairways. The building is about 6-stories high, but the real market is on the first and second floors. It is a large red barn like building that is almost as impressive outside as it is inside.
After getting some produce there, we headed to DeMartini to see if we had any mail. On the way there we passed gasoline at $2.89 vs. the $3.09 elsewhere. We topped off and thought we were doing well. We went up the same road about a mile and found it for $2.74. We could only laugh and drive on.
While in the same area, we found the plant or plants next to each other that build the UPS, Fed-Ex and Centis (sp ?) delivery trucks. The lot is full of units ready to be driven away to their new homes.
Some of the farms here have corn that is higher than my eye level when in the RV driver’s seat. This is by far the tallest corn we have seen and it is advertised as sweet corn like we have been seeing elsewhere, but that corn was considerably shorter; more in the 5’ range.
9/9 Sunday We found the Faith United Methodist Church was about the only one that we could attend. It seems most Baptist churches in the area begin their service at 10:15 and we were unable to dress and drive to any in time. Faith UMC began their service at 10:45. This appears to be a young (both in time in the area and age of the members), but very active in their work. Rev. Larry, Sr. Pastor gave a very strong sermon on the need of Christians to live their lives out in public where others can see Christianity practiced. Further, we need to stop our race to be politically correct and so afraid to offend others with our religious fervor. It appears we are hiding our God and our Savior for fear of offending some while at the same time providing the water and facilities for others to bow to their gods multiple times a day. It is a shame our politicians appear to be at the front leading us in this direction that is contrary to the results of polls where Americans say they are predominantly Christians and want to maintain our Christian heritage.
9/10 Monday We are now having to get out of our RV around 7AM so it can be worked on at the factory service center here in Elkhart, IN. It appears we will be following this early exiting routine for possibly the whole week; we have several things on our list to have done. Meantime we are seeing the sights of the area. We went to the RV & Motorhome Museum that moved from downtown to a new 80,000 sq. ft. facility just off I-80 a year ago. They have started an additional building program to enlarge the building by about another 30k sq. ft.
They have many old cars and RV equipment showing the evolution of the industry. They have many donated units from various RV builders that have been restored to their original beauty.
