Yellow Trees and Red Bushes…

Today was another road trip day.

Once again we headed up into Michigan, or really Michiana, as it’s called around here.

We headed off in a different direction than last time, toward Niles, MI.  We were looking for a place to have breakfast / lunch and then take a drive through the country, checking out the fall foliage.

Coming in to Niles, we saw the Blueberry Hill House of Pancakes and decided to stop. It’s a breakfast and lunch only type of place and was really good.

Jan had the blueberry pancakes, and I had something I’ve never had before, a Hawaiian Omelet.  It had pineapple, bananas, and pecans drizzled with honey inside, and topped with strawberry topping.  And, strange as it sounds, it was really good.

After breakfast, we came across a Tractor Supply Store and stopped in.  Jan was looking for a magazine that she only finds there, and I needed to restock on some glues that had leaked and I had thrown away.

Leaving there, we headed out into the countryside and saw some great foliage displays with red, orange, and yellow trees…

 

And these beautiful red bushes.

Coming back home, I did some outside cleaning and repair work, while Jan sat out and keep an eye on Mister as he wandered around, checking out the park.

Later, I went over to help Nick Russell winterized his old bus that he’s leaving in storage here in Elkhart.

He and Terry have upgraded to a very nice 2002 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage, so their MCI bus conversion is up for sale.

We were also trying to remove the inverter/converter unit from his old rig and swap it out with the one presently in his Winnebago, since the one in his old bus is a better, higher power unit.  The inverter / converter unit is used to step up the 12 vdc from the batteries to 120 vac to power the bus when you are not plugged into shore power.  It also keeps the batteries charged when on shore power.

We ran out of time and daylight so we’ll have to work on this later.

About 5:30, Nick, Terry, Jan, and I went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican place, El Marguey.

We had so much fun talking, we didn’t get back until almost 8 pm.

Great times…

Easy does it…

Today was an easy day.

Jan woke up with a migraine, but by lunch time it was gone.  However, after the migraine is over, she always feels ‘kind of wiped out’ as she describes it.

So we just went out to lunch at the North Garden China Buffet and came back to the rig.

While she recuperated on the couch, I continued to sort through stuff trying to get rid of whatever I can.  I’m making slow, but sure, progress.

For supper, Jan combined my leftover Chicken Parmigiana and her grilled chicken breast for a great meal.

Like I said, an easy day.

A Job Complete…

I wanted to spend the day finally getting the bathroom faucet changed out so we ate a lunch of leftovers.

It took all afternoon and two trips to Lowe’s, but I finally got the old one off.

And, ironically, the Lowe’s trips didn’t help.

It just took a lot of brute force, i.e., a screwdriver and a big, honking hammer.

It turns out all I had to do was just beat the crap out of it.

Finally getting the old one out, I got the new one in and working in only about 10 minutes.

Here’s  the result.

The old one was a two handle model that couldn’t be repaired when it started dripping. This one can be fixed.

About 6 pm we headed out for dinner at Ryan’s, dropping off a bag of garbage at the dumpster on the way out of the park.

We got back home a little after 7, ready to enjoy our new faucet.

More tomorrow…

Home of the Great Pumpkin…

Jan decided she wanted to eat at Das Essenhaus again so we headed over to Middlebury, only to find out that it was closed on Sunday.

Bummer!

Our GPS showed a number of other restaurants down the road in Shipshewana, about 7 miles away, only to find that every restaurant we tried was also closed.

Double Bummer!

We saw a lot of Amish carriages along the way, so maybe that was why all the restaurants were closed.

Anyway, we ended up making a big loop out into the country.  A nice drive, but we were starting to get hungry.

When I mentioned to Jan that our big loop was taking us right back by El Maguey, the Mexican restaurant we had eaten at with Nick and Terry last night.

So what was good for dinner is good for lunch right?  And it was, too!

After lunch we headed back down a country road to get some pictures of a pumpkin patch we’d seen last week.

We also went by the American Countryside Farmers Market and found it also closed. Check the web when we got home we found it’s only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We’ll go back then.

Coming home we stopped off at Menard’s and Big K looking for some small plastic containers.

Finding those we went next door to Martin’s, a local supermarket chain to get some Honey Crisp apples that Nick and Terry had recommended.

On our way out of the store, we got Pumpkin Latte at Starbucks.  We decided we like Starbuck’s Pumpkin Latte better than Dunkin’ Donuts, which is good, because the Starbuck’s is much closer.

A few minutes later we were back home at the rig.

And then after we got back I went over to Nick’s to give him a couple of spare hitch pins that I had,  but they didn’t fit his tow bar, so he couldn’t use them.

Mexican times two…

Today we decided we needed a Mexican fix, and we got it, twice!

For lunch we headed over to El Camino Real, a nearby place that we really like.  And, as usual it was great.

Coming home we stopped off at an Ace Hardware to pick up some plumber’s putty to use in installing the new faucet in the bathroom.

Passing a Dairy Queen, we dropped in for a Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. Mmmmmm !!!

When we got back to the rig, we had an email from Nick Russell. We had invited him out to dinner several days ago to celebrate his birthday. He’d ask to put it off a couple of days as he’s trying to get the latest issue of his Gypsy Journal RV Newspaper out.  He was now caught up enough to take a break. So we made a date for 5 pm.

I worked on the faucet for a while, trying to get the old one out.  These things are only suppose to be tightened by hand, but it always seems like they use big, honkin’ wrenches on them.

I haven’t been able to find my basin wrench, but before buying another one, I want to try my strap wrench. But it’s down in a bay somewhere, and I felt a nap coming on.

Nap time over, it was time to pick up Nick and Terry.  Lucky for us, Nick had decided he wanted to go to El Marguey, our other favorite Mexican place here in Elkhart.

We had a great time talking about our many adventures, and recommending places to each other. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again before we go our separate ways around the end of the month.

Good Times…

Drip…Drip…Drip…

Today started about 12:30 pm when I went over to Nick Russell’s coach to help him look for the computer diagnostic plug that’s supposed to be under the dash.

He wants to order a VMSpc computer interface for his coach as I described the other day, but first he needs to know whether his coach uses a 6 or a 9 pin connector for the plug.

But we didn’t have any luck finding the connector. It’s certainly not out in the open like mine is.  Nick’s wife, Terry, thinks she’s found it behind a big bundle of wires under the left foot rest.

We’ll find out more when Nick’s VMSpc arrives.

Heading out for lunch we stopped by the park laundry room and dropped off a bunch of magazines that I was finished with.

For lunch we drove over to Mishawaka to eat at Famous Dave’s BBQ again.  Except that Jan ordered a cheeseburger.

What’s up with that?

Leaving Famous Dave’s we stopped off a nearby Home Depot to pick up a new bathroom faucet. The one we have has a small drip that’s slowly getting worse, and it’s one of those ‘washerless’ faucets that can’t be repaired.  We also picked up a Christmas tree storage bag that I plan on using to store the satellite dish while we’re traveling.  The box it came in is slowly coming apart after almost two years on the road.

Then it was across the street to Walmart for more ‘stuff’.

Heading home, we stopped off a Goodwill store near the park to drop off some games and kitchen stuff that Jan decided we didn’t need anymore.

We’re still looking for a food bank or someplace we can drop off some food stuff, as Goodwill doesn’t take food.

After that it was back to the rig.

It’s supposed to get down to 30 degrees tonight, so I disconnected our water line and drained it, just in case.  We just turn on our water pump and run on our internal 100 gallon tank.

Brrrr !!!!

If it’s Thursday, it must be turkey…

Well, it’s officially Winter here in Elkhart.

Jan woke up to snow coming down this morning. Big fluffy flakes, but it didn’t stick because the ground wasn’t cold enough.

About 11 am we headed out to Cracker Barrel for lunch.  Thursday is Cracker Barrel day because Thursday is when they have Turkey and Dressing.   And Jan loves their Turkey and Dressing.

Coming home we found even more GMC motorhomes here in the park.

I think there’s about 20 of them here now.

This picture illustrates the difference between the two styles of GMC motorhomes.  Basically there is a big one and a little one.  The one on the left is 26 feet long.  Note it has a extra window.  According to the factory brochure, the 26 foot model had 11 different floor plans and the shorter, 23 foot model had 4 different floor plans.

Almost 13,000 GMC’s were produced between 1973 and 1978, with about 9000 still on the road.  Quite a feat for a 25 year old RV.

Coming back to the rig, I spent a couple of hours finishing up my taxes that had to be sent in today and then headed down to the Post Office to drop it in the mail.

Coming back to the rig, I stopped off at the office to check our mail.  Besides a package from Amazon, I was surprised to find that the new shocks that I’d ordered last Friday had already arrived.

So back at the rig I called the mechanic to let him know the shocks were here and he could schedule the install.

About 5 we headed out  to North Garden Buffet, a really good Chinese buffet that’s nearby.

After we got back to the rig we talked to our son, Chris, who’s in SC going to Crime Scene Cleanup School.  His company, Garner Environmental, is branching out into this area.  Normally they do toxic spill cleanup, oil spill cleanup, and tank cleaning standby rescue. So I guess this is just another type of cleanup.

More tomorrow…

Legends of the Fall…

Today was another “tour the countryside day”.

We headed north at the crack of Noon up to Edwardsburg, MI for our first stop.  We’re only about a mile and a half from the Michigan border here in Elkhart.  In fact, because of this, the area is called ‘Michiana’

Our first stop was a restaurant called Legends that we had seen earlier. Turned out to be pretty good, too.

After lunch we drove over to Lunker’s Sporting Goods, one of the largest fishing, hunting and outdoor stores in the country. They had a little bit of everything.  Neat store!

And since they had a moose,  Jan had to get her picture taken with it.

JanAndMoose

And they had a nice bear too.

Next we headed east about 25 miles out through the country to While Pigeon, MI and Bontrager’s RV Surplus.  I love wandering through these places.  I think you could probably build your own RV with all the parts they have here.  Of course, since all the parts are from different models and different years, you’d end up with a ‘FrankenRV”.

Now we headed south back into Indiana and on to Goshen, IN.  That’s where the nearest Dunkin Donuts is and Jan wanted a pumpkin latte and a pumpkin muffin.

They were out of pumpkin muffins, but did have pumpkin donuts, so we muddled through.

Heading toward home, we stopped off at another natural foods store, still looking for Aunt Gussie’s Sugar Free cookies.  And again with no luck.

Coming home, we stopped off at the park office to pick up our mail.  Then we settled in for the night. And it looks to be another cold one.

Our daughter Brandi called to say Hi and it was good to talk to her.  Only about 6 weeks until we see her, and Chris, Linda, and Piper, our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.

Tomorrow night they’re talking about the possibility of snow showers!

I want my Global Warming and I want it now!

Hooooo! Hooooo!

We’ve had a gnawing hungry for hot wings, so finding out there was a Hooters over in Mishawaka, we headed out.

After a great lunch (with leftovers) of Three Mile Island (their 2nd hottest) chicken strips and wings,  we started looking for a Natural Foods store that was supposed to carry Aunt Gussie’s Sugar Free Cookies, which are Jan’s favorites.

Unfortunately, the store was out of business.

After that, we headed over to David’s Bridal to look for a pair of earrings Jan had to seen in a magazine. But no luck there either.

Getting back I walked over to Nick Russell’s coach to see if he wanted to come over and look at my VMSpc computer interface.  This is a gadget that plugs into the engine diagnostic plug underneath the dash of our coach and gives you direct access to all sorts of engine readings, many of which aren’t available on the dashboard panel.

You can create your own gauges, make them any color, and place them anywhere on the screen. You can also set alarms for too-high and too-low values and also change colors.

And it you get a Check Engine light, it will tell you what the problem is.  A great product!

Jan and I are still going thru boxes, trying to eliminate stuff we don’t need.

Later…

RV Hall of Fame…

Today we wanted to visit the RV Hall of Fame Museum here in Elkhart, but on the way we stopped off for lunch at El Maguey, a Mexican place that Nick Russell had recommended to us yesterday. It was very good!  And we’ll go back.

The RV Museum is set up as a walk through RV history.

This unit, called an ‘Automobile Telescoping Apartment” and built in 1916, is probably the first example of a slide-in pickup camper.  Except in this case it’s installed on the back of a 1915 Model T Ford.

And it cost a whole $100.00.
 

And, of course, it came in any color you wanted, as long as that was black.

 

This 1935 Bowlus Road Chief, was the predecessor to the Airstream.  The segmented aluminum roof was designed to simulate the look of silk fabric stretched over the wooden frame of a sailplane.

 

 

This 1937 Hayes Motor Home is probably the first RV to bear the name “Motor Home”

 

 

According to its history, it was only used a few times and then put into storage before 1940, and then unearthed in the mid 1990’s. Other than being repainted outside, it’s entirely original.

 

This 1929 Covered Wagon was the first production travel trailer in the US.  It was the largest trailer manufacturer during the 1930’s, but went out of business during WWII.

 
This is a 1929 Wiedman Housecar built on 1928 truck chassis.  Looks like this guy didn’t want to spring for the extra $35.00 for a real driver’s seat.  I guess his living room is missing a chair.

 

 

This 1937 Hunt Housecar was one of several built in the 1930’s for Hollywood movie cinematographer and producer Roy Hunt. Kind of looks like it belongs on the Jetsons.

 

 

 

This 1936 Roadhome Coach comes complete with a wood-burning stove,

 

and a bathtub!

 

 

This is a 1928 Pierce Arrow Housecar, one of 3 built before the 1929 Stock Market Crash took them out of the RV business.

 

 

From the rear it looks more like a trolley

 

 
Somehow I expected a little more opulence from a Pierce Arrow.

 

 
That toilet almost looks scary!

 

 

This is a 1931 Chevrolet custom housecar built by Paramount Studios for Mae West to entice her to leave the vaudeville circuit and make movies for them.  It was not built as a camper, but was designed as a chauffeur-driven lounge used to transport Miss West back and forth between shooting locations

 

 

 

 

For a more modern example, here’s some shots I took in Houston of a coach built for Cybill Shepherd for use on her TV show, “Cybill” that was on the air for 4 years starting in 1995.  Quite a difference 64 years makes.

 

 

This is a 1974 GMC Motorhome, built on the Cadillac Eldorado/Oldsmobile Toronado front wheel drive chassis. Built from 1973 to 1978, a lot of these are still on the road.  In fact, there’s 6 or 7 of them in our park right now. I guess it’s some sort of mini-rally.  I’ll try and get some pics in the next couple of days.

 

This is the custom-built Star Streak II, also built on the Cadillac Eldorado/ Oldsmobile Toronado front wheel drive chassis.

 
This is the oldest travel trailer in the world.  It’s a 1913 “Earl” travel trailer built for a Cal Tech professor by a Los Angeles carriage maker.  I guess he’s was lucky to get his Model T in blue.  The next year it was “all black, all the time”.

 

 

 
This is a 1931 Model AA Ford Housecar.  The ‘AA” means it was built on a truck chassis.  It was found in a barn in Athens, AL in 1999 after being stored for over 50 years.  And even more amazing, they were able to get the engine running the same day they found it.  They spent over a year restoring it to its present condition.  The restorers called it the “Tennessee Traveler” since they were from Pulaski, TN, right across the state line from Athens. Since it was found in Alabama I think “Alabama Ambler” would have been more apropos.  Of course I may be a tad prejudiced since I’m from Alabama, lived for several years in Athens, and still have a lot of relatives there.

 

 
Don’t you just love the custom bench seats.

 

And I really like the coal-burning stove, just the thing to stave off that winter chill.  Who needs propane?
  

 
They also had a neat model of an RV travel trailer factory.

 

 

 

 

We both really enjoyed the RV museum.  It’s amazing to see how far RV’s have come.

More tomorrow…