Indiana - Crossroads of America

Tuesday, August 16 - Shipshewana, IN

We're back in Indiana for another visit to Shipshewana, an Amish community with great shops and restaurants, a huge flea market, and plenty of horse-driven buggies clip-clopping along the roadways. This visit marks the 3rd time we've been here this year. However, although we have lots of photos from the previous visits, I've not posted a blog to share them. Since I seem to have nothing better to do tonight (K's watching "America's Got Talent" and so I am not able to watch the Red Sox game), I decided to post.

As you know, we just left Wisconsin this morning, after spending the past two weeks in that state. If you've never been to Wisconsin, it reminds me very much of Vermont, with lots of dairy farms and cheese factories. It also has mountains with ski resorts, but much further north from where we were. Driving along the highways and byways, you'll see lots of corn fields and soy bean fields. Those seem to be the main crops along the way. As we found out, the corn is actually feed corn for the dairy cows. The corn crops also provide corn oil and is also used in the production of ethanol. We did manage to find some corn for eating, and it was delicious!! They call it bi-color corn, while we call it butter and sugar corn. The state of Wisconsin is also home to some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers. If you get the chance to visit, DO NOT pass it up.

OK! Indiana. Got here this afternoon and got settled at the campground (Shipshewana South). After settling in, we made a trip to the local "bulk foods" store, E & S Sales, which is just down the road from the campground. This is a great store for purchasing local food products in bulk. We bought out every bag of pretzel sticks they had on the shelves. We have found that the price of the pretzel sticks here is as low as many other sources we have found, but people LOVE these sticks when we put them out! Since we stocked up on cheese up in Wisconsin, we did not purchase any here, although the cheeses here are also wonderful.

On a previous visit to the area, we visited South Bend and the Tippecanoe Place restaurant, along with the Studebaker Museum and got lots of photographs at both places. In addition, we also visited the RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart. Have lots of photos from there, as well.

Tippecanoe Place is the former Studebaker Mansion in South Bend. It was sold back in the 1970s, I believe, and has been through several incarnations. Finally, back in the 1990s it was purchased by the current owners and converted into a restaurant. Most of the rooms in the mansion have been converted to dining rooms, and, overall, the restoration of the mansion is fantastic. Be sure to take a good look at the photos of this magnificent structure.

The Studebaker museum houses a collection of Studebaker wagons and automobiles dating back to the 1800s. These vehicles are magnificent, also! Unfortunately, Studebaker ran into labor problems which it refused to bow to, and, subsequently, went out of business somewhere in the 1960s, or so.

The RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum is located in East Elkhart, just off of the Interstate (I-80/90) on County Road 17. It contains vehicles used in camping dating back to the early 1900s and continuing up to the present day. We saw some very interesting "campers" on our visit.

On our most recent visit to the area, last month (July), we got to do some walking around the city of Elkhart, Indiana. We had noticed, as we drove through the city, that there were various sculptures of elks scattered around the city. (Which makes perfect sense, since Elks are also called Harts, thus the name of the city!) We decided to do a walking tour to photograph as many of the sculptures as we could find. As we discovered, each of the sculptures had a different scheme/color pattern. We also found a sculpture of a marching band, which reminded us of days past when we followed the UMass Minuteman Marching Band. Please take the time to view these photos, as well. The elk sculptures will capture your imagination.

I'm glad I was finally able to put this post and the photographs together. I think you will enjoy seeing some of the things we saw, especially if you've never been to this area of our beautiful country!

Here are the photographs:

South Bend, IN

RV Motor Home Hall of Fame and Museum

Elkhart, IN

Wakarusa, IN

The Wisconsin Dells (Upper) Boat Tour, etc.

Monday, August 15 - Wisconsin Dells, WI

After working two RV Shows over the past couple of weeks here in Wisconsin, we decided to take a couple of days off before traveling east to Massachusetts. So, yesterday morning we left Madison and drove about 60 miles north to Wisconsin Dells. We've heard so much about this area of Wisconsin that we just could not leave without spending some time here. A big "thank you!" to Charlie and Kathy Burch for telling us about this beautiful area.

After arriving at our campground, Sherwood Forest Camping & RV Park, we set out to take a boat tour of the Upper Dells of the Wisconsin River. Fortunately, the campground provided us with a coupon for a 15% savings on the tickets! Be sure to check out our photographs of the boat tour. FYI: one of the things we learned on the boat tour - Wisconsin, the state, got its name from the river, and not the other way around. Also, the word "Wisconsin" comes from an Indian word meaning "land of dark waters"; the word "Dells" is derived from a French word meaning "pillars of stone". Thus, Wisconsin Dells translates to "land of dark waters with pillars of stone".

As we rode the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the boat docks, we noticed that the downtown area is quite "touristy"! Lots of places for tourists to "drop some dough". I would compare this to a place like Myrtle Beach, SC, or any other tourist attraction. Lots of young people walking around and playing games in the video arcades; wild amusement rides, miniature golf - all the usual touristy things.

Since everything here seems so "touristy", we asked at the campground office about a good place to go for dinner where we wouldn't have to fight the crowds. The recommended "local" establishment for good food and drinks at reasonable prices was a Supper Club called Cimaroli's in Portage, WI, about 10 miles east of the Dells. This was a good take! Although it sounds like an Italian restaurant, which we thought it was, it was actually a Steak House! Their "house specialty" was a "Flat Iron Steak", which is actually prepared on a flat iron. It is then placed on a wooden slab and served piping hot. We had ours smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms. I also sampled some of the "local suds", a very light ale called Spotted Cow. For an ale, this was quite light, almost a lager beer. I am bringing some of this home to Massachusetts, so, if you would like to try it, let me know.

Today we visited the Carr Valley Cheese Company in Ironton, WI (Pop. 257). We had hoped to get there in time to see them making the cheese, but we arrived at about 9:55AM and they were cleaning up, the run for the day completed! We were told to get there by 10AM to see them making the cheese. So much for that! The cheese, however, is delicious. We think that Wisconsin Cheese actually has Vermont cheese beat, but it is real close!

We also visited the International Crane Foundation Sanctuary in Baraboo, WI. There are quite a number of cranes in residence here, cranes from around the world. We got pictures of most of them, but I failed to caption a few of the photos (4). The ones without captions are of the African Blue Crane, quite a beautiful bird! Be sure to check out these photographs, as well as the photos of the boat tour.

Speaking of the photographs, here are the links:

Upper Dells Boat Tour photos

Cheese Factory and ICF Sanctuary photos

Tomorrow morning we will be starting our journey back east to Massachusetts. Our first stop will be in Shipshewana, IN, to pick up a few items. We should be in New York for a weekend visit with Mike, Lisa and Ava. We will be back in Massachusetts by late Monday, or Tuesday.

This 'n That!

Tuesday, April 26 - Shepherdsville, KY

Anyone who has been following the weather lately knows how crazy severe it has been, especially in the south central US (AK, MS, AL, TN, MO, KY, IN, to mention a few)! We got a taste of it last night in Alabama. We were down in Red Bay, which is located in the northwest corner of Alabama, right along the Mississippi border. We awoke this morning to heavy rain and wind, but it ended shortly before 8AM, just in time for the Tiffin tech to come out to my coach and caulk the trim pieces he put on yesterday, just before repainting. After settling up with the cashier for my repairs and checking out of the campground, we were on our way. We hit the road at 10AM under gray skies, but no rain!

We are now here in Shepherdsville, KY, having made the trip without seeing any rain or wet roads. However, they are predicting nasty weather tonight, so we are battening down the hatches in anticipation. If all goes well tonight and tomorrow, weather-wise, we will be in Goshen, IN by tomorrow evening, where they are predicting (what else is new?) RAIN!

While sojourning down in Red Bay, we met some wonderful people. One couple we met and seemed to "hit it off" with, was Don and Lucy Wyse, from Maine. They were also having work done on their 2007 Phaeton coach. We found out that they are also "cribbage fanatics", as we are. Unfortunately, we did not get to play any games with them, as we did not have any time - we were having to move coaches from one bay to another for more repairs, etc. Since their home in Maine is not very far away, we are hoping to be able to continue our friendship once we get back to MA. Also, Wilson and Beasley got to meed Don and Lucy's dog, Bruno, a very docile Golden Retriever. After the initial "shock" of meeting a BIG dog, they both settled down and everyone got along very well.

Meeting folks like Don and Lucy is the reason why we love what we are doing. Hopefully, we will be able to do this for a few more years!

As I mentioned, above, we will arrive in Goshen, IN tomorrow, and we will be there until May 25th, when we will head into Michigan for our last show before heading east to Massachusetts. Our last show is over the Memorial Day weekend, and we will be back in MA sometime around June 2nd, or so.

In case anyone might be interested, we have found that, so far, the most expensive fuel has been in Florida. Alabama's average price for diesel fuel is right now hovering at about 3.97/gal. We did find fuel in the $3.80's, but we only saw that at one station, and we fueled up there! Tennessee has prices right about where Alabama's prices are, and, so far, Kentucky seems to be running just over $4.05/gallon.

Tomorrow morning, weather permitting, we will head north, again. Stay tuned for updates as we travel ever closer to MA.

Survival of the Fittest (Fattest?)

Sunday, April 3 - Seffner (Tampa), FL

This will be a quick entry, just to let you see for yourselves how "life goes on" in the wild. At the end of this entry is a link to some fantastic photographs, which were taken in the pond behind a friends lot at The Great Outdoors in Titusville, FL.

Here, first, is the story: While sitting around having conversation one afternoon (not a soul was drinking!), someone spotted an alligator swimming by. Nothing unusual about this, except that he seemed to be quite large. One of the onlookers happened to have her camera, and was able to capture the photos that follow. The alligator, as it turned out, had another, smaller alligator in his mouth! As you will see in the photographs, the large alligator brought his "catch" onto the bank of the pond and attempted to kill/eat the smaller gator. You will see him splashing in the water as he shakes his prey in an attempt to kill it. Finally, you will see him swim away with the prey still in his jaws! Nobody is sure, but the larger alligator seems to measure about 12 - 13 feet in length, while his "prey" was about 5 - 7 feet long!

ALLIGATOR FACT: Alligators eat only about 35 pounds of "food" per year!

Click the link to see the photographs (courtesy of Trish Davis).

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=trishd222&target=ALBUM&id=5591086184081444129&authkey=Gv1sRgCJrC4Ovag8XomQE&feat=email

Potpourri

Tampa Florida State Fairgrounds - January 10, 2011

Since it has been approximatly 9 - 10 weeks since my last entry, I thought I would bring you all up-to-date on what we have been doing since November 4th.

At that time, we had visited San Antonio, TX, and were headed back to Florida for an RV show on Nov. 11. Nothing memorable happened during the trip to Florida. We arrived in Titusville on Sunday, Nov. 7 and relaxed for a couple of days before traveling over to Tampa for the show. The show itself was OK, but not as good as last year, prompting us to consider going west next winter to work a few shows out in California and Arizona.

We returned to Massachusetts for the Thanksgiving holiday and stayed through Christmas. It was good to get home to see family, which is what we truly do miss when we travel. The weather cooperated, for the most part. It was cold and dry, but at least the snow and nasty New England weather held off until just before we were ready to head back to Florida. We were "blessed" with a Nor'easter on Sunday, the 26th of December, which lasted until mid-afternoon on Monday. Needless to say, I had to help out with the shoveling, even though the driveway had been plowed twice during the storm.

As I said, above, it was good to see family again. We got to see just about everyone while we were home, since Chris and Jen decided to host Christmas Eve in Hamilton. The party was a big hit, especially with the little ones, who actually got to see Santa!! I guess the highlight of our stay at home would have to be seeing our grandchildren. Aaron was such a joy to spend time with. He is so grown up at 7 years old! He is very smart, and so interesting to talk with, especially when it comes to talking about things he knows lots about, like Star Wars and Dinosaurs! We played lots of games, and we even got to play a game that Aaron designed by himself! In addition, we did get to see a lot of Ava. Mike and Lisa arrived on Thursday before Christmas and stayed until Christmas Eve, so we got lots of opportunity to spend time with "Miss Ava". She is such a doll. She loves people and attention. The way she gets about, we swore she would be walking before they left. That didn't happen, but, yesterday, Sunday, January 9th, 2011, Ava took her first steps on her own! Imagine that, 13 months and 2 days after her birth, she's walking!!! Way to go, Ava!!

We began our trip south on Tuesday, December 28th, at about 7AM. Chris, Jen and Aaron also left at the same time, as they were flying to DC to spend some time with Jen's dad, Fran and his wife, Marcy. Our travel plan was to get to Richmond, VA, by Tuesday evening. However, due to the traffic in CT, NY and NJ, we only got as far as Aberdeen, MD, leaving us a loooooong way to go! The rest of the trip was basically uneventful, and the weather really was beautiful, so we can't blame the traffic on that. Truth be told, the traffic was probably mostly due to people traveling to the various Bowl games taking place that week. Every year, we say the same thing - "Never again!", but every year, there we are, stuck in the same traffic jams as last year, and cursing, saying "Never again!", again!

We arrived in Port St. Lucie on Thursday, Dec. 30, at about noon. I spent the rest of the afternoon (after unpacking the car) at the DMV, renewing my auto registration, then at the Honda dealership having the oil changed. It was about 5PM when I got back to the park. Speaking of the park, we could not believe how devastated it looks, after the frosts and cold weather in December (coldest December on record). Many of the trees and plants were brown; some were ruined and will have to be replaced. Our main purpose in returning to PSL, other than the fact that the motorhome was parked there, was to spread new mulch in the plant/hedge beds. However, considering the condition of these beds, we decided it would be foolish to mulch. We spent Friday running errands, then had a quiet dinner in the coach, and celebrated New Years Eve quietly relaxing. On Saturday, we packed up and headed north to Titusville, where we will be spending the next three months, or so, before heading north, again.

We are now in Tampa, awaiting the start of the RV Super Show here, which runs through next Sunday. From here, we head south to Ft. Myers for another show, then we will take a week off before our first show in February, in Brooksville, FL. This will be a busy week for us. We will probably be out with friends every night while we are here, since we haven't seen some of them for some time. Also, our RVing friends, the Burchs, the Borsettis and the Desmets will probably be here at the show at some point, so we will be spending an evening with them, as well. Fun, fun, fun!! To add to the fun, we have been following the weather, and it looks like the northeast will be "blessed" with another storm Tuesday into Wednesday, dumping a foot or more of snow! And here we sit, in shorts and T's, enjoying the 70 degree days and 60 degree nights!! Rage on, winter!

Until next time, stay safe and healthy!

Visiting San Antonio, Texas

Thursday, Nov, 4 - San Antonio, TX

Today, we spent the day in San Antonio visiting various sights. We arrived in San Antonio yesterday afternoon, after traveling almost 600 miles from Las Cruces, NM, where we left from on Tuesday morning. I have to say that this drive through West Texas was the most boring drive since we first went "on the road" in September, 2008! There ain't nothin' out there, folks! We didn't even see any wildlife. Guess it's just too desolate for them, as well. Occasionally, we passed through a small town, but these were very few and very far between. This is not a good place to experience a mechanical breakdown, and we didn't, thank goodness! But, fortunately, we made it into San Antonio without any problems, and are staying in a campground about 12 miles southeast of the city, on I-35 in Van Ormy, Texas.

As I mentioned, above, we spent today seeing the sights in San Antonio. We started out by visiting The Alamo. I have not been here since 1963, and I could not believe what the area around the Alamo Shrine looks like. Back in '63, there was absolutely nothing like the hotels and shops which surround the area today. Even within the grounds of the Alamo, new buildings have been constructed to house various things, such as the museum, which houses memorabilia from the John Wayne movie "The Alamo". Also, there have been lots of changes made within the Alamo itself. There are NO PHOTOS allowed inside the Alamo; rooms have been closed off, only allowing you to see into the room; and there are now lots of garden areas around the Alamo, which didn't exist back in the '60s. One other thing I noticed, the floors are now tiled with stone. Back in '63, they were dirt floors!

After touring the Alamo, we walked the short distance to the River Walk. Again, this did not exist back in '63. In fact, back then it would have been suicide to visit that area. It had a reputation for being "home" to many gangs. There were many crimes committed there, not the least of which was murder! Not a good place to find yourself back then. Now, however, the whole area has been transformed into a wonderful place to visit. There are many shops and restaurants along the way; barges to ferry you to places along the way if you are too tired to walk; a theater with seats of grass; and a peaceful place to sit quietly, if desired. I would recommend this as a "must see", if you ever find yourself in San Antonio. It takes less than an hour to walk totally around the River Walk, even at a leisurely pace.

From the River Walk, we continued over to the west side of the city to "El Mercanto", the Old Market Place. This is a series of small shops inside of a large building. There is a walkway through the building, with shops on either side of the walkway. You can find lots of hand-crafted items, along with many production items here. Unfortunately, we were not able to take any pictures in here, but the shops were quite interesting.

Later this afternoon, we visited Lackland Air Force Base, where I spent part of my enlistment in the Air Force. I really don't remember much about the base, mostly because, as a recruit, you don't really get to see very much. We ended up here by mistake, while searching for a Post Office. The GPS directed us to the base, indicating that there was a Post Office there. Turns out that there is a Post Office on the base, but they wouldn't let us get to it! I never realized, during my training days here, how big this base actually is! I believe that part of the reason that it is so big today is that it has taken over part of what used to be Kelly Air Force Base, where I finished up my enlistment. Kelly has been closed, and most of the facility has been "privatized". The airfield, which was once part of Kelly, is now a part of Lackland. When I was stationed here, Lackland and Kelly were located across the highway from each other. The highway, now called Military Drive, cuts through Lackland AFB now.

Tomorrow we will continue our push toward Tampa, FL. We will probably spend one more night in Texas, since we still have over 300 miles to travel through it, and part of that trip takes us through Houston (Oh, Joy!!).

As usual, our photographs are here: Gallery.me.com/cbenoitiii

Visiting with the Collinets in Tucson, AZ

Tucson, AZ - Sunday, October 31 (Happy Birthday, AJ!)

My last post, almost two weeks ago now, was from Camp Verde, just prior to our visit to Jerome and Sedona. We also visited Montezuma's Castle, a National Historic Site, there in Camp Verde, AZ. You may have already seen the photos of those visits, as I posted them, but did not write a blog.

Since then, we have traveled to Mesa, where we worked an RV show this past week, from Wednesday, 10/27 through Saturday, 10/30. The show closed Saturday at noon, so we decided to pack up and head down to Tucson on Saturday afternoon. It was a short drive of about 2 hours (allowing about 20 minutes for a fuel stop). We arrived in the Tucson area at about 5PM Saturday afternoon. We found a campground which is located about 15 miles from the Collinet's home. The campground, the "A bar A", is in the town of Marana, AZ, and it is right off of the Interstate (see photo gallery). This morning, we decided to go out to breakfast, and I found a coffee shop not too far from our campground, in Marana. The restaurant is named the "Sky Rider Coffee Shop" because it is located at the Regional Airport in Marana. We took a few photographs outside the coffee shop (also in the "gallery").

Later, around noon, we headed over to Susan and Jean Claude's home for lunch. As luck would have it, Susan and Jean Claude's sons, Christian and Jeremy, were there. Christian, who lives in Colorado, was there for a visit with his daughter, Drew. Jeremy, who lives about 5 minutes from his mom and dad, was there with his wife, Nancy, and their two daughters, Quinn and Jade. We took lots of photographs of our visit. Unfortunately, after I captioned the photos we took and posted them to my gallery, when we reviewed them, none of the captions appear. This makes it extremely difficult to identify who's who in the pictures. So, in an attempt to let you know who is in the pictures, I will try to familiarize you with everyone by listing everyone in the family photo we took. This is a group photo, and, from left to right, the members are: Christian and daughter, Drew; Jean Claude, Nancy, Quinn, Jeremy, Jade and Susan.

OK, on to our visit! Upon arrival, we met Christian and Jeremy, who were in the driveway. We haven't seen either of them since they were very young boys. Susan and Jean Claude came out and, after hugs and handshakes all around, we went inside for a tour of the house, which is very charming, warm and inviting. Susan and Jean Claude have only lived in this house for about a year, having moved from a bigger, two-story house about a mile from this house. After our tour, we all sat out on the patio to catch up on all those things one never gets to talk about for long at "family gatherings", because there are so many family members to chat with. As we travel around these United States, whenever we get to a location where we have relatives, it is always a priority for us to visit. We get so much more out of these visits because we can really spend time and catch up without interruptions. After a while, we were joined by Nancy, Jeremy's wife, who was working. Nancy is a sign language interpreter. The only family member we did not get to meet was Nicole, Susan and Jean Claude's daughter, who lives in the Phoenix area, and was not able to get to Tucson.

Next, we were treated to a sumptuous luncheon on the patio-not your typical lunch. The weather here is so beautiful that you can enjoy sitting outdoors for meals and not be bothered by BUGS (mosquitoes, yellow jackets, etc.). As we enjoyed our lunch, we got to know the boys, Christian and Jeremy, and Nancy, whom we have never met. We also got to know Lucy, Jean Claude's companion chihuahua (unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of her). Finally, it was time for us to leave. The girls, Quinn, Drew and Jade, were anxious to carve their pumpkins, and the dads were on-deck to do the carving! We departed with a promise to return to the area for a longer visit.
This was a wonderful visit with family, our gracious hosts who were so very welcoming. Thank you Susan and Jean Claude. We hope to return to this area and spend some serious time.

Tomorrow, we begin the loooooong trek to Florida (about 2000 miles). Stay tuned for more posts as we travel east!

Here's the link to the photos: gallery.me.com/cbenoitiii