Westward Ho!

We have left the Northeast in our rearview mirrors and taken the Great Rolling Yellowstone Caravan a couple of states further west. From Ohio, we traveled to Shipshewana, Indiana. Ellyn and I were here two years ago on our Lake Michigan Circle Tour. We loved the gigantic Flea Market and Auction they have in town and it was supposed to be even bigger over Memorial Day weekend. We wanted our friends to see it as well, so we dropped in for four days. It was fun. Our friends seemed to be really interested in the Amish and what drives them to follow the lifestyle. We went to the Menno-Hof Center and got the whole story on the formation of the Amish and Mennonite religions. The center is an immersive multi-media experience and shows the whole history of the Christian religion and how it lead up to the Anabaptist movement where the Mennonite and then the Amish sects evolved. Ellyn and I had not visited there on our last trip.

The flea market was packed on Monday, Memorial Day, but less so on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is when the auctions are held. Ellyn and our friends went back for the auction on Tuesday but Geoff did some more mundane things around the RV. However, we always got together for meals and enjoyed a few of the local restaurants, which are very deep in “comfort food”. We also spent some time driving through the country side following the Heritage Trail, a CD with information on the area. We followed it until we got into Nappanee, IN, where the Newmar Corporation builds RVs like the Dutch Star we own. Ellyn and I had done the tour of their build facility in 2009 when we had first started our adventures, but we wanted to see it again now that it is probably a little more busy and we wanted our friends to see it too.

We were right about it being more busy. Instead of the 4-5 rigs a week they were building back then, now they are doing 7-8 a day. It is quite an impressive process and it really makes us happy we own one, since the process is really high is quality. If we could win the lottery, we would definitely buy a new one, although not a too glitzy one. Some of them seem to have too many lights, chrome and mirrors. However, four TVs might be OK.

On the way out of Indiana, we stopped off at the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum. They have a lot of old RVs in that place, and all in immaculate condition. It was a fun stop, although we did have a bit of trouble finding it, as our GPS tried to navigate us in over a gravel road. No thanks in the RV.

After Indiana, we headed to Chicago, another place we have visited before but there is always something to see that is new. Plus, our friends have family in the area that they wanted to touch base with as we passed through. We stayed at the Hollywood Hotel and Casino Campground, somewhere we have been twice before while visiting Chicago. Our good friends Ken and Martha live here as well, although they have been on the road for a long Winter and will be just getting back into town when we are on our way out.

We took an Architectural Cruise on the river through Chicago and learned a lot about the buildings along the river. They range in age from the 1920s to just a few years ago, and even some new ones still going up. It was fun although it was sunny and very warm. Each time we would go under one of the many bridges, the shade felt good.

Our next day around Chicago was not as nice weather but we had planned mostly indoor things for this day anyway. Our first stop was breakfast with one of Ellyn’s sewing friends, Martha. Waffles and pancakes. Yum!

Our next stop was at a B’hai Temple. It was beautiful and we got an introduction to the B’hai religion.

Next, our friends went to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Ellyn and I borrowed their car and went to visit with another of Ellyn’s sewing friends, Carole. We had stayed at her house two years ago when we were traveling through to Michigan.

Our last day was more laid back. We hung around the rig and did some relaxing. Ellyn worked on some of her sewing and Geoff looked ahead for possible fuel stops along our route. The next few days will be pushing through to The Black Hills of South Dakota. We would like to be there fairly early in two days so we will try to put a lot of miles behind us tomorrow and the next day. Westward, Ho!