It was Saturday so we allowed ourselves a slow start to our day. We went to the Elkhart Farmers Market in downtown Elkhart to check out the wares. There were vendors there with beautiful flowers, all types of produce, collectibles, crafts and wonderful baked goods. The setting was right along the RiverWalk so it was a very nice morning. We of course had to buy a watermelon and it is very good, along with some sweet corn that is beautiful, and other items including whoopie pies. We also bought some healthy lettuce, cucumber and green beans that were the best we have had all year. After shopping we walked the RiverWalk for a couple hours. Wonderful walk to various parks along the river. Elkhart has done a great job with their river front. We think NOMADS will enjoy their time here next year.
Elkhart Farmers Market
Our purchase from Yoder’s produce stand …
… and our purchase from Yoder’s Whoopie Pies stand.
The RiverWalk Trail
The River
The remains of an old windmill in High Dive Park along the trail..
Today was another beautiful day in Elkhart. Those of you that follow us know we love factory tours. In Elkhart that means RV factories. Most of the factories are not doing tours due to COVID but we were able to arrange a tour of the Coachman Class B RV factory in Middlebury. One of the regional reps took us on our own private tour. They usually produce 5 class B’s per day at this factory but today the assembly line was not is full operation. Some of the ancillary folks were working but we learned that there is an extreme shortage of parts for all the manufacturers. Orders are at an all time high but all are waiting on parts (many from China). For their Class B’s the current shortage is running boards. They have all these motor homes ready to be shipped, minus the running boards. They were expecting a truck in today. Gary, our tour guide, took us through from start to final finish and then introduced us to the general manager and customer service manager. Everyone we met was very nice and they reminded us of the folks at the Tiffin plant.
The spaghetti of wiring that goes into an RV.
Like Tiffin, Coachmen makes their own cabinets.
Greg explaining a new “phase change” insulation technology that is used in some of their RVs.
New RVs almost ready to ship.
After completing our tour we decided to go to the Middlebury Rise ‘n’ Roll Bakery. This is a large store/bakery where they actually bake the items for the other stores. We went here because yesterday in Elkhart we were told we needed to go to Middlebury for the ice cream stuffed doughnut. Soft serve ice cream and doughnuts – Donna, this one was for you. After that, it was time to to hit the trails. We found a really nice bike and hiking trail about 30 minutes south of Middlebury and walked it all off. It was another wonderful day.
Tuesday and Wednesday were more work days planning the 2021 annual meeting. Bev and Don, the chairs of the committee, are doing a great job and they are working with a great group of NOMADS from Indiana. Looking forward to next year’s annual meeting. Tuesday night we had a beautiful sunset. Monday night the sky was boiling with the storm and Tuesday the clouds provided a sunset that everyone was outside admiring.
Tuesday night we were blessed with another beautiful and unusual sunset.
After this morning’s devotion time we had to say goodbye to all our NOMADS friends as they were all on the road again. We are staying here in Elkhart until at least Monday and doing some of the tourist things. We won’t have time to play when everyone is here for the meeting next year so we are partaking for some of the fun now. First we went to the doughnut shop that everyone raves about. We tried 3 different flavors today and they were all great! More tomorrow. Then we visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum here in Elkhart. What a fun place! There are trailers and memorabilia going back to the 1920’s. Some amazing trailers from the 1930’s. Interesting was one from the 1930’s that had a type of slide out. Also interesting was that there were those with residential refrigerators back in the earliest days and then we “advanced” to the propane and now we are are moving back to residential. We never knew there were residential refrigerators in the trailers in the 1940s. We had a fun relaxing day.
At the Rise ‘n’ Roll Bakery in Elkhart. The main store is in Middlebury so we will probably check it out tomorrow.
This 1913 “Earl” is the oldest travel trailer in the world. It is hooked to a 1913 Model “T” Ford.
This camp car was found in Athens, Alabama and restored.
There are some unusual looking RVs here.
This one was designed to fit in a regular garage.
1929 Covered Wagon
Anne’s parents had a motorhome similar to this one.
They also have an impressive collection of toy RVs.
The museum floor from above. In front center is a 1916 slide in truck camper with slide outs on both sides.
Of course we had to find Mr. Tiffin’s picture on the wall.
Early this morning we had a rain storm at the Grissom Air Museum. We had to wait for the rain to end so we could walk about two blocks to the Dutch Cafe, a local restaurant with good ratings. We were definitely glad we waited. We shared the country scramble which was three eggs, bacon, hash browns, cheese and toast made from home made bread. Very, very good and almost more than the two of us could eat. Some of you will find this hard to believe but we didn’t even eat any of the cinnamon rolls. Of course we did share one for our dessert after lunch. Excellent! We saved one for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Our breakfast from Dutch Cafe
After a nice walk we left the museum en route to Elkhart, Indiana. We will be meeting here the next three days with the NOMADS committee in charge of the 2021 annual meeting. First meeting was at 3:00 this afternoon. It was good to see everyone and hard to not hug some dear friends but we wore our masks and everyone kept their distance. So tired of Covid! The meeting ended a little early because on an approaching severe storm. We all pulled in our slides and put all the chairs and outside stuff away and then returned to the more secure building to ride out what were predicted to be 70mph winds. It was an impressive storm but no damage in our immediate area. Not too far away there was some damage. Again we were blessed and it reminded the committee of the need to have emergency plans in place for the meeting. It was another good day.
Where we will be for the next few days
Helpful reminders on the other side of the sign
Our evening entertainmant
The storm rolling in. Because of the hills around where we live in Alabama we don’t get to see the storms approaching.
RVing With a Purpose 