It was a beautiful Sunday in Elkhart. We watched the live stream of our church service at Lester Memorial. Always such a blessing. We did some walking in the park while it was still cool and visited with some people parked around us. A lot of people left today. Guess they have to work or school tomorrow. We rode our bikes on a rail trail that runs from Elkhart to Goshen this afternoon. It was a good trail but not nearly as picturesque as most we have ridden. Rather than a trail through forests, it was primarily a concrete path a short distance off the highway and there was an active rail track close by. It was about 11.5 miles round trip so we got some good exercise and enjoyed the ride through a park as well. It was another good day.
Headed out from Ox Bow Park to the MapleHeart Trail.
Although most of the trail we rode today was beside a busy street, there was a nice quiet part through the woods in Goshen.
Another nice part of the trail goes through the Oakridge Cemetery which dates back to 1832. This building was built in 1889 as a receiving vault to store bodies in the winter until the ground thawed.
Part of the veteran’s area of the cemetery
This family drove by as we were getting ready to leave the park.
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.
It was a beautiful Sunday in Elkhart. We watched the live stream of our church service at Lester Memorial. Always such a blessing. We did some walking in the park while it was still cool and visited with some people parked around us. A lot of people left today. Guess they have to work or school tomorrow. We rode our bikes on a rail trail that runs from Elkhart to Goshen this afternoon. It was a good trail but not nearly as picturesque as most we have ridden. Rather than a trail through forests, it was primarily a concrete path a short distance off the highway and there was an active rail track close by. It was about 11.5 miles round trip so we got some good exercise and enjoyed the ride through a park as well. It was another good day.
RVing With a Purpose 