Elkhart County 4 H Fairgrounds event

      After our install at Mor/Ryde we went back to the County Fairgrounds. On the way I got the feel of the new brakes and suspension. I couldn't believe the difference. There are many railroad crossings in the area. Most are not smooth. But I was amazed at the difference the new Independent suspension made. I could feel the truck bouncing over the tracks, but did not feel the RV bounce. The braking was also improved. So far I am a  very happy camper. There are about 120 to 140 trains that go thru this area and all of them go by the Fairgrounds. I am glad we are at the far end of the campground, so they aren't to loud. But we do hear them.
     Friday we left Mor/Ryde and went back to the County Fairgrounds as it is the best location for us at this time. On Monday we take the truck in to be fixed and this is a close location to the  collision center. We woke up Saturday to 100's of trucks pulling livestock trailers into the fairgrounds. So we got dress and went to check what was going on. There was a big 4 H registration happening. There was a swine registration and inoculation. One of the ladies handing out the paper work to the participants told us what was taking place. Hope we have it all right, 1st, the pigs are ear tagged, then inoculated for swine flu. They must be inoculated twice before coming to compete in the county fair in July. The photo's are just the line up for the swine check in. This went on from about 6:30 to about 1:30. We are about a 100 yards to the left.

The recipents of the tagging and shots.

     Next was the beef weight in, shots, castration, and dehorning. Also they are photographed for identification. This was all explained to us by one of the fathers. Everything was well organized. Both the swine and beef 4 H group was the largest in the state. If I remember correctly there were 285 swine participants. They were each aloud 4 pigs to enter. Not sure what the number of the beef entries was.

I don't want to go. This was a very common site.

Next it was the goats. The same things taking place.

We saw many older people with goats, beef and pigs so question the age limit of 4 H. Members could stay in to grade 12. The fathers were helping because some of the members had entries in two different events.

Goshen, Elkhart and Midlebury Indiana

    After we left Indianapolis we went to Middlebury to have some work done on our RV at Fox RV. Fox RV was very highly recommended by many folks in our Carriage Club. We stayed in their lot for five nights. They didn't work full time on our rig all that time, but when they finished late on Thursday we decided to stay that night and go to a RV park the next morning. We went to the Elkhart 4 H County Fairgrounds. Most of the RV park was reserved for a Holiday Rambler rally. They were having two different rallies a week or so apart. They were expecting over 600 rigs. They had the sites reserved from April 28th to May  22nd according to the sign. While taking a walk one evening a fellow in a golf cart pulled along side and asked if I like a glass of wine. He was the mobile wine bar. He had about 5 different box wines to hand out. They was a first aid golf cart, plus shuttle carts. A very organized rally. We did manage to get a full hook up 50 amp site. The sites were very very close. We will do a review in a later post. Photo is of just one section of the rally.

   We took a walk around the fairgrounds to see what was going on, as there were a lot of cars coming in. They were having a household auction in one building. Many tables and boxes of "stuff". Fun to watch for a short time. Then in the next building they were having a "tack" sale to benefit the 4 H riding club.  In another area they were having dog training class. There was also a horse back training section. We walked over to the track and there were some horse's training pulling sulkies.
  We also took a trip to Nappanee to Focal Wood to see about a built in we were looking for. We ordered a table surround. We have a scheduled installation on the 13th. Driving around the area we did see a number of statues of elk. I believe they are elk, not deer. In other areas we saw pigs, frogs, horse's etc.

  We then took a trip to White Pigeon MI. We saw this on the side of a building,

so had to stop. Inside we found a old fashion soda fountain. This one was original from 1920, as told by the owner. But the selection of nuts was not to large.

     We went to White Pigeon to check out an RV salvage store, that was suppose to be one of the largest in the area .The store was Bontrager's Surplus. It was very big and well organized. The first photo is all cabinet doors.

A selection of windows.

Doors and flooring in the background

Small parts.

   The town of White Pigeon is like many small towns with a dying downtown. But some neat old buildings.

     We went back to Middlebury to the Rise N Roll bakery. This jam caught my eye

 

 

 

They also had a Frog, Christmas and a Dandelion jelly. We have to go back to get soon more great bakery treats.

 

 

They we went to Elkhart and Mor/Ryde for our Independent suspension and disc brakes upgrade. We spent two days in the garage. Well that was at night . They have a 30 amp electric hook up for us. During the day while they worked on the RV there is a nice lounge were you could pass the time. One day we were there at lunch time and they ordered Panera for us. But mostly we did some more touring the area.  

 

Our old axels and wheel drums

The empty wheel wells

The new IS and discs brakes

 The lazar wheel alignment set up

 

 

Indiana State Fair grounds..April 2013

     We stayed for an overnight at the Indiana State Fair grounds. We know they hold very large RV rallies there, so we decided to stay there for one night. When we got there, a large number of cars were going in. A Radio station, WFMS 95.5,  was having a Country Music Expo. So we got checked in, set up and went to see the Expo. It was about 3 and the last act was at 5. At a cost of $20. each, and since it was almost over we decided to pass. Then something happened. Two Cow Girls approched us and ask if we would like "free" tickets to the show. Sure, what's the catch, is it our good looks or is it because we are in shorts and cowboys and girls don't wear shorts, or are we are just lucky. Well heck no, they work for the radio station and are handing out free tickets. So I wonder how many people paid $20. There were 2 windows open at the ticket booth. Just got to wonder.
      There was a lot of western wear for sale. A large stage with benches and bleacher seating. We did get to see a few singers. All the singers were modern country music artists. Not our favorite type of country music. Glad we didn't have to pay for the tickets.  We saw Jaida Dreyer, Austin Webb and Eric Paslay. They were very loud. Did I say LOUD.

Jaida Dreyer

Austin Webb

Eric Paslay

Thousand Trails/Mid Atlantic Diamond Caverns RV Park

Name; Diamond Caverns, Thousand Trails Mid Atlantic. 1878 Mammoth Cave Parkway, Park City KY Abour 1.5 miles of I 65

 

The Condo's and check in area across the street.

 

Date of Stay; 4/14 to 4/20/13
Staff/owners; Very friendly
Price; $0.00 with our membership
Site Description; We had a full hook up with 50 amp electric, pull thru. The site was gravel on a incline. Open with no privacy between sites. There are many different type sites. Our site was very long. It was a sde by side site. There was a picnic table and fire ring.

Big Rib Friendly; Yes, many of the sites are big rig friendly.

Amenities; Pool, not open at this time, 2 rec halls, mini golf, sauna-out of service, not sure for how long. There is a golf course, but we didn't see it. There is also some condo's.
Laundry; Yes, but very dated, can use some work.

Club house and pavlion

The pool.

Phone/Wifi/TV; Nothiing over the air on the tv antenna, but we were down in a valley, maybe in some upper sites there was service. We were in the open so our satellite worked well. No wifi in the park that I know of, but maybe across the road where you check in and the Condo's are located. Our verizone phone worked well.
Dog Friendly; Yes, acres of grass to walk a dog.
Night;Very very quite. A little night lighting.
Opinnion; A great location to visit Mammoth Cave National Park and Bowling Green. It is out in the country, not a lot of resturants or grocery stores in the area. Bowling green is abour 20 miles away, and they have many to choose from. We would stay here again. It is very peaceful, at least this time of the year. Many of the sites are not level front to back. It is big rig friendly, but not all the sites are. All the buildings can use a lot TLC. The mini golf looks like it has been redone. There is a golf corse, but we did not see it or check it out.