July 1, Elkhart, Indiana, RV Hall of Fame

We arrived in Middleburg, IN, yesterday. This is in Elkhart County, the RV factory capitol of the U.S. and we were looking forward to touring one or two of the factories. The KOA Camp Ground provided us with many brochures and lists of interesting things to do and see. One sheet listed the RV factories with the tour times and phone numbers. We felt that making phone calls to verify the tour days and times would be a good idea. Good idea indeed! To our dismay the factories have declared a two week shutdown due to the lag in sales recently.
We begin to worry that everything we had hoped to see here will be closed .

We drive to the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart. At first it appears that there are no vehicles in the parking lot, but we are approaching on the convention center side. Thank goodness, the Hall of Fame is open.

The first item in the door is this mi nature of a Model "A" pulling a camp trailer. Just the right size for the Bear. He thinks this is marvelous.

This one touts a "genuine leatherette" cover on the exterior.

This camp trailer was custom built. The Model "A" will give an idea of the time period.

This one looks like the space age concept of the 1940's. Doesn't it resemble a bug?

One of Shasta's first camp trailers.

The dinette area of the Shasta.

The back opens up to a bed, this side has the stove, the other side has the table.

a motorhome from the '20's.

The back of the motorhome is very ornate.

a 1966 Winnebago, we had one like just like this about 10 years ago. Drove it to Oregon, Idaho, and had an engine breakdown in Green River, Wyoming. We bought if from our neighbor to get it out of his driveway, but moving it over to ours didn't solve the "eyesore" problem. We finally sold it to the daughter of a friend. If it had been as well maintained over it's years as this one it would have been pretty nice.

Hey! I think Granny is cheating! But she looks like such a nice little old lady.

The "Tear Drop" in it's early years. This is an item that is gaining in popularity today. We have seen the new ones on some RV sales lots. The concept is the same, but of course the equipment today is better.

There is much more, but too much to include here. We really enjoyed this excursion.

After this we drive along a suggested "historic route" in a magazine type brochure, but it all seems to be very commercial so we abort and look for a grocery store. We find one called "Pay & Packit" which is the same concept as the Aldi grocery stores. One third of the items in a regular grocery store, no name brands, for one third the price. The shopper bags their own groceries using the boxes left from the merchandise cases, their own bags, or buys bags at 5 cents/each.

We spend the evening visiting with neighboring campers and their dogs. One family has a 1960 MGA we just have to talk to them about, and pet their two dog which demand attention. We once owned an MGB-GT and always stop to look at any MG we might see.

The fireflies are very active tonight. It's like the place is decorated with miniature twinkle lights, only these move around. It is warmer than last night which is probably why the fireflies are more active tonight. This is such an amazing sight for us.