Friday, May 31, 2013, Indiana Dunes State Park, IN

Indiana Dunes State Park in Chesterton, IN, had an extensive and well-developed trail system - we could have hiked more than 50 miles - we covered about 2.

Don't know if someone left these bowls of food and water by mistake or on purpose, but this raccoon didn't really care. Although, he was wary of Sam.

Even though it seemed like we were always on the verge of rain, we had a lot of time we could relax outside and enjoy the breeze and perfect temperatures. Pictures of the sky really don't do it justice.

Thursday, May 30, 2013, Move to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, IN

Drove from Charlotte, MI, to Indiana Dunes State Park, in Chesterton, IN, (153 miles, 1001.9 trip/60,483 total). Beautiful (and busy) park but strange that sites only include electricity (no water/sewer/cable). They did have very nice facilities. I walked to the beach, but since it looked like it could rain at any time, we took the car to the beach later. Lake Michigan might as well have been an ocean for all you could see. I suppose the lack of tides and salt might have clued early explorers into seeing it as a lake instead of an ocean. It was quite awe-inspiring to watch storms sweeping across the lake.

Who knew there were 200-foot high sand dunes in Indiana. In fact, the dunes once made up most of the lake shoreline.

Joani really liked the infrared effect on this picture of the woods.

Saturday, May 25 through Wednesday, May 29, 2013, Spartan, Charlotte, MI

We were stuck in Charlotte, MI, for the weekend (the long Memorial Day weekend) until work could continue on Tuesday. Luckily, we were not the only ones at camp Spartan. Jim and Dale were next to us and Dave and Kathy were next to them. We all had a nice cook-out on Sunday with lots of Brats and "White and Red Hots" courtesy of Jim and Dale. The beautiful weather turned a bit cool as the sun set. Monday we were going to have driving lessons for Joani in the huge Spartan parking lot, but rain all day meant a change of plans. We went to Lansing instead. We drove through "Old Town" and walked around the mall and ate at Cheddar's.

Tuesday, it was back to the customer lounge while they worked on the coach. I could hear them using the sledgehammer on our ball joints, but I never was allowed into the work area to see any of the activity. They were able to finish everything early Wednesday so I could take a test drive. Even in the wind, it was apparent it drove much better. I had to keep that in mind as I paid the bill - Ouch! - 3x the original estimate.

Friday, May 24, 2013, Spartan, Charlotte, MI

Based on the obvious workload (Spartan, Charlotte, MI) and peoples experience from the day before, I would never expect anyone knocking on our door at 7:00 in the morning. Color me surprised! We were able to get everything ready to move in about 15 minutes, but the engine was so cold it objected to the early morning call by refusing to run. It needed to be started several times before it stayed running. Joe, the technician, seemed skeptical that we could be finished in one day. We may be here a while.  

Breakfast anyone?

Thursday, May 23, 2013, Fleetwood Factory Tour - Move to Decatur, IN

Took the factory tour at the Fleetwood facility in Decatur, IN. Tom the tour guide did a great job of shepherding us around the production floor while about 1,900 people were busily assembling motorhomes all around us. Looking at the complexity of the process, I think I can understand better how there can be so many issues on a new unit (of course, that's why you get a warranty).

No pictures allowed inside

We drove around Decatur a bit and found the school where we attended our first rally back in 2009. Downtown Decatur had some nice looking buildings and it would have been nice to spend more time walking around but we had to move along.

We drove to Charlotte, MI, to the Spartan chassis facility (164.6 miles, 840 trip/60,320). I had them write up a work order and got an estimate. If that's all it really is, I will be very surprised! Found a local place for dinner that had great homemade food - Wee Willies's. Had dinner with Tom and Peggy - fellow American Coach owners here for service also. They recently traded their American Dream for a newer American Eagle. Settled in for a night with lows expected to be in the 30's - when does spring start in Michigan?

Wednesday, May 22, 2013, Cruise America, Celina, OH, Camp Decatur, IN

We got the coach to Cruise America in Celina, OH, by 8:00 am for our appointment which seemed to surprise Kevin (maybe a lot of folks are late). I helped John with the whole process from start to finish. I can say I now understand our electrical system a lot more than I ever did before. I suspect that the new inverter/charger, transfer switch and sub-panel weighs a lot less than the Heart Source Manager we removed.

Celina is a nice small town with some interesting architecture.

Drove the few miles up the road to Decatur, IN, (approx. 34 miles) and set up in Camp Decatur (the parking lot at the American Coach office with free hookups) for the night. In the morning, we will tour the factory where American Coach is made.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Move to Celina, OH

Drove from Kentucky to Celina, Ohio, (314.6 miles, 647.5 trip/60,128.6). We were pretty lucky with traffic through Louisville and then later through Cincinnati (although construction slowed things to an average of about 20 mph through Cincinnati). Had an 8:00am appointment with Kevin at Cruise America, so it didn't make sense to set up at a campground just to sleep and leave. Instead, we overnighted at the WalMart.

Turned out to be extremely convenient.  We enjoyed some really good fresh deli fried chicken, some wine and a very special Walmart sunset.

Monday, May 20, 2013, Mammoth Cave National Park, KY

Took two Mammoth Cave National Park, KY, tours - Frozen Niagara and the Mammoth Passage. Both were pretty easy - about 1.5 hours each. Pretty sure I don't need to do any primitive cave exploring. I like nice lighted paved paths. We saw about 2 miles of the 400 miles that have been mapped of the system so far (apparently new sections are still being discovered).

This is the man-made entrance to the Frozen Niagara area.

Looking up at the ceiling.

When we came out of the cave, our cameras fogged.

Later in the afternoon, we were back for another tour.

Our tour group walking down to the natural entrance for the Mammoth Passage Tour.

The cold air coming out of this opening was amazing.

Sunday, May 19, 2013, Move to Cave City, KY

Drove to Singing Hills Campground near Cave City, Kentucky, (91.3 miles, 332.9 trip/59,814). Very pretty country here - green rolling hills, pastures and woodlands just outside Mammoth Cave National Park. I can't believe how close it was to where I grew up and I never bothered to see it before.

Before Mom finished asking "Is there any wildlife here?"  this unlikely pair appeared.

Apparently, you need to make reservations to tour the caves. Everything was full so we bought tickets for the next day and settled for the free museum.