Thursday, June 4, 2015

Moving day was mostly uneventful.  It was 202.5 miles (74,526.9 total) from Charlotte, MI to Greenville, OH.  On one of the secondary roads, the heavily loaded truck below pulled out in front of us and managed to get up to maybe 45 mph about 10 minutes later.  The real problem was that the truck was carrying the most foul smelling load.  My guess was fresh hog manure.  The smell nearly made our eyes water as I tried to maintain an adequate distance behind him (yes, the vent was set on recirculate).  Fortunately, he headed in another direction after 10 or 20 miles and the air in the coach cleared after another 10 minutes with the dash A/C on high.
   

We stopped in Greenville because it was really the closest viable option to visit the U.S. Air Force museum in Dayton, OH ($70/night at the Dayton KOA did not appeal to us).  We found that Greenville had a lot of small-town charm, so it was good that we planned on three nights (two full days) to explore the area.  Joani made reservations for the KitchenAid Factory Tour for the following day.

We were camped at the Great Darke County Fair.  They claimed to have more than 600 sites (200 with full hook-ups), but the squirrelly arrangement had us technically occupying two sites.  One coach parked sideways to provide him easy access to utilities which put him across four or five sites.  There were so few campers that they were not concerned with how we parked.

We fit nicely under a large maple tree providing us with a lot of shade. Sam was thrilled to have acres and acres to explore, including the very nice smelling horse barns.

The mare's name was Bean; the filly was named I Dream of Beany.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - Lancing, MI

The chassis inspection at the Spartan service center in Charlotte, MI turned up a few things that demanded attention.  The suspension air springs needed to be replaced due to "weather checking".  I knew the checking was there - it was there when we bought the coach more than seven years ago.  I figured we had pushed our luck far enough and we sure did not want to have one fail driving down the road.  They also found an oil seal leaking that ruined the left rear brakes.  New brakes were pricey, but on a 32,000-pound vehicle you can't ignore something that important, so they were added to the work order. It was going to take all day, so we decided to visit Lansing rather than sit in the waiting room.

This was our second visit to Lansing, but our first tour of the Michigan Capitol (two years ago we had not decided, as a goal, to visit every state capitol building).  Our first impression was not great (see the last picture below), but I think the inside more than made up for any initial disappointment.  The "over the top" architectural detail and dramatic lighting in the four-story rotunda made us say "wow"!

From the third floor balcony, I tried to capture the view above to the dome and below to the glass floor, as well as the level of detail in the architecture gracing even the upper floors.

I'm sure the capitol's exterior will impress visitors when its facelift is complete, but we will just have to see it another time.

We arrived back in Charlotte just before the coach was finished. Chris, the service manager, could not finalize our tab without the technician's hours, so he asked if we could take care of it in the morning.  I thought it should be free if he could not account for the labor, but he didn't see it that way.  We were in no hurry, so we spent another free night at Camp Spartan.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Moving day was pretty uneventful which is always a good thing.  It was only 86.4 miles (74,324.4 total) from Howe, IN, to Charlotte, MI, so we took our time.  Given the condition of the Michigan highways, I chose to keep it under 60 mph on the freeway.

We noticed some improvements were in the works at Camp Spartan. Several new campsites were paved, some of the older sites were leveled and repaved and they had built a big open pavilion in the center of the camp to provide some shade for outdoor activities.

I checked in at the service desk to get things rolling, but I was told it would have to wait until Tuesday.  The plan was to have the engine serviced (air, oil, fuel, coolant and hydraulic filters) and the 44 point chassis inspection. Needless to say, the inspection was sure to find more work we would need - more on that later.

After Sam enjoyed a nice long walk, we settled in for the evening.

 It was fun to see a fellow camper out walking their bird.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

We headed to South Bend, IN to visit the Notre Dame campus.  It was rainy, but we thought we would take a chance - the weather in northern Indiana seemed to change rather quickly, so you can't let a little precipitation impact your plans.

We parked at the campus bookstore and found an information office. There was a lot of history available to study about the school, but we opted to explore while we could.  The nice young lady at the information desk gave us a map and recommended a few "must see" buildings.  The administration building had a central atrium that rivaled many of the state capitol buildings we have visited.

The Main Building was built in 1879.  The yellow bricks of the early buildings were made from materials dredged from the two lakes on campus.

There are 12 historic Christopher Columbus murals painted in the 1880s by Italian artist Luigi Gregori.

Gregori also painted the figures of arts and science on the ceiling of the rotunda.

The newer buildings maintained a level of detail that matched the craftsmanship of the older ones.  The information girl told us about the special efforts taken to create bricks for this building that matched the others around campus.  The same was obvious in the stonework framing the windows.  

The Kresge Law Library was built in 1930.

We saw at least four couples having wedding pictures taken around the campus and most, if not all, had ceremonies in the basilica.  We had to wait for the conclusion of one wedding before we could enter. The basilica was truly a work of art inside and out.   

Basilica of the Sacred Heart built in 1892

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Every Wednesday the Shipshewana auction house comes alive.  Pat and Brian, our ACA friends, said they were going, so we decided to watch a little of the action, too.  What a crowd!  The place was packed with the sort of stuff you might see neglected at garage sales - that's right - I judged it to be mostly junk.  Of course, one man's junk is another man's treasure, so a lot of it sold.

There were auction callers stationed all around the building working each of several lots at the same time.  It made for a very loud, very confused environment.  Seasoned buyers knew how to tune out everything but whatever had captured their fancy.

Back outside, the atmosphere was blissfully calm and quiet.  We milled around looking at the junk somebody must have bought at previous auctions.  The sign below caught my attention since our daughter just moved to Oregon (presumably a haven for the free-spirited).

The novel home-made ice cream stand made me think of the pocketa-pocketa-pocketa sound Walter Mitty always heard in his daydreams. There were not a lot of takers and it was plenty warm enough for ice cream, so it must have been his pricing.

Excellent advice anytime!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

We made arrangements to tour the Entegra Coach factory with fellow American Coach owners Pat and Brian.  They also stayed in the area after the ACA rally for a few days before heading to a Fleetwood Motorhome Association (FMA) rally in Decatur, IN.

Entegra Coach is a division of Jayco located in Middlebury, IN.  There was a total of eight of us on the tour.  The sales representative, Ted, did an outstanding job of showing us the production line and highlighting what made the Entegra unique.  We started with the basic Spartan chassis.  The production crew was finished for the day so it was quiet and we barraged Ted with a million questions.

The coaches on the line were the 2016 models and we were told they had a number of substantial changes that were being kept under wraps for another two weeks.  When we reached the end of the tour, Ted showed us a couple finished units.  The Anthem really impressed us with its floor plan and features.  Entegra seemed to be very well built and I expect to see a lot of them in the future.

Joani captured a bit of lawyer induced craziness with the display below warning not to use the outside television while the coach was in motion, duh! 

After the long and enjoyable tour, we headed to the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewana for some great Amish style cooking.  They used a pressure cooker for the fried chicken making it crispy and delicious and it was served "family style".  That's code for "I ate too much". 

Of course, after eating until we were full, we still managed to top it all off with a little slice of pie.  I don't believe I have ever seen meringue piled quite so high on a lemon pie.

On the trip home, we were treated to a beautiful post-storm cloud display.

Friday, May 22 through Sunday, May 24, 2015

The American Coach Association rally continued Friday and Saturday and we enjoyed more of the same great food and socializing.  I forgot my camera most of the time, so there were no pictures to share.

I bought all of the filters required to service the coach engine (I was reminded "when you play with the big boys you pay with the big boys" - $270 worth of filters including the "rally discount").

Dinner on Saturday night was fantastic.  The perfectly cooked roast was paired with the best twice baked potato I have ever had.  Even the green beans were excellent.  And the skewer of shrimp topped it all off.  You might think I was just really hungry - making everything taste great, but I heard the same thing from a lot of others.  We skipped the entertainment in favor of a quiet night in the coach.

Sunday morning my neighbor fired up at 6:00 am.  Since he was parked with his engine less than 10 feet from our bedroom window, it was quite a rude awakening.  I took Sam out for a long walk and said goodbye to a few of the early risers.  I did not envy those who planned on driving 500 miles or more to get home.

Our drive was one of our shortest.  Since our service appointment at Spartan in Charlotte was not until June 3rd, we decided to return to Grand View Bend outside Howe, IN. It was only 30.2 miles (74,238.0 total) and since we didn't get lost, it was nearly 5 miles shorter than our trip over to the rally,  When we arrived, the park looked completely different.  The pool was open and there were people everywhere enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend.

We set up in the same site we had a week ago and settled in for a quiet week.