Off to Shipshewana

August 14 – Finally, a fun day!  It’s been such a rough time with the ivy that is was so nice to get to go somewhere that we were looking forward to.  We were supposed to go last Tuesday to Shipshewana but you see how that turned out!  We left about 9:30 for the 2 hours or so drive into Indiana to the big 2 day a week flea market. 

Amish buggies 

It was much busier than our first trip here on the way to Michigan and hotter also.  We paid our $3 to park, took 2 Trader Joe bags and off we went.  We managed to fill one bag with nothing but used books as there were several shops and we did pretty well on the books.  The other bag was filled with Christmas gifts along with a few odds and ends.  Bill bought us some fried pies to bring back to the RV so that was a nice surprise.

It was getting hotter and we were getting hungry and worn down so left our shopping in the truck and walked to the

Red Barn Shoppes

Red Barn Shoppes where they have a little deli type eatery inside a shop with everything related to tea.  I had a nice salad with chicken and bacon while Bill enjoyed a thick BLT.  It gave us a much needed rest and chance to cool off as well.

On the ride down we heard from friends that one of our camping ladies fell and broke her hip while at their summer residence in VA.  Oh no!  We managed to finally connect with Morris, her husband, and get the details and how she’s had hip replacement and doing very well.  Then we found out another couple, Tommy and Betsy, she was still recovering from some back surgery and he had double hernia surgery.  Maybe poison ivy isn’t so bad!  When we all meet up at our October campout it will be all talk of our medical issues!  What a summer!

You can’t go to Shipshewana without stops at the bulk food store and Yoder’s meat and cheese market.  My family loves cheese, good cheese!  I bought Colby, Colby-jack, smoked

A buggy we passed

gouda, summer sausage, pork sausage and scrapple.  Then at the bulk store I got 2 kinds of pretzels for my main man, a horn of baby swiss, more pork sausage and gingerbread mix.  It I had the room we’d sure take a lot more home!  As it was, the fridge was stuffed by the time I got it all arranged and put away.

I checked out the 2 main fabric shops looking for the perfect fabric for a table runner but had no luck.  Lots of beautiful fabric for quilters and crafters for sure.  On the way out I got us each a frappe for the ride home and they were delicious! 

Typical Amish home and farm

The drive home wasn’t bad until a back up in Grand Rapids and we made it though without mishap.  After unloading and putting our spoils away it was time to think about dinner.  Well, as I put the cheese away I took out what was GOING to be eaten and that emptied 3 containers out. 

Nothing on TV tonight so we read.  My eyes are really struggling.  I think I have some issues remaining from the ivy.  My eyes water constantly and even with my glasses things are quite blurry.  Will give it a few days more and see if it clears up any before finding an ophthalmologist.   Would rather see my guy at home but can’t take any chances.

Last day in Elkhart area.....

June 29 – No rush this morning, our last day in Indiana.  I cooked the sausage I got at the Amish shop and it was OK but our local butcher in Winter Garden does better.  I promised Bill we’d have fruit and sausage at home and on the way to Elkhart we’d stop at a shop we’ve seen for a breakfast pastry.  So we got ready, ate our half breakfast and stopped at The Bakery Next Door and each had a big muffin.  Mine was blueberry and Bill had raspberry.  It was the best muffin I’ve ever had.  It was heavy and moist, very cake-like.  Yummy for sure!

We drove on to Elkhart and found the RV/Motorhome Hall of Fame.  The building is rather new and it’s a beautiful space with a grand staircase to the upstairs.  We watched a movie first that covered how and when it got started and what order to visit the rooms.  They have a nice gift shop with souvenirs

as well as camping items.  There a hall of all the inductees over the years and a huge area of vintage RV’s.  I think the oldest was 1929 or so.  They have been donated, some refurbished, some kinda rough but it interesting to see.  We saw some of the originals that they are now making Retro models of.  There were several from the year I was born. 

There’s a room with some current models for show that come from the local factories.  Someone made an excellent display showing models of the process and it’s exactly like we saw at the factories.  That took a lot of work!  Bill bought a magnet but they had some cute things for camping and signs to put out.

We stopped at Aldi for cereal and then headed to Middlebury.  There was a detour, of course, and we found an alternate route and it’s a nice ride.  There is a big Jayco plant there and we had them passing us in each direction.  There are lots dotted around town with 5^th wheels and travel trailers.  When we stopped on Main Street for lunch there was a continuous flow of trailers and 5^th wheels the entire time.  After lunch we drove a couple miles out of town to see where the plant is.  There were a couple of other brands also.

From Middlebury we drove to Shipshewana to an Amish company that makes house and RV furniture.  We’d looked at their products before in Florida but with shipping it was a little expensive.  We are still talking about getting 2 recliners and they have a little 6 inch table for between them with 2 cup holders and drawers in front that you can put your books or magazines in.  We’re going to think about it and see what we come up with.

We made a couple of stops in Shipshewana at a bulk food store and the meat shop for

some scrapple to freeze for later.  Then it time was to head for home.  Molly was glad to see  us and while we were gone we got 2 new neighbors.  The place is filling up for the holiday week.  We put our purchases away and I made a meatloaf.  Then we rested and read while the meatloaf was cooking.  We had corn on the cob and salad for dinner.  I really wasn’t very hungry as we’d had a big breakfast and I had a big lunch. 

After dinner Bill emptied the tanks and put things away outside and I downloaded 3 days of photos and tried to hotspot my phone but didn’t have any luck.  My signal isn’t too good to start with.  I did pay some bills on my phone though!

Bill did the dishes and now we’ll read since we have no TV.  We have certainly enjoyed this area but look forward to meeting everyone at Lake She-nepp-a-ho tomorrow.  I think it’s about 3 hours or so.

3 Night in one place, wow!

June 27 - It rained hard most of the night. A bit drizzly this morning but we timed leaving well and Bill didn’t get  wet unhooking the utilities and neither of us got wet when we hooked up.  It rained sporadically for our 90 minute drive to Howe, IN. where we checked in at the Twin Mills Campground.  We hit the time line and lost an hour in our first hour!

Lots of these around town and on the way home

The campground is OK, nothing special.  It’s nicely wooded but restricts use of the satellite.  We managed a pull through full hook up for the 3 nights.  After a bit of a rest from driving in the rain again, we had lunch and headed to Shipshewana where yesterday and today until 5 is the huge weekly flea and wholesale market.  There are 800 booths and a livestock auction.  We passed on that. 

Great selection of yard lanterns

We were about 12 miles from it and since it wasn’t the best weather day and afternoon we had no trouble getting a good parking space.  The sun came out and it was perfect weather for non-stop walking!  Bill got a yard rock with Chief Wahoo on it.  He will put him out when we’re camping.  We both found a few books in addition to cheese, jerky, and some extra “parts” for the RV.  Across the lot was a permanent bulk food and meat and cheese shop where we picked up sausage, lunch meats and more cheese curds.  Across the road is a big “department” store and the fabric selection was great but didn’t carry the print I was looking for.  Bill looked around a bit then went to the car and started on one of his books.  The only thing I bought was a Sun Drop bottled drink for Bill.

We stopped at another fabric shop but no luck there so we headed home where Bill had his Sun Drop while I enjoyed an iced coffee.  We read until time to get dinner ready.  I thawed some ham I had in the freezer thinking it was leftover chicken.  Oh well!  So we had corn on the cob, the last of the kale salad and Bill finished off his jello cottage cheese.  We each had an Amish homemade fried pie for dessert.  Mine was peach and his was strawberry rhubarb.  So delicious!

Bill did some outdoor stuff, then the dishes while I showered.  No internet unless we pay for it and I may wait and do that tomorrow night.  I finished a book and will start a new one.  We have to leave here by 8:30 in the morning for our tour at the Forest River factory at 9:30.