13 May ‘09

Wednesday

First I have to tell you that Saturday mornings are the nuts for finding something interesting on satellite TV.  Boring, Boring, Boring… 

OK, there are more important things to do on a Saturday morning, but it was raining heavily and is really wet outside so we’re sitting it out for the sun that is supposed to come out soon. 

Well it’s been a while since I last wrote in this blog, so I’ll try and catch up a little.  On the 1^st of May we pulled into Goshen, Indiana for a week with the HRRV 419 Club/Seminar/Rally.  The “419” is a well organized group of Holiday Rambler owners that started a “Special Interest Chapter” interested in the continued maintenance of the Holiday Rambler Diesel Pusher motor home.   Seeing as how we own one of those “diesel pushers”, we decided that we would most likely find this rally to be of high interest to us.  There were about 250 motor homes that showed up for this gathering and for most of those here, this wasn’t the first time attending.  This gathering of HRRV 419 takes place annually and is always here in Goshen.  It’s been Goshen because of the central area of the states, and because the Holiday Rambler factory was located just a few miles away.  In the good ole days, the factory was well attended at the rally and able to teach and handle a lot of the needs of those that had a warrantee problem or just need a helping hand.  On a daily basis, Louise and I had a medley of classes we could take from entry level to advanced convection cooking to lubricating and changing the oil on the motor home.  One of my favorite gatherings was the “round table” discussion.  Overall there were about 8 different round table discussions so we all chose the one that fit the age and type of HR motor home that we owned…it was really well done and I learned a lot about “our” coach.  As always when we attend gatherings like this, we have met some “new friends”.  In parking the motor homes, we were parked pretty close to each other

and that gave us plenty of time to get to know your neighbors…all good!!! 

On our way into Indiana we encountered some really rough roads and at one point we even had to pull off the roadway of I-65 and tighten all the screws that hold in our TV.  I even noticed that the rear camera was going off and on as we hit some of these craters. I also noticed that our heater/cooling fan was also going off and on at the same time.  After we pulled into our next campground I found that we also had a 3 more problems…our electric step wouldn’t extend, we couldn’t dump our air-bags, and we couldn’t extend our jacks.  I fired off a quick email to the President of the 419, whom I had not yet met, and wrote him about our problem.  The next day I had received 3 emails in regards to our problem and they gave me a quick idea as to what I should look at and most likely fix the problem.  I took their information and ran with it.  I found the area were the problem was coming from, got everything working, but didn’t find the culprit.  The electrical box held the key but it took one of the tech’s from the rally to help me find a large battery type of cable

that was creating the problem…problem solved!!!

We also had plenty of time to explore the surrounding areas of northern Indiana, and especially the Amish areas close to Goshen/Elkhart.  We’ve been traveling through some areas of the Amish since entering into Tennessee and now we’re in the heart of Amish country.  I really have to admire the strength and integrity of the Amish and the life they live.  As you drive the “red” roads (those that show on the map in red as most often the very narrow two lane country roads) you will find the farms of the Amish…

some small and some much larger.  You will always see the hand washed cloths hanging from the clothes line and blowing in the winds of the day, and the constant meeting of the horse and buggy traveling the roads.  The family owned businesses that supplement the farming are located in one of the out buildings, and you can find a hand painted sign at roadside telling you what’s available.  We saw the fields being tilled using the horses and sit/stand-on plows as we traveled though the farm lands…

not the same as a large tractor and plow we would see in Washington.  We also saw the “one room” school house, with the two out-door potties...  Most often, the kids are educated to the 8^th grade and then they go full time to the home and become a very important part of the family.  We did join a group for an “Amish Family” dinner at one of the larger farms in Nappanee, Indiana.  They served us family style and it featured soup and salad, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, beans, and fresh made pie for desert. 

Following the rally, we took a day to replace our rear ladder at one of the shops in Elkhart. 

About a year ago I backed into a medium sized tree and it “squashed” our ladder, so we took this time to have it replaced. 

30 April ‘09

Thursday

We had enough of a break in the weather yesterday that we finally got out on the water.  It had been a long time since we’ve had the kayak on the water, but even with a heavy cloud cover we quickly decided to go for it.  Lake Freeman has been a draw ever since we pulled up to its shore, all we had to do was wait and hope for a day or two so that we could put-in.  Lake Freeman is part of the Tippecanoe River system, so it has a current and if there is a wind, you’ve got a double fight once you get into the water. Fortunately, two days before we checkout, the wind dropped to a breeze and the water opened up for a very nice paddle.  We were out for about 2 hours and really enjoyed ourselves.  The only negative of the paddle was as we were coming back across the lake.  We were now fighting the current by crossing it and we were being hit with a stronger wind that kept throwing water at us off of the rising paddles.  All and all, we had a great day…

Now the day before that, we decided to go see a movie.  The problem with going to a movie here is that the only theater in town (Monticello) is showing Hanna Montana.  Well that wasn’t the only “Picture House” around so we drove another 30 miles to East and a much larger town.  Logansport is about 3 times larger than Monticello and we knew that we could find a theatre complex for sure.  Boy were we surprised… Yep, they have a theatre, and it happens to be the same size as the one in Monticello, and it is showing the same movie….NUTS!!! 

Today we also had a chance to say "Hi" to some friends that we haven't seen for a loooonnnngggg time.  It was really great to make contact with Paul and Denise and we hope to see both of them soon as we journey further East. 

Well tomorrow morning we will find our way to Goshen, Indiana and join with the Holiday Ramblerin Ramblers for our rally...lets hope that I learn a lot during the next week.

26 April ‘09

Sunday

The roads in Indiana have proven to be the worst roads we’ve been on.  We were totally surprised by the roughness of the highways, especially on I-65 which we’ve traveled on for some time.  They are soooo rough that at one time we had to pull off the highway and tighten all the screws that hold the TV in above our seats.  Then I happened to notice that the fan would quit running for awhile and then start up again after we hit another of the bone jarring bumps.  Not only would the fan giving us trouble but the back camera was doing the same thing….off/on/off/on…  It seems we’ve got a short circuit somewhere and the bumpy roads are not helping.  When we pulled into our campground we found out that we really did have a problem.  When it came time to “dump the air”, the switch wouldn’t activate and we couldn’t dump.  Checking the hydraulic jack’s, they didn’t have electrical power either…then we found that the exterior step wouldn’t extend…”S___t !!!”  And of course, we were about as unlevel as we could be.  This was turning out to be one of the toughest days we’ve had for some time.  The wind was gusting between 15-40mph and the temperature was maintaining a solid 80 degrees. 

Well I’ve got to try and find out what kind of problem we’ve got and get it fixed.  I started with the wiring under the dash.  With 8 screws I’ve got the radio, air/conditioning and fan switch, and 3 other switches all out on the floor.  Now I can check the connections on these and follow the wires back under the dashboard.  Unfortunately I found NOTHING…  Next I started checking all the different electrical boxes in the outside driver’s compartment.  Hell there are so many wires that just go no-where that I was just hoping that they weren’t the problem so I left them be.

  Then there was the “hundreds” of fuses…I checked all of them to no avail.  Soooo, I put the lid back onto this large fuse/wire box…”WAIT, DID THE STEPS JUST GO OUT???”  Yep, they did, all was back.  I ran around to the door, got up into the seat to dump the air and…”NOTHING !!!”.  Back out and try to do it all again.  Well it worked, so I left the lid off the electrical box and everything is working for now.  We’ve dumped the air, dropped the jacks, and the step is out…we’re here, comfortable, and trying to find out just what “the problem” is.

The wind hasn’t let up one bit over the last 3 days and tonight it is starting to rain just as hard.  I was hoping to get our problem under control but I guess we’ll have to wait until we get up to Goshen.  In Goshen we’ll have someone that will be of great help and we’ll welcome every bit of it. 

Now, who can help with the weather???

25 April ‘09

Saturday

After leaving Louisville, our journey heads towards Goshen, Indiana.  This route took us through Indianapolis.  Now I’ll bet there are very few who would continue through Indianapolis and not find their way to the suburb, Speedway, and the Internationally famous race track, “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway”.  Well we took the detour and soon found ourselves going through their museum.  I would bet that they have a car from every 500 race that ever took place at the “Brickyard”. 

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a few small events before the promoters decided to focus on just one major event.   If by chance it had rained prior to or during one of the races, the track would almost become impassable.  It did cause a few deaths because of it, so the track was paved with 3.2 million bricks.  Even today there’s an area around the finish line that has some of the original bricks. The first “500” was held at the Speedway on Memorial Day, 1911 and who knows how long they will continue.

While we were enjoying ourselves in the museum, we got a call to board a bus for a drive around the track.  We joined 8 or 9 others and drove through the gates and onto “The” track.  The start of our ride took us through turn 3 and then onto the straight-away…  Looking out the front windshield of the bus at the track, showed the straightaway as being FOREVERRR….  The speeds that the Indy cars reach on this length of raceway is amazing and then they have a couple of corners to go through…AMAZING TWICE !!!  And then the run towards screaming crowds at The Grandstands, the Pagoda, and then the CHECKERED FLAG.

  As I was standing at the front window of the bus taking pictures, the driver asked if I wanted to open the door and stick my camera out for a picture….”sure”…  He stopped the bus, opened the door, and said with a wink…”Don’t step out”….  Hell, I fell out, it was an accident I swear…  so I was “THE” only one that actually got out on the track and it was at the finish line too (we’ve got to keep that a secret..). 

Back at the museum we enjoyed the opportunity to sit in one of the Indy Cars (a very special one…you know, no motor, wood floor/seat…all the necessities).

  Just as exciting as the cars in the museum to me, were the paintings of Leroy Neiman.

  What a talent…  We did have a great time, short but good.  Well time had come and we had to continue onto Monticello.  Our campground for the rest of the week is White Oaks and sits on the shores of Lake Freeman.