People Watching

Elkhart Campground is a busy place. In addition to what looks like several fairly permanent RVs (flower beds and walks around the rigs), there is a great deal of overnight traffic. In the two nights we've been here, we have had new neighbors twice on one side and three times on the other. These are nice long pull-through sites, so many of them don't even unhook from their tow vehicles.

This afternoon, in contrast, the folks who pulled in on our driver's side set up a major camp. While the sites are nice and long, they are also fairly narrow. I could look out the window as I sat on the couch reading and see how their dinner was coming along on their barbecue which was set up right outside our slide-out.

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty about my people watching as the windows on Auntie Violet are reflective and during daylight hours no one can see in while we can look out without being seen...

Sometimes I wish people could see through them -- especially those dog owners who look around and make sure no one is watching when they decide to walk on without picking up after their animals!

It was raining again this morning and so overcast it seemed almost like twilight. There were hardly any people out and about. Then the sun came back out this afternoon and the walkers appeared. There are not many children at this park like there have been at the last few parks and we have not had lots of bicycles flying around.

Elkhart, Indiana -- 101 Degrees!

Oh, what a miserably hot day! We thought it was going to be cool and rainy -- a good traveling day as it was overcast this morning with an occasional drop of rain.

But, by the time we had everything packed up and put away and had the tanks dumped, the sky had cleared and it was beginning to get hot.We drove most of the way on Interstate 80/90 which is again a toll road in Ohio. ($14.75 to the Ohio Turnpike Commission) The corn and soybean fields were still quite green in Ohio, but the further west we drove, the more stressed they looked. Some of them really look dried out already...

I hope the price we paid for diesel today isn't an indication of what's going to be happening more as we go west. We paid  $3.959 a gallon today in Indiana; a full fifty cents more than we paid in New York just a week ago! And that's with the eight cents per gallon Pilot discount...

We drove back into Elkhart Campground (we were here last October) about 3:30 this afternoon. I debated whether to pay the extra $3 for a 50 amp site, but since we've been staying at 30 amp places the last couple of weeks, I decided to go ahead and splurge for the 50 amp. We're on the south side of the campground in a pull-through site. By the time I got the electric and water hooked up and Forry got the jack pads down, we were dripping wet. The thermometer read 101 degrees!

Thank goodness for 50 amps. We turned on BOTH air conditioners and just collapsed for a half hour or so. It's 10 PM and it's still 88 degrees outside.

We turned on the TV to watch the Mariners game a few minutes ago only to hear that Ichiro has been traded to the Yankees today! He's wearing a Yankee uniform for the game tonight!!! ;-(

Shipshewanna and a Table for Forry

We decided that we would stay on another day at the Elkhart Campground so that I could do some long overdue laundry and cleaning. Late this afternoon we went visit the Amish shops in Shipshewanna to see if we could find a small narrow table for Forry's computer. Shipshewanna is about 23 miles from here.  As we got closer, we began to see horses pulling Amish buggies trotting along on the shoulder. (Sorry about Toad's "buggy" windshield!)

There were multiple buggies tied up alongside one of the grocery stores.  It was interesting to see the juxtaposition of the grocery carts and the buggies --

The shod horses have worn a wide groove on the paved shoulders of the road --

We did find a neat table for Forry's laptop at the second store we checked.  Landmark Woods doesn't use credit cards.  We did not have enough cash to pay for it nor had we thought to bring a check.  The owner insisted that we take the table with us and mail him a check!  I offered him the hundred or so dollars I had in cash as a partial payment, but he wouldn't hear of it.  He gave me a stamped addressed envelope -- you can be sure it will be going back to him along with a check tomorrow morning! The table is a narrow Mission style with a small shelf on the bottom (already filled with TV controllers!) It's about 26 inches high, 24 inches long and 12 inches wide.  It's not cherry like the rest of Auntie Violet's cabinetry, but it doesn't look too bad.

We made a stop at Blue Gate Restaurant and Bakery for a slice of pie and a cup of coffee before we headed home to have leftovers for supper.

Honey Bear Hollow Campground

BAM, BAM, BANG!! I'm sure I jumped a mile at the sound of acorns bouncing off of Auntie Violet's metal roof last night!  We were parked underneath an oak tree at Honey Bear Hollow Campground near Peru, Indiana.  It was a gorgeous place, but who knew that acorns could be so loud!  They didn't fall singly either.  There would be a rain of half a dozen at a time ricocheting off the roof.  I looked for squirrels, didn't see any, so don't know why a bunch would come down all at once?

This was the gorgeous view we had looking out Auntie Violet's front window last evening --

Toni, one of the owners of Honey Bear Hollow, made us a wonderful pizza for dinner last night.  We were able to order it when we arrived, then walked over to the office at 5:30 to pick it up.

With the broken hydraulic line, we were unable to put the jacks down nor put any of the slides out without oil pouring out, so we spent last night -- and will again tonight -- with everything closed up.  Forry can sit nice and close in the passenger seat to watch TV and we cleared off a corner of the couch for me. I sure will be happier when we can spread out again!

We left a little after noon and headed north again on State Highway 31 towards Elkhart.  It was an absolutely beautiful drive --

I think I'm going to have to do some shopping and see if I can find a filter for my camera that will bring out the reds better.  These pictures just do not do justice to some of the colorful foliage.

We are parked tonight in the middle of a grassy area at Elkhart Campground.  We unhitched Toad and drove over to check out the route to Stuart's Service where we have a 9:30 AM appointment.  We also took a look at where Daughter Dawn and Todd lived while he was going to seminary at AMBS and saw the new building that will be offices for Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Education Agency.