Shipshewana and Elkhart

The drive over to the North Park Campground and Amish Log Cabins, in Shipshewana Indiana, was smooth and uneventful. I thought the campground might be manned by a nice Amish couple, but the man and woman at the office were both from India. The campground was small, a bit worn around the edges, but otherwise quite ordinary. On one of the three nights we were there, we sat outside playing Gin while listening to the clip-clop of the horse-drawn buggies going past. 

Pretty much everything is closed in Shipshewana on Sundays, so we decided to go over and see the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart. 

I have seen pictures of some of the classic RVs they had on display, and it was fun to see them in person.

They were all open for inspection, some with a rope across the door, but many that you could go into and "feel" their space.

This was touted as the "oldest" RV in the world, from 1913.  

The display did not include any newer models. Most were trailers, but a few early motorhomes were included.

Our modern cushioned leather drivers lounges are a great improvement over these wooden seats.







Notice the stove pipe above Craig's head. The heat in this truck-like vehicle was provided by a miniature cast iron woodstove.

This was the longest trailer on display. It even had bunk beds.

The RV Hall of Fame was interesting, and they are working on a large expansion. I would have liked to see more about the future of the industry. Perhaps it will be in their new wing.

I didn't take any pictures around Shipshewana. I just didn't feel like carrying the camera around.

Image from web

Monday we went to the Menno-Hof center. It is not really a museum, in that it does not display artifacts and collections. It is a very well done series of rooms with visual presentations about the history of the Anabaptist movement, which includes the Amish, the Mennonite and Hutterites. 

Picture from Trip Advisor on Web

In the evening, we had an excellent Amish  buffet dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus restaurant in Middlebury.

The food was good, plentiful, and reasonable.

On Tuesday, we went over to the Shipshewana Flea Market for a little while.


It is very large and it was starting to rain so we didn't walk it all. I didn't need anything, and just shopping is not one of my interests. 


We did buy some fresh Georgia peaches and took them back to the Alfa, where we ate them with ice cream for breakfast!

So now, on Tuesday afternoon, after an eleven mile drive, we are parked and hooked up in the Quadra Manufacturing parking lot, ready for our Wednesday morning appointment to get our new Big Foot leveling jacks installed.

The Midwest weather has been somewhat hot and humid, but we may be getting used to it. Well, not really. We usually turn off the air conditioning and open the windows at night, and this morning I felt very hot and sweaty when I first woke up. The air seemed almost "thick".  [From Craig] She felt that way because I had to close the windows in the night, when heavy rain started falling. I turned the air conditioning back on, but it can't produce that nice summer-morning feeling when cool 6 AM air comes in the windows.

If you ever want breakfast in White Pigeon MI, the Country Kitchen has nice home-style food. We both had Breakfast Burritos, so can't talk about any other offerings. Travel well or stay well, whichever applies to you.