Day 4 - In Which We Admire The RV Capital of The World

Day Four started after a restful night.  The only noisiness we noticed were the train whistles (which sounded as though they were about to come through the front door) and the 6 guys in the rental across the road who had lots to laugh about.  They left early this morning and I am assuming they were headed for the stadium and whatever festivities awaited there.  Home football game days seem to be a big deal around here.  I read that they bring in about $10 million tourist dollars per home game.  There were pre-game shows on the local television stations where a cute woman interviewed various tailgaters and sampled a lot of food.  Then all manner of sports punditry while counting down the minutes to the game.  Then the game and then all the post-game punditry.  I have a confession.  I don't know who won the game.  But it isn't very noisy around here...

We are staying very near Elkhart, IN which is known as the "RV Capital of the World".  So there was really only one "must see" spot and that is the RV/MH Hall Of Fame.  This is a huge building and we were very curious to see what was inside.

But first we had to admire the flag festooned Elk which I am guessing is some sort of icon/mascot for Elkhart.  I seem to recall seeing it a few times.

 After a quick introduction to the place by a lovely man whose name I cannot remember but who offered to give me his autograph for $15 (he was going to throw in his book for free) we were able to go into the museum section and see a wonderful assortment of vintage recreational vehicles.

This is a rather iconic shot taken from an observation deck over the main exhibit.  Many of the trailers were open and it was possible to go inside them.  I was surprised that there was so much to look at that we took almost 2 hours to go through.

 There is a miniature trailer and tow vehicle that was once driven by a campground owner's daughter to the delight of visiting campers.

 This 10 foot long Airstream was my favorite.  It is the smallest ever made and one of a kind.

 Some vintage towing vehicles and motor homes.

 There was everything from pop-up tent campers to tiny little towables to a HouseCar built by Paramount studios to bribe Mae West into making movies.

If I squint, I can see similarities between our Montana High Country and the Tennessee Traveler.  Maybe.

 Brett was a good sport and posed with this cutout so that I could have a compelling picture of him to document the Hall Of Fame experience.









All the touring left us with an urge for lunch so we went in search of a non-chain restaurant.  The folks at the RV HOF recommended El Maguey so we gave it a try.  I just discovered that they are, in fact, a chain.  But since we've never been to one I won't hold it against them.  Their menu says they serve "real Mexican" food.  Apparently as opposed to real Tex/Mex I guess.  But a burrito by any description tastes pretty good to me. 

Our final outing involved a trip to the grocery store.  A Martin's was near the campground so we gave it a whirl.  I must say COOL!!!

The shopping carts have CUP HOLDERS!  How civilized is this?  They also have what felt like 6 square miles of shelves and I had no idea where anything was located.  But a fun time was had trying to find everything on the list.  We were shocked when Brett knew exactly where to find the hummus.  We also helped a panicky little girl find her lost father.  Always nice to do a good deed.  $111 later, I remembered that I was buying groceries for a 36 foot camper and not for my house.  There was some creative shelf stocking done when we got back but I managed to fit all the food somewhere and still have room left for Brett and Lowell. 

The laundry is done, the recliners are secured, the blog is updated and it's early to bed tonight.  We head for Rochester, MN in the morning.

Important sighting!!  I saw my first Wall Drugs sign today.  It was a small thing on the side of a barn and said "Wall Drugs, 979 miles".  I have no idea what we are in store for but I will be stopping to visit.