The RV Capital Of The World is So Much More!

Friday morning came, bright, sunny and comfortable.  Not a cloud in the sky.   We got up early so we could have the camper to the Ford dealership by 8am.  The boys did a great job this morning getting us packed up and ready to depart.  

After dropping of the RV, we loaded up the car and set off to explore the RV Capital of the World.  according to the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, fully 80% of the worlds RV's are made here.  The town took a big punch during the Great Recession, but as the industry rebounded, so has this community.  

Our first stop was the RV museum and Hall of Fame.  This is the shrine to everything RVing.  They have exhibits and displays of some of the very first RV's built in the 1920's up through today.  Most of them you can actually go in and explore.  We started a rating system with the boys here and they both rated the museum an 8 out of 10.  A great start.  Unfortunately my camera broke and we lost all pictures of the experience...

Then Daniel came up with the idea to find an open RV factory and go on a factory tour.  He found Newell, a very high end RV manufacturer was in the next town over.  Neither Alex or I wantted to make the drive, so based on advice from the Museum, we set off for Nexus RV, makers of high end class C motorhomes.   When we called, they told us they were expecting a tour of over 50 people, so we rushed off to get there first.

This was quite the experience.  We are greeted at the showroom by a nice salesman who loads us onto a golf cart and drives us over to the factory floor.  And through the factory floor too.  We got a private tour and had the whole floor to ourselves.  They started us were the chassis come in from Ford unfinished.  Then showed us how they build the floor and frame.  We got to see them welding the floor onto one unit.  Next he showed us how they made the walls and then the roof.  We got to go inside an unfinished RV so we could see the wiring, plumbing and super structure up close.   Daniel was in heaven.  We thought he would never want to leave!  We found out it takes 34 days to build their motorhomes from chassis to finished product.  After the tour, we were free to check out the showroom.  It was very tempting, given ours was currently in the shop, to trade it in for one of these great looking new campers!   This tour was rated a 9 out of 10 by both boys!

From there we drove back into Elkhart for a delicious lunch at a unique and fine restaurant, McDonalds.  At this point the Ford Service center called and indeed confirmed that the #6 and # 8 fuel injector coils had gone bad and needed replacement.   The good news, we would be ready to go by 1:30!

With a little more time to spare, we checked out the New York Central Railroad Museum.  This was a cute little museum which sits adjacent to the Burlington Northern freight yard, which we discovered is the second busiest freight yard in the country.  Over 150 trains come past every day!  We saw 6 trains plus an Amtrak train while there.

The museum had a great hands on exhibit including an engine you can climb into and pull the horn... Although we were cautioned not to sound it too often or too long, becuase the neighbors complain.  Which seemed odd, given there were 150 trains a day all sounding horns!   In addition to the engine, they had a huge O gauge model train layout (Alex wants a train layout now!) and a collection of old train memorabilia.  There was a steam locomotive in restoration in the yard along with a number of other cars, all accessible for us to climb on and explore.  

They even had a little train that took us on a short ride around the museum.  Included with the admission!  The museum was a strong 8 leaning toward a 9  as rated by Alex.  Above you can see the boys leaning against the steam train drive wheels! 

Back at the Ford Service, repairs were complete, our RV extended Plan was contacted and paid and we hit the road for Indiana Dunes State Park.

Indiana Dunes is a hidden gem of a park. According the the Park web page it's made up of 1,182 acres of primitive, beautiful, historic and unique landscape and includes more than three miles of beach along Lake Michigan’s southern shore. On a clear day, you can see Chicago across the lake!  In the early 1900s scientists, recreationists and nature enthusiasts, recognizing the value and potential of the Indiana dunes area, fought to have the region preserved. As a result, in 1925, the state park was established.  Large sand dunes, located beyond the entire shoreline, have taken thousands of years to form, and tower nearly 200 feet above Lake Michigan.

No sooner did we arrive and the boys were out exploring the park.  They climbed the dunes and after we unloaded the bikes we set off to the lakefront for a swim.  The water was refreshing and nice!   

Then back to the camper for dinner and a relaxing evening sitting around the camp.

Just above, you can see Daniel and Alex in the lake.  I got in too, but there will be NO picture of that!  Above that is a picture Daniel took of the lake and beach from the top of The Devils Slide.  One of the dunes you can climb.