Fun day

Happy Hollow-ween!

After all the repairs, cleaning, rearranging, and housekeeping chores we have done this week it was time to look around and see what is here. We have done the sights in Goshen,shopped in Shipshewana and played with our friends here in the campground. So a trip through the Indiana tourism book was in order.

We chose Valparaiso, IN for our day trip. The Taltree Arboretum has a model train layout that is advertised as something we don't want to miss. Bless you Google Maps! We would have never found this place on our own.It is a rather small arboretum with only 4 trails but the model train  area took about 3 hours of our life. I am sure the guy at the top of the page felt the same way.

The engineer figured out that there were about 5 closed loops for the G-scale trains to run on. The designers included every kind of bridge that a train would go over.

I'll bet this was a shock:

The display had a coal mine and train, a sawmill and train, a dock and train,and an armed train to fight a battle in the Civil War. It also included a small field hospital for the wounded..

Fixin to......

We are back in Goshen for the Montana Rally. We love Goshen. It has become our second home. We have talked and talked about why we like it and have to come to several conclusions.

1. We are usually here for rallies which means we see friends from all over the country.
2. It is rural and rather slow paced. We drive around and look at the farms, the animals, and the gardens.
3. It is clean.
4. We have good memories.
5. We get the camper's problems fixed. Everywhere you look  there are RV salvage stores and parts stores.

The Montana factory is here. When we have a rally here the factory reps come and talk to all of the owners about the problems they are having. Either the reps sign you up for a repair at the factory or they make arrangements with your local camping store to have things repaired.

So far, each time we have had to stay here and get repairs done. Once it was a weld break. Once it was a big leak in the bedroom area and now it is a small leak in the living area and something wonky with the slide. The leak in the living area is growing beautiful mold..........yuk!

More repairs are being done. I am finally getting a new faucet . The one I have is supposed to swivel but it hasn't for years.

Right now there seems to be a problem removing the old one and installing the new. Reinforcements may be needed. 

Then there was the broken window blind.That, too, has been repaired. There is a guy here who gives classes on how to fix these day-night shades. Done!

That just leaves the water heater...(Have you ever noticed how many people say "hot water heater"? Why would I need to heat hot water?) It works then it doesn't. That seems to be a real problem.

Each trip we go on we have to designate some time for repairs. If you think of how many moving parts are in this thing and how many bumps, dips, and potholes we hit as we travel you can see why there has to be a make-and-mend day.

Back to why we love Goshen. Maybe it is the fairgrounds we like. It is very nice campground with full hookups and level sites. It is run by the 4H club of Elkhart County. The members are forever planting, grooming, mowing,etc.

Hmmmm this is a new sign. NOT good!

But the rest is still nice.

 Red begonia slippers.

 Got an old handbag you just don't want to throw out?

See, it is pretty and fixin' to get prettier...............

I saw a bear finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part 2 of our fabulous trip
After the rally with 40+ people we were tired. Debby and Bob invited us to go with them to Cades Cove, TN and enjoy the scenery.

We followed them all the way from Waynesville NC to Townsend TN. Rather boring watching the back of their towed vehicle, but we were very impressed with how Bob managed that 40+ foot behemoth.

Debby and Bob were great hosts. They have been coming to this area since the 80's and I think they have been in every restaurant and shop in Sevierville. 

Once again we stayed in a very nice big campground, KOA Townsend. We highly recommend it. Usually we stay away from KOA's but this one was big, clean and nice.http://koa.com/campgrounds/townsend-great-smokies/

We had to deal with some dumb birds trying to build a nest in our hitch box and dive bombing us every chance they got. I found out how slow my reaction time is as I tried to take a picture of the little varmints. We had to put a bag over the hitch and tape it shut to keep them out.

We shopped til we dropped in Sevierville,TN and ate at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge.Oh my at the food....Then on to Cades Cove for a day.Erwin was thrilled that he did not have to drive and could just sit back and enjoy.

There is an 11 or 12 mile loop that you follow around the cove. In some areas there are buildings and roads to turn off on.

The visitors center is great with  lots of gifts to buy, books to skim, and buildings to tour.

We did it all. Then the wild life! I have been going through the Smokies, the Blue Ridge and the Appalachians since I was a child. I had never seen a bear. We were either too early or too late or too hot or too cold, you get the picture right? But this time not one bear but three bears

, one turkey

, a herd of deer

and beautiful flowers

. What more could I ask for?

It is such a great life

We are so fortunate to be able to live the life we want to live and to have the friends we have that love the same travelling life. 

Our Spring trip started off with a trip to the mountains in Waynesville, NC near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We attended an SKP rally along with about 40 of our friends. Great fun, great food and very little rain. 

We stayed at Creekwood Farms on Jonathan Creek. Rather appropriate, don' t you agree?

 Every one really like the campground. The managers were friendly and as afar as I know no one had any troubles.We were right on the creek and some went fishing. No one in our groups caught a fish but one camper was hauling trout in as fast as he could wet a hook. The reservations system was a little iffy, but corrections were made.

The rally usually starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday. But we love to go at least a day early and greet the SKPs as they arrive.  We have a social time every day around 4:30 and either go out to dinner afterwards or have a pot luck dinner. I have been told they even have breakfast, but I have never been.Then on Saturday there is a short business meeting to go over the plans for the next get together in the fall and sometimes to elect officers.

 Most of the time is spent however with friends either sitting around talking, my favorite activity. Someone always has been somewhere they want to share with the group. We have been friends long enough now with some that we like catching up on their family's activities,too.Then there is always shopping in the nearby towns. The size of our rigs dictates what we can buy.

This time Erwin and I struck out on our own to see the mountains...Remember when I said there was very little rain?

I sort of did not mention the fog on the mountain nor the wind nor the COLD rain. This trip was a short one since we could barely see the hood of our car. Maybe next time.....

Tierra Wool and steam trains

Before I had a dependable internet connection, we were travelling. From Roswell, New Mexico we went to Chama, New Mexico. It is a charming area with mountains, steam trains, and WOOL.Our main purpose for visiting was the steam train that goes from Chama to Antonito or the other way around, depending on where you catch it. If I can ever figure out where my computer stored my videos, I will bore you with videos of steam train.....big black engines with smoke pouring out of the stack. 

 We stayed in a lovey though rather rustic campground that was advertised in the brochure as having a place where you can see the steam train every day, perfect. Our neighbors were so nice. They are there every year from May til Oct. so they know every neat place to visit. Plus she is a wannabe spinner. The weather cooperated. It was very cool at night and in the 70's during the day. 

We did the train thing, rode to Cumbres Pass on their first ever Sunday excursion train. We had a lovely catered picnic up in the mountains and came back.We rode in the parlor car with its chandeliers and tin roof.we had our own "back porch" so that we could go outside and crane our necks around and see the front of the train....too cool for words.

Our neighbor wanted to make sure I got to do something I would enjoy, so she told us about Tierra Wool in a small town not 30 miles away. This started a s a way of “empowering rural people to create sustainable economies by building on cultural and agricultural resources"( taken straight off their website.) Their goal is to use the sheep that are raised in the area, local organic dyes , local spinners and weavers to make a sale-able product. 

I have always stayed away from weaving, my schedule does not allow for another craft project.But the natural dyeing process was quite interesting. And the Rio Grande Spinning wheel was something I would like to investigate further.

We found this interesting old building on the property...at first I thought this was Tierra Wools...OH NO!But no.

 No money is wasted to pretty-fy the place.

 Those big blue vats stink to high heaven. I forgot what what she said was in them, some sort of organic dye. I could not concentrate due to the smell....gag.

 These blue ones were dyed with indigo, a plant native to South Carolina.

  The dye for the red and orange wool is made from a beetle.

 

The brown yarn above was all done in the same vat. The darker wool is the first run, then each run makes a lighter color. Makes sense when you think about it. 

Each day the big excitement at the campground is the train leaving for Antonito and in the evening the train returning from Antonito. Plus the  deer come to visit every evening. 

I loved this place and hope to return someday and take classes at Tierra Wool, maybe even learn to weave.