This has been quite a week with some days not having a good internet connection so the mid-week update wasn't possible for a couple of reasons but the main one being I just didn't get it done!! So here it is a week later and I'll catch you up as best I can.
I had a great time in IL and Katie's baby shower was a big success. I have to tell you about a cute gift she got from a neighbor who said every time she sees Katie outside, she's working in her flowers (takes after her mother & they all have very green thumbs). This lady gave Katie a bright orange shovel, rake, hoe and little wheelbarrow so the new baby (in a couple of years) can enjoy playing with her mom in the flowers. She commented that everyone gives 'baby' gifts so she wanted to give something that was useful later on. It was very cute!
On Monday we woke up to more rain in IL but the day eventually was beautiful weather wise and we left for IN after Becky's two daughters got off work at about 7 p.m. Fortunately, the traffic on I-80 was not too bad but we still took the backroads for awhile to avoid some construction around the Speedway south of Chicago. That detour makes the trip a bit longer but avoids frustration of backed up traffic so we made it to Elkhart about 10:30 p.m. Elkhart time, 9:30 IL time. Beck and her daughters had motel rooms so I ended up staying with them because Dick was at Haulmark starting our repairs and it was just easier to stay with them than to take me to Haulmark and then find their way back to the motel. Plus, the girls were all going shopping at the Shipshewana Flea Market (on Becky's bucket list) early in the morning.
Yes, Haulmark was able to get us in a week early and we ended up staying there for 3 nights instead of coming back to the RV park. The workers start at 5:30 a.m. and quit at around 1:30 p.m. so to avoid getting up even earlier, we just stayed there. We still were up and ready for them at 5:30 and they worked on us off and on each day. They also had another 'toterhome' (a big truck like ours with living quarters behind but on a smaller scale that will pull a 5th wheel type trailer behind it) that they needed to finish up by week's end as well so we shared their time with that one.
The girls were up early on Tuesday and off to Shipshewana. First stop was an Amish Bakery called Rise N Roll which has donuts to die for, fresh made bread where the steam was still in the bag from being baked fresh that morning, and many other food items that are hard to resist. Many Amish ladies working in the huge kitchen each day & I love how early in the morning there is a cloud of flour floating through the air as they are baking. I also love their singing of hymns as they're working and always a smile for you. The flea market is huge! They advertise 950 booths but I really don't know how many there are but I can tell you we didn't miss a row!!! In fact, their first purchase (in the first row) was 3 microfiber mops and accessories (one for each of them) that I carried for several rows so they could continue their search for treasures. (I already have the mop or we would have purchased 4). It was a lot of fun but I'll admit we were all tired by about 1 p.m. and decided it was time for lunch. I suggested Blue Gate for lunch which is a Amish style restaurant that serves family style (you can have a menu if you wish) and similar to what Essenhaus serves, the restaurant I mentioned last week. I'm not sure which one is better but I do know it was a lot of food and this time the nieces wanted roast beef in addition to the fried chicken. It was delicious and so tender (I liked it better than the chicken). Of course, the pie was the best part and I believe we had 30+ choices.......very hard to make a decision. Becky had lemon meringue and her meringue was at least 3" high. I had peanut butter (good but very rich) and the girls had peach. They wanted fresh strawberry but their mom makes an awesome strawberry pie and they were afraid it wouldn't measure up to 'moms'. After lunch we shopped a bit more around Shipshewana and then headed back to meet Dick and drop me off so they could head back to IL. A very fun few days with my family and then a fun day of shopping here in IN. Dick cannot believe we could have spent that much time at the flea market but then again he's not a shopper.
We were making good progress on our repairs and they assured us we'd be done this week. We continued to stay at Haulmark until Thursday when they finished us up. They are such an awesome group of guys and one gal and even though we had some 'issues' they fixed everything and even more that they felt just wasn't right.
I will admit they were long days just 'hanging out' because when you have a motorhome, there is no place else to go while it's being worked on so you just 'hang out', run errands, eat, etc. Murphy went to daycare every day this week and needless to say he is one pooped puppy.
Friday Dick took the coach to a tire place for some tire adjustments which turned out to be a minor trip (in the rain unfortunately) while I went to Apple for some one-on-one instructions on my new computer, and Murphy went to daycare.
We are going to stay here in this area for another 10 days or so (mainly because our original appointment was 7/5 at Haulmark and we didn't expect to get in early and get done so soon so we paid for a month's stay as it's a lot cheaper). We like this area though so we'll keep busy and enjoy some more time with our friends here.
I thought the rain was over for awhile but we got some showers Saturday afternoon/evening and the humidity is still near 65%. We are pretty wimpy when it comes to humidity so it's a good idea to do chores early in the morning and then stay inside until evening. Even Murphy doesn't want to go outside much.
I did want to tell you that Shaq's motorhome was delivered to him last weekend in FL by the salesman here in Elkhart. He got to have lunch with Shaq and his picture taken too. Shaq called Haulmark this week and said the motorhome 'exceeded his expectations'. One of his favorite features was that he can stand up without hitting his head. Apparently, the one he had before he had to walk around with his head bent to the side. Haulmark is working with Shaq's PR people to get consent to be able to take pictures and write an article about Shaq purchasing one of their motorhomes for their brochure.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone and take a moment to remember that all of our freedoms aren't free. Happy Birthday America!
No comments:
Post a Comment