Admittedly I’ve never really liked Indiana. Not that I ever spent much time there. It’s just that it was never terribly pleasant time. Ditto that for this trip.
Getting here on the Ohio Turnpike, a toll road without justification, in a tropical downpour didn’t exactly set the tone for a grand entrance anyway. Pulled up to the toll both to get a ticket. The automatically dispensed ticket was evidently screwed up by the storm and sent the ticket out the bottom slot. For those of you who have ever driven anything “tall”, the machine should read the height of the vehicle and send the ticket out the top slot where you can reach it. Works for truckers and usually for us. Not this time. To complicate matters when we are driving, the stair cover is “up”, the door is locked - you don’t get out fast. Period. So since the machine didn’t correct its reading error- no ticket for us. An attendant finally noticed and ran into the building, cloaked in heavy rain gear, but again the ticket came out the wrong slot. Finally we put it into park, air brake on, so that we could unlock the door, drop the stair cover and Marilyn could get out to go get the ticket. As she rounded the front of the coach, the ticket got sucked back into the machine. It was just that kind of day. Finally, the ticket appeared at the top slot where I could reach it. Marilyn climbed back in, door locked, stair cover up, air brake off, gear on, see the little driver turn the little handle, chug, chug, toot, toot, off we go. The only thing I can add that would help you to appreciate the weather conditions at the time is this: the back up camera on the rear of the coach was blinded by the rain which was driving horizontally against the back of the coach. I guess that was good in a way: I couldn’t see the half mile line of traffic getting really annoyed behind us while all this was taking place.
Once in Indiana, we saw something new. The highway is lined with a radar system that detects animals on the highway ahead. I guess that’s good for the deer and the antelope, but I shutter to think of the cost of the system. Guess that’s why they charge what they do for highway tolls here.
A few more hours of driving brought us to Elkhart, home of Buster, the Motor Coach and the Newmar Manufacturing plant. Enormous facility really and the tour was most interesting. Most fascinating item worth noting, those 17 ton coaches are pushed from station to station through the plant on four very small air palettes. They ride above the floor 1/8 inch on this mini jet pack and it only takes a couple people to push it along. Another note, about 80 % of the labor force at the plant is Amish. There were as many horses and carriages around the plant as there were motor coaches, though they ask you not to photograph the Amish aspect of things out of respect for the religious sect in the work force. Got to see what was “inside” the coach and how complex the blessed thing really is…and how much there is to go wrong. Which, come to think of it, is why we are really in Indiana in the first place. Time for the one year service of the coach at just under the 10,000. mile mark now on the odometer. Buster will leave here with several outstanding service issues, the likes of which there is not time to take care of at this point. But since these are not safety issues or immediately critical to us, we will leave them to be dealt with another day, another time. We got off to a poor start at the service facility; the tech assigned to the coach was less than thorough but all’s well that ends well and we think that this did. Just wish it could have turned out well without the hassle of making it turn out well. Onward.
Illinois and Wisconsin as “a drive by” tomorrow with a stop at Madison over night. The campground there doesn’t even open until May 1 but they have agreed to let us through the gate anyhow on April 29. I hope the water and power have been turned on. I’ll be looking for roadside shops that sell cheese heads!
There was plenty of time to kill while the coach was in the shop for three days. The "girls" did a little specialty snack shopping at Petsmart. Something for everyone! Would you believe Abby can open the door all by herself? This is her favorite store by a long shot.
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