Elkhart, IN - RV'ing in Style

We are still wending our way back to Iowa for September but we still have two more stops: one in Elkhart, IN and the last one in Iowa. Well, we actually have two stops in Iowa: one at Gary’s sister’s home in Swisher, IA and one at my brother’s home in Fort Dodge IA. But, we hit Elkhart on the 20th of August after an uneventful trip down the Interstates. (We heard on the news later that someone is taking pot shots on this Interstate but no one knows who. Shots have been taken but no one has been injured. Why would someone do this?)

Elkhart has lots to offer tourists: a flourishing Amish community with all its crafts, foods and farming, a nice trail wending through town along the river and quite a few RV factories that offer tours. We chose the Newmar factory for a tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, we couldn’t take pictures inside just as we couldn’t take pictures inside the Winnebago factory where we toured several years ago. This tour takes you right to the assembly floor where you see the chassis come in, the shower enclosure added (first, since it’s so big) and then all the way through to the final dusting and cleaning.

I was intrigued by the way they move the RV’s through the factory, not on a moving assembly line but on big pillows. Yep, they put 4 big air bags under the RV and then 4 guys can push it to the next station. When they are finished with what is done at that station and want to move it to the next station, they pump up the air bags, move it and, when it is in place, they let the air out of the air bags so the RV won’t move on the factory floor while they are working on it. Pretty cool and we actually got to see this happen.
But the most fascinating thing here was that we were so close that we could see the screws that they screwed in. We could reach out and touch the actual RV as it was being worked on. We could ask any question we wanted and just walked along the actual assembly line looking at each separate RV in progress to see what was being done at each station. There goes the plumbing and the electricity, there are the walls, the doors, and, hey, there are the windows. Well, not so simple, there were many more steps than all that but that’s the idea.

Pretty neat factory tour. Have we bought a new Newmar? Whew, we got away without opening our wallets.

And, Newmar is not the only factory in this area. We drove past many factories in our journeys around this area. And, RV shops, and RV renovators and RV parts dealers. You name it, it’s here.

There’s also a cool RV’ing Museum in the area and we had to stop there. We wanted to see the past models of the RV that we are living in. What did people travel in back in the early 1900’s? And, I do mean the early 1900’s. The first one they had a model of was a trailer hitched to the old black Model T - as you can see in the picture. I’ll bet you think it looks kinda like an early hearse. Well, it did to me. All black, room to lie down in, a door in back and a viewing window on the side. Actually, it was a pretty cool trailer.

But here’s another variation of the same model and, right next to it was a description from some brochure that must have gone with it. So, read the description and then find all the parts in the pictures I’ve got here - except for that sheltered shower-bath compartment. The sign near the RV says ‘The shower bath is supplied with water which is warmed by the engine which flows by gravity from the tank under the roof.’ They’ve thought of everything.

Here’s the cool kitchen section which is on a drop-down door on the left-hand side of the sleeping compartment. You’ve got your handy-dandy two-burner stove, cute little cubbies for food on the top shelf, a dozen eggs and whatever kitchen tools you need, like the egg-beater on the shelf.

And, what could be more comfortable than this sleeping compartment which is partly inside the trailer and partly on the two legs which drop down from the back door? Of course, you’re partially sleeping outside but then people have been doing that for years.

Here’s a good view of the right-hand side of the trailer with the three commodious drawers for clothing and the stylish hats which every good camper had to have. And, see, there’s even a desk for writing your journal of your trip.

There were even two pictures showing people setting up camp.

Every good camper needs a good pair of white spats. Ya gotta have white spats while camping. Gary, himself, has 5 pair - and a brown pair for hiking. While I have high heels and several long skirts.

There is a second story with a balcony overlooking the RV’s in the museum and I took this picture from it.

Here’s an example of an RV from 1931.

Lots more sophisticated. I was continually amazed at the ingenuity, inventiveness and pluck of the early RV designers and those who bought the campers.

I thought the stove was the crowning touch in this model.

And, another one.

I am intrigued by how much this one looks like the first one we saw, on the Model T.

Now, when you think of Mae West, do you think of RV’ing? Probably not but she had her own RV on the set. One of here ‘perks.’

We had fun looking at all these RV’s and imagining traveling and camping in them. I can just hear Gary’s questions when I propose an RV trip to Yosemite and Yellowstone in 1907.

        ‘Hey, honey, let’s travel out to Yellowstone and Yosemite. I found a great deal on a ‘trailer.’ It’s got a shower, a kitchen, a desk and 3 drawers for our clothes. Let’s go.’

        But, Sweetie, what kind of roads will we be driving on?

        Uh, they will be mostly mud with lots of ruts.

       
        Do you have a map?

        

        Sure, here it is.

        Will there be any road signs?

        Well, uh, we’ll just keep head west.

        How will we find gas along the way? It’s OK here in the city but what about the desert and the mountains?

Manufactured in 1911, an S.F. Bowser Model 102 “Chief Sentry” pumped gas on North Capitol Street in Washington D.C., in 1920. The Penn Oil Company’s pump’s topmost globe, today prized by collectors, survived only as a bulb. Photo from the Library of Congress        

        Uh, gee, maybe we can carry some with us.

        Will we be able to buy some food along the way? Will there be grocery stores along the roads? I know you have questions, but won’t it be fun? Oh, and don’t forget to bring your spats.’

        ‘No way, sweetie pie.’

Nope, we’ve got to admire those early travelers. They were intrepid adventurers and we owe them a great debt. It’s so easy to travel these days and to travel in luxury. There are roads, gas stations, motels, grocery stores, parks with hook-ups and so much more to make travel easy and pleasurable.