21st Stop - Elkhart, Indiana

Before we left Ionia this morning, we got a group shot of "the girls" ... Mandy, Molly and Lily.


We arrived at Elkhart Campground in Elkhart, Indiana today and we ran into quite a bit of rain along the way.  When we were checking in it was raining AND hailing and we got drenched! 

Ed and I will be here at this campground for a week and then heading just down the road to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen for the Thor Rally.  

Sunday was our last day spent with Carol, Gary and Lily before they headed back to Arizona.  It was cold and we all layered up and packed the dogs in the car and headed to downtown Elkhart to check out the Riverwalk and the city's first-ever fall flower "Carpet of Mums".    We just walked up the ramp to a "viewing platform" overlooking 7,000 pots of jewel-toned mums when a young man unloaded a camera from a channel 2-ABC car called out to us asking if he could talk to us.  We told him we weren't from the area and he said that was fine and started asking questions.  Next thing I know, Carol, Gary and Ed had volunteered me to answer them and the guy was pinning a microphone to my jacket and pointed the camera and asked me my name and started asking questions.  After it was all over they all made fun of me and we went on our walk along the river and then took a ride on Beardsley to look at the big houses that the wealthy had built in Elkhart in 1910 and then to the Wellfield Botanical Gardens.  The Gardens had been under construction the last time Ed and I had stopped there last year and this year we (the dogs, too)
were able to walk around the lake and the gardens were beautiful with a lot of flowers still in bloom. That evening, my 6 seconds of fame (my name was spelled wrong, as usual) aired on TV during the local news:  http://www.abc57.com/news/local/Celebration-in-downtown-Elkhart-170905571.html!

Monday we waved good bye to Carol, Gary and Lily as they drove out of the campground.  In the afternoon we drove to South Bend to go to the Studebaker Museum...LOTS of nice looking cars!  Notre Dame Campus was close by so we headed there and were able to walk the dogs around the campus with us.  Beautiful buildings/architecture!!!  I don't understand though...the students looked sooooo young!!! 

Tuesday, Ed and I went to Shipshewana to the BIG flea market there.  We passed a lot of Amish horse and buggys along the way and Molly and Mandy were kept very busy watching for them. 

We "crashed" the Mandalay Travel Club Rally that started here at this campground on Thursday and joined in on the happy hours and Friday's breakfast and dinner.  These rigs will be heading over to the Thor Diesel Club rally at the fairgrounds in Goshen on Sunday (we're leaving Saturday to check in).