Northern Indiana in June 2005
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Where are we NOW?
This data is sometimes not exact. It is based upon our GPS unit which we have hooked to the internet via amateur radio and APRS.
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Thursday, 16 June, 2005
We've said goodbye to Maddy and left her at camp. Now we're getting set to leave on our northern Indiana/Michigan adventure!
Later
We're in Indy tonight at the Holiday Inn Express. We drove up to Dick's Bodacious Barbeque and enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches with baked beans. Then we walked west the 2 blocks to our favorite Fishers ice cream dive, Handel's! Yummmm! Our bellies are full and we're gonna play a game of Blokus before turning in.
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APRS*, or automatic Position Reporting System, is a software package that enables us to display our exact position as it is determined by GPS and transmitted by packet radio.
Packet radio is a digital form of amateur radio communication that uses airwaves to transmit packets of digital information to other other amateur radio packet stations. Some packet stations serve as gateways to the internet, allowing us to display our current position on specific websites. The position link that I offer above is one such website!
*APRS is a software package and a registered trademark owned by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR.
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Friday, 17 June, 2005
Today was a lovely day, so we decided to go and re-photograph a few courthouses for which we had less-than-wonderful photos. Noblesville was our first stop, where we took several nice pics of the Hamilton County Courthouse.
Since this courthouse is still in use for county offices, but no longer for court, they have the old courtroom preserved just for ... us! We went in and photographed at our leisure.
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Then we tied on our walking shoes for our daily walk. We walked all over the downtown area of Noblesville and down tree-lined streets. Along the way, we saw some interesting sights!
It's unseasonably cool today! We both wore long-sleeved shirts for our walk.
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| Back in the car, we headed west on State Hwy 32. Just east of the intersection with 421, we encountered these DINOSAURS! It said Taylor on the barn and there were farm implements for display/sale. These dinosaurs had been created from old implement parts! Incredible!
And here's Michael. "I'll be in the car." ;)
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On to Covington, county seat of Fountain County. It was noon and we were, of course, starving. Esther's Deli & Desserts welcomed us! I had the quiche of the day and Michael had a club sandwich.
Then we got a good shot of the Fountain County Courthouse and a couple of its carvings. I had thought that I remembered a moving memorial plaque here and that's what we were here to photograph. But the courthouse lawn was in disarray and the monuments had been moved, as they were redoing all the streets around the square!
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Back on the road, we drove up through Lafayette. We stopped at a KMart and bought a few provisions. Well, actually, the "provision" we bought was a collection of bag clips! <g> Ok, confession time. We like to snack in the car.
Holiday Inn Express in Warsaw is where I'm making this update! Great room with lots of space, just made for us!
It's still cool this evening. I wore the sweatshirt at right to go to dinner (Pizza Hut and it was delish!).
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Saturday, 18 June, 2005
It's not even 60 this morning! I'm wearing that same shirt from last evening as I do this update and post ydy's pics.
Breakfast was perfect. Holiday Inn Express has a setup where it's really like home. Everyone comes in their jammies (well.. lots of people do) and food is out on a buffet and you can have whatever you like and sit in their comfy dining room and eat at your leisure. This breakfast comes with the price of the room, which last night was $89.
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Later
Today we drove up to Wakarusa, Indiana hoping to find an RV factory to tour. Nothing was open, because of the weekend, so <buzz> try again.
While we were there, we decided to go on and do our daily walk. We walked from downtown to their little park, behind the schools, around the track, and up the "mountain," where we got some neat pics.
Then we found this neat little "dime store," home of the Jumbo Jelly Beans. My goodness, are these things wonderful! We got some, tried them, and then went back for more!
Next, we headed the 4 miles back south to Nappanee. We toured Amish Acres, learning a good deal about this interesting sect. Amish Acres has a working maple syrup operation and we got to see where the trees are tapped. Then we took a tour of the old Amish school, a farmhouse, and barn and other out-buildings. Everything is well-preserved, and there are plenty of artifacts of early 1900's Amish life.
At about 4pm, we went to our Bed & Breakfast, The Victorian Guest House. We'd stayed here last year, and so we knew we wanted to do the same thing. This year, we stayed in Victoria's room where there is a tiny balcony. Last year we were in Virginia's room (larger and has a writing desk!)
We walked back to Amish Acres for a hearty Thresher's Dinner. This is served family style and we had chicken, turkey, beef & noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, bread & butter, and pie! We waddled back to the Victorian and played a rousing game of Blokus before turning in for the night.
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Sunday, 19 June, 2005
We began the day in the best way possible. Dave called to wish his Dad a happy Father's Day!
Breakfast at the Victorian is something worthy of its own paragraph. Fruit and chocolate chip "bread" were followed by a fruity french toast-like concoction which was served with syrup, more fruit, and sausage links. Wonderful! We had Vickie wrap part of it for us to eat later.
We tied on our walking shoes and headed out for our morning constitutional. The road took us down around the golf course, past a wonderful park with a fantastic skateboard facility, pool, and all the usual park things. Beautiful tree-lined streets, well-tended yards, and quaint well-kept homes were our scenery for the rest of the walk.
I spent a couple of hours checking and commenting on students' work for my LVS Online classes and Michael just chilled here.
Then we left, got ice for the cooler and ate our leftover breakfast treats under a tree at Amish Acres.
Next was the show! We saw Fame, put on in the Round Barn Theater at Amish Acres. It was a neat and intimate setting for a very well-done show.
A lazy evening on the porch, popcorn made by our host Bruce, and a game of Blokus before bed. Sweet relaxing day!
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Monday, 20 June, 2005
We awoke early this morning and took a most pleasant walk around Nappanee. After a shower, we went back down and breakfast was ready! This morning I remembered the camera!
After our wonderful breakfast, we hugged our hostess so long and headed out.
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| I don't have photos of our day, because I was not allowed to take any! We toured two different RV factories today -- Monaco Coach and Newmar.
Of the two, Monaco in Wakarusa was our favorite. The tour guide was excited by the place and excited to be answering our questions. We were given headphones and her headset allowed her to talk to us without yelling over the factory noise.
All the employees seemed very happy and energetic as they worked carefully, assembling these RV's.
The coaches are beautiful. Have a look from the link to the right! One of the Monaco salesmen, Adam Smith, showed us around through a couple of them, opening all the doors and explaining all the options. What a nice and helpful guy he is!
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Monaco Coach has an online factory tour!
Click Begin Tour to start it.
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| Back down to Nappanee, we went to the 1:00 tour at Newmar. They had a movie for us to watch and ... we just didn't like the attitude of the movie or of the woman giving us our tour. I didn't like the idea that, unless you are ready to spend $250,000, you're looking at an "entry level" RV. |
Newmar Corporation
No tour here
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| As if we were not burned out on RV's already, we visited Hart City RV in Elkhart and looked at several rigs. There is a huge indoor showroom and that was fun to go through. But then we went outside to look at the Monacos and ... it was hot hot hot inside all of them.
We came back to our room exhausted. After a game of Blokus, we crashed.
To the right, Blokus, the jumbo jelly beans I talked about, and Michael entering expenses in Quicken.
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In the Blokus game, can you find the one move that red has?
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Tuesday, 21 June, 2005
First day of summer! We began with our Holiday Inn Express breakfast. I shot a photo of what it's like.
Into the car and up the road, we stopped in the tiny town of Sturgis, Michigan to do our walk. What a lovely place! Beautiful tree-lined sidewalks, well-tended houses and gardens, pretty parks... we really enjoyed it!
Back into the car, we headed east and north to Ann Arbor. We got here in time for a late lunch and a casual stroll around the mall.
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| Come on over to Part 2! |
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