28-30 May - Departed Camp Atterbury, arrived Shipshewana IN

28-29 May
I have definitely been under the weather with no motivation to post the blog.  My cold moved solidly into chest and after multiple doses of Muscinex it was obvious this was not going away without a little push.  So while the rest of the nation was watching the Indy 500, I was seeking out an urgent care facility that was open.  Found one in Franklin IN and was treated like I was the only one there.  OK, I was the only one there!  I swear, I completed the new patient paperwork, vitals taken by a nurse, visit by the doctor and was out the door within 30 minutes.  The doctor heard my symptoms and gave me a once-over and said I needed antibiotics.  So, quick stop into CVS on the way back to the RV.  Hopefully we are on the mend now.

30 May
Packed up and departed Camp Atterbury at 0813 hrs and arrived Shipshewana, our eighth campground,  right at four hours later.  227 bumpy miles.  Indiana needs to spend some money on their roads, ARG!

So why Shipshewana for just one night?   We have had recurring problems with the levelers on our RV since the day we took delivery of it May 2013.  We have been working through our dealer and finally arranged to bring the unit back to the factory to have them look at it along with a representative from Atwood, the leveler manufacturer.  The Jayco factory is at Middlebury IN, just a few miles from here.  We have to have the RV at Jayco at 0630 hrs tomorrow morning.  To be there by that time we needed to camp close, hence Shipshewana.  Jayco will allow us to camp in it at their factory at night if the repairs will take multiple days.  So on our map, above, you will see Shipshewana as campground #8, and right behind it and just to the west, #9 Jayco factory.

Shipshewana is a small town located in northern Indiana, in the heart of Amish country.  The Amish are employed heavily by the RV manufacturers.  Most of the RV's manufactured are made near Elkhart IN which is not far from here.  So this is RV country and this is Amish country.  The roadways are busy with the carriages since the Amish do not drive automobiles.  Other ride bicycles.

Amish carriage outfitted with bucket seat!  We even saw one pulling a boat trailer - no joke!

 Shipshewana has two campgrounds - North Park and South Park.

We are in the south one.  There are many camp spots here but they are very tight compared to our previous camp spots.  It is only for one night.  We will fill with water here and prepare to camp in Jayco's lot for the next few nights.  If they get done with the levelers early, we will adjust accordingly and likely get to Ohio earlier than planned.

Today after we arrived, daughter Jennifer and her family drove down from Plainwell MI to visit us as we pass by!  Here is Lindsey eating a dill pickle.

There was a huge "flea market" in Shipshewana today, so they all walked to it from here.  Lucas, my 9 year old grandson and I stayed back here in the RV and got caught up on his adventures.  Later when they returned we went out to eat and then they headed back to Michigan since tomorrow is a school day.  Tomorrow night Doreen and I will drive to Kalamazoo and watch Lindsey's (6 years old) last ice skating performance of the season.

So, up at 0515 hrs tomorrow.  Goodbye Shipshewana, hello Jayco Factory.  Let's hope the work on the levelers goes well.  Let's also hope my cold subsides quickly.  I am not fun to be around when I am sick...

27 May - VA, Air Museum and Soda Fountain

27 May

<Sorry in advance for the following rant>

Was inevitable.  Sooner or later on this trip I was going to catch my annual spring cold.  We had nights in the 40’s and days in the 80’s.  After several days of hacking, nose-blowing and self-medicating with over-the-counter stuff and little relief, it has firmly moved down in my chest.  So what the heck, before the weekend comes we test the waters at the Wakefield VA Medical Clinic at Camp Atterbury.  Beautiful facility, just opened a few months ago and just out the gate from Camp Atterbury.  Polite and helpful staff, but they (the VA system) not have a clue who I was.  During our post-Iraq demobilization briefing they told us to make sure to fill out the VA’s 10-10EZ form that would get us “in the VA system”.  I completed the form in the spring of 2007 and I swear (literally) we received paperwork or at least a letter back saying we were in the system.  Yeah, well, not so much.  So I spent most of the morning there to basically be told there was no doctor available to see me.  I did get to see a nurse and she gave me some ideas on what to try. The good news is I sat right next to their admin person and watched as she got me entered in the “system”.  Thanks to my personal cloud, I had instant access to my DD Form 214, proof that I served on active duty.  Lesson learned:  Don’t go on the road again without a paper copy of my DD Form 214. <end of rant>

While I was gone, Doreen knocked out some more laundry and picked up around our RV.  After I returned, I needed to get some different over-the-counter medication so we headed back to Columbus IN.  While there, we visited the Atterbury - Bakalar Air Museum at the Columbus Airport.  What a hidden gem!  Absolutely beautiful facilitate, staffed by friendly and knowledgeable volunteers. 

 

Land was acquired and the airfield built in five months!  Would take four times that long just for the environmental impact survey today!

  

A typical barracks room at the Army Air Field

One of the primary missions was the CG4A Glider.  These were built by Ford Motor Company in Michigan

A view through the cockpit

Tuskegee Airmen were also trained here

The old control tower is still in use today

The Atterbury Army Air Field later became the Bakalar Air Force Base and was deactivated on December 14, 1969.

We then ventured back downtown, not far from the Cummin diesel museum we had visited a couple days ago.  Doreen had read about a very old soda fountain / ice cream shop, supposedly the oldest in the country, open since 1900.  So we had lunch at a local café and then went around the corner to Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor.  

Shelburne Soda Fountain.  Circa 1891

 

Marble and beautiful wood.  Amazing this has been preserved.

You can rent the area or the whole place for weddings, graduations, etc

Key Note Soda Fountain.  Circa 1902

 I have never seen so many soda machines in one place.  The wood work is amazing and the ice cream was just as authentic!!  The fountain sodas they sell are made from syrup and soda water just as they were back in the day.  Player piano was playing in the background.

I had an old fashion “chocolate malt” and Doreen had a chocolate sundae.  They served both with a healthy heaping of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.  Doreen’s also was served with caramel topping on the side.  I should have skipped lunch and went straight for the malt!! 

We then drove around and looked at some of the architecture.  Columbus is a beautiful city and they have done a great job preserving their old buildings.  The downtown area is impressive with shops and boutiques, and very well maintained.

After returning to the RV we relaxed watching the Cubs vs Phillies baseball game and later had a camp fire.  It is nice they provide free firewood at each camp site.

Saturday we will try to re-visit the Camp Atterbury museum (if it is open) that was closed a couple days ago when we visited.  There is also a campground “pitch-in” at 1:30 pm.  For us west of the Mississippi, a “pitch-in” is apparently a “potluck”.

26 May - Camp Atterbury Museum, POW Chapel and PX

26 May
More on Camp Atterbury.

We started the day by visiting the Post Exchange (PX).  It's basically a "shop-ette" with the essentials that most Soldiers would need here and a good selection of Army military clothing.  We then visited the POW Chapel.  Camp Atterbury hosted World war II prisoners of war from the European theatre.  Some Italians built a chapel in 1942-1943 and it was refurbished a couple different times since.

It is closed in but the front is glass and you can see the paintings and alter inside.  Incredible!

This stone was also carved by Italian POW's and is visible driving down the road before you turn into the main gate.

Then we toured the outside museum which features various artillery pieces, tanks and other military vehicles.

The units and their history here

Many displays

Last time I saw one of these was at the Wisconsin Dells!

"These engines are the fastest in any tanks in the European Theater of Operations, forwards or backwards. You see, man, we like to feel we can get out of trouble, quicker than we got into it." Oddball, Kelly's Heroes

We stopped by the visitor center and museum but hit them at lunchtime and they were closed.  We will go back there tomorrow.

Back to the USO Club this evening to use Wi-Fi and post this blog entry.  This is sure a nice benefit for the Soldiers coming through here.

We had a nasty storm move through this afternoon with some rain and wind, but luckily nothing like Kansas and Oklahoma are seeing.  The forecast is warm temps and scattered showers each day until we leave.  

25 May - Indianapolis Motor Speedway

25 May

Rain finally stopped and now the sun is out and things are heating up as is the humidity.  I have managed to catch a nasty cold.  Arg!

One of the things we like about staying in military campgrounds is that everyone around us is either currently serving or they are retired, i.e. you have to have an ID card to get in this place.  We also regularly see military helicopters and remotely piloted aircraft flying over. 

So at the campgrounds this morning, we met our neighbor who was retired Air National Guard and noticed my flagpole with the US and Air Force flags proudly displayed.  He was prior active duty Air Force and then transferred to the Air National Guard as a C-130 pilot from New York.  Home is in Chicago.  So we had a lot in common and talked for hours!  He is also a techno-geek and we exchanged some RV tech tips and ideas.  After retiring he went to work as a contractor flying missions in Afghanistan.  He is only here until tomorrow then he is moving his RV to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to camp there during the race.  He gave us a lot of tips about visiting the speedway.

After lunch we headed out to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

This Sunday will be the 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 race and it is SOLD OUT.  The good news is since it is sold out, management decided to open the black-out so it will be broadcast live right here in Indianapolis. 

The activities leading up to the 500 ramp up during the week as the drivers and their teams get ready.  It was obvious we were not going to get tickets for the race and after checking into the events and talking with the locals we decided to tour the museum today (Wednesday) to avoid the crowds and traffic with our large pickup.   Track admission is free today, parking is free and the museum admission is $10.  Tomorrow it costs $10 to get in the gate, and Friday it will be total pandemonium according to locals, as it is “Carb Day”, a day back in history that allowed the teams to “tune their carburetors” and run their cars to make final adjustments.  Parking is even sold out per their web site. 

So getting to the museum was uneventful except the construction and delays on the road.  Once at the Speedway, you actually drive through a tunnel and drive right under the race track to get to the museum parking lot. 

Parking was easy to find and the museum as not busy as all.  Normally they run tours of the race track where you can ride a bus around the track, or even ride in a car around the track, but during the month of May drivers are starting to run their cars here so they suspend all tours for the entire month.  So we will just visit the museum.

The view from there was interesting and there were a few cars running on the track.  The sound of them passing by was cool.  It is hard to imagine what it sounds like with a track full of cars all running hard.

We headed into the museum and there we met one of the staff who commented on my hat (Retired Air Force).  He has been active duty Air Force in Thule Greenland among other places.  He led us back to a little known new area in the museum that just opened.  We toured around that area and viewed the eight minute movie about the Indianapolis 500. 

The history on display here is amazing.  The race started back in 1911. 

If you like cars and have followed racing at all, especially the 500, this is the Mecca.  There were Indy cars there from the start of the race all the way up to last year’s winner.  The paint jobs were amazing.

The engine displays, very interesting.  The helmets, protective jumpsuits, tires – incredible.  The names I remember from the past – AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears, Parnelli Jones, Gordon Johncock, Sneva, Rutherford, and on and on.  World War I ace, Eddie Rickenbacker was even a driver! 

1973 Gordon Johncock.  I was getting ready to leave for basic training just one week later!

AJ Foyt

Danica Patrick's first Indy car.

2012 Indy winner Dodge Challenger driven by Brad Keselowski

It would have been nice to see the race, but besides it being sold out we do not want to fight the crowds and traffic and will enjoy it from the comforts of our “condominium on wheels” with a cold beverage and maybe some Dutch oven pizza!