The Face Lift

One of the main reasons that we have spent so much time in Ohio this summer is our unsold house. One of the items that needed to be addressed before the next northern winter is the roof. Ours has nearly reached the end of its useful life and we have spent a considerable amount of time looking for the right contractor and deciding exactly what we wanted. If you count the whole time we have been thinking about this, it has been about five years. Now the time has come. We have found the contractor that we think we can rely on and made the final decision on a possible face lift, as well.

So this past Monday, it began. We decided on streamlining the appearance of the roof and remove the false dormers in the attic. This proved to be more of a task than I expected, as they were very well mounted on the roof. The roof is very steep and the contracting crew had to definitely use the old sailing adage one hand for the ship and one for yourself to stay firmly on the roof.
It was very interesting to watch as they proceeded to change the appearance of the house. They completed the work in a timely fashion, in the way we expected and with a pleasing result. What more can you ask.

There were several thoughts that lessened my joy on the completion of this long thought about project. First, how much diesel this project cost could have purchased and the second-well -that old timeline thing-the roof has a longer life expectancy than I do.

With this project complete, we are off on our delayed trip to visit our grandson and family and then head further south to our daughter there.

Erie, PA

June 2, 2008

We had to make a quick trip to Erie for some business and revisited a town that we have not been to for some time. I remembered Erie as a bit of a rundown place with not much to offer. Erie has a long history with its strategic position along the shores of Lake Erie and has had a part to play in American history from the mid 1700’s thru the revolutionary War, the war of 1812 and right up into at least the early 1900’s before its star began to fade.

We found a B&B in the downtown area locally known as millionaire’s row. It was built in the 1870’s by a leading banker of the time. We had not been on this area before and found it quite impressive with restored large homes being used as apartments, B&B’s and office spaces. We also found a small rejuvenated area of the business section with restaurants and shops. The City is also trying to redo its public access areas along the lake with a large convention center under construction and amusements to attract people to the area. We dined in a pleasant restaurant that was housed in a former firehouse.

We then drove thru the Presque Isle State Park located across an inlet from the downtown area. It has numerous recreational activities, mostly associated with the lake with nice beaches, hiking and biking trails and picnic areas. After leaving the park, we stopped at a 50’s spot for some ice cream and people watching.

It turned out to be a much more enjoyable visit than expected.

The Toybox

Last weekend we attended an impromptu gathering with some of the members of our Winnebago club. There was no formal meeting planned for June, so one of our members, who owns property near Archbold, Oh invited us to come and camp on his property and see what would develop. This turned out to be a great long weekend with four coaches attending plus our generous hosts. The owners refer to this property as the “Toybox”, as this is where they have inside storage for their motorhome and some of the classic cars that they have collected. This spot also has a very nice area around a pond for campfires, cookouts and some fishing.

In addition to our usual fun activities of eating, card games and storytelling, a few of us tried our hands at some pond fishing. For me, this was the first time in a long time I had a pole in my hand. We also got an up close look at some classic cars and in my case, had my first ride in a model T Ford. This was a real fun experience.

Our hosts also operate a business, making, among other things, special screens for the RV industry. So we also made a visit to their factory and got the dime tour. Clearly some folks have a stronger sense of entrepreneurship than others (like me). Anneke says that is too bad.

I am glad to say that this kind of outing is what makes the RV hobby so much fun and makes you forget about the ever rising cost of fuel.

FMCA Rally

We spent seven days at an FMCA rally in Berrien Springs, Michigan. This town is located in southwest Michigan ten or so miles from the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and perhaps is best known for its Seventh Day Adventist College. What we discovered this meant for the casual visitor is that most stores are closed on Saturday and there are many stores and restaurants that specialize in Vegan products.

FMCA is a social group of motorhome owners that gather and have fun at various rallies and conventions around the country. This was our first event with this group and also the largest rally we have attended to date. There were approximately 450 coaches in attendance and we were parked all over the Berrien County Youth Fairgrounds, which proved to be a great venue for this kind of gathering. This did not come as a surprise, as we found out that they have been coming here for over thirty years for this annual event.

It was fascinating to just walk around and see all the various types and ages of motorhomes that attend and talk with the many campers who come to enjoy themselves. You could discover what they had done to them and what they were having done to them by numerous vendor and repair groups on scene.

These events are designed for fun, fellowship and learning. There are numerous seminars on topics of interest to this hobby and in some cases lifestyle. There were also two halls full of vendors selling their wares that were in some way related to motorhome ownership. There were also a number of motorhome dealers who brought dozens of coaches to the fairgrounds for us to look over, in case the urge for a new coach would hit. This alone was much larger than some dedicated RV shows we have attended.

And then there was the food and entertainment. With around 1000 people attending the lines for the food hall could get quite long, but they kept things moving and it went amazingly fast. Not being that fond of food served in this manner, we only attended one of these events. There was entertainment on the grounds every day of the rally, an evening show each night and there was even a classic car rally on Saturday, where the owners sought our votes for the best of show.

On Monday, Memorial Day was celebrated by a display of flags, a parade RV style and ceremony at the flag pole.

It was a fun event and we will undoubtedly attend more in the future.

On the road again

We are back on the road, in what I have come to think of as our summer pattern. As members of a Winnebago owners club, FMCA-a motorhome owners club and, of course, the Good Sam-an organization devoted to the camping experience that means, among other things-rallies.

We started our summer program with a Winnebago rally at a nearby campground and reacquainted ourselves with our fellow members. As always there were lively discussions, good food and the traditional campfire. We stayed in a mostly seasonal campground where people spend the entire summer. The place was loaded with golf carts and we apparently quickly became the local attraction. A steady stream of golf carts slowly where rolling by and occasionally stopped to chat.

We had joined the FMCA-Family Motor Coach Association over the winter and planned to go to their much larger rally in Berrien Springs, MI a few days after the Winnebago event. So for the intervening few days we decided to head to Shipshewana, IN. This is in the Indiana Amish country, which we explored last summer. (13 July 2007 story) When we started to travel, I thought that it would be a waste of time to revisit places we have already been, but I now find that revisits are also worthwhile. Not only to revisit specific places enjoyed, but I discovered that you can also get a complete new perspective on the place, often by chance.

This time there was still the charming and simple farms and people of the Amish community and the apparent serenity of an area dominated by this lifestyle choice. We visited the Menno Hoff museum which traces the history of this religious and cultural group, as seen by them. This is a very well done museum and worth a visit. Plan to spend at least two hours.

On this visit we spent a lot more time in Shipshewana and got to see a lot more than the flea market. We walked the downtown district, which is mostly owned by Amish interests. By chance, we happened into the only non Amish ethnically owned business in town, owned by a well known Native American artist, who was a direct descendant of the native people who were driven from their lands by the federal Government at around the same time as the first Amish settlers arrived from Europe.

Since we were the only potential customers in the place, we struck up a pleasant conversation with the owner’s son about the area and history of the place and his ancestors. When I remarked that it must be nice to live in the town and work among such quiet, honest and hard working people, I apparently hit his major button, and he gave us the low town on the Amish from his perspective. Let me just say that, at least as he saw it, they were a very unpleasant group of people to deal with and since they controlled the town, in which voting on any issues is not allowed, if you were not Amish, they made it extremely difficult for you to stay in business. He felt that there was one set of rules for the Amish and another for everyone else. He pointed out that the references to what happened to his people at the time of the arrival of the Amish in the area did not even exist in the museum. His tribe pushed hard to have it acknowledged that their tribe occupied this land. He also said that, in fact, when the Amish arrived they moved directly into the houses and farms that had just been vacated by his people. The native people were moved to the west in what is now called the “Trail of Tears”.

Certainly, in our travels, it can be seen that despite what was portrayed in the movies of my youth the native peoples in this land were treated very badly by the settlers and the government. I guess that this is no surprise to anyone. Whenever, I think about the Native American issues, I am always reminded of the posters and t-shirt with a picture of several famous well armed “Indian” leaders over the declaration of: Homeland Security since 1492. I can only hope we will fare better than they did.

In any case, it is clear that a second visit this area has given us a whole new perspective. So we will not shy away from second visits in the future.