RV-Dreams Journal

A Little Exercise, A Little Rattle Control, & A Wii Evening - (Goshen, IN)

We got some things done this morning and then we got out and got a little exercise.

Linda powerwalks with her headphones and Droid 2 playing her Pandora radio station.  They have a nice basketball court, so I went out to shoot some hoops and then do a little bike riding.

After we got back and had showers, we made a flyer to take to a few of the area campgrounds for weighing services.

But on the way, we took a particularly rough back road and the rattle of the scales was intolerable.  We had to turn around to work on a solution for that.

The problem is the scales have internal moving parts.  So not only do we have to keep the scales from moving, but we have to put pressure on them to keep the internal parts as still as possible.

A trip to Walmart provided the idea of squeezing some hard foam water floats from the pool department in between.  That worked like a charm.  :)

 

 

Of course, not all the floats were the proper length, so we had to get out the electric knife to cut them down.  :)

 

 

Now we just have to figure out what to do with the top scale.  I originally was going to make the rack a complete box, but somewhere along the line, we determined that wasn't necessary.  Now, I wish I would have put a top on it so we had something to hold down the floats.  Oops.

Linda and Amy, with wine in hand, sat back and watched Walter and me try to figure out what modifications to make.  The cackling was a bit distracting.  :)

We ran out of time, so I guess we'll have to fix it tomorrow.

While at Walmart, we bought one of those pre-cooked chickens for dinner.  We call it "pickin' chicken" since we tend to just peel the skin off and pick at the carcass.  :)

We finished our little thrown together meal and then walked over to Jim & Chris's rig.  They had invited us over for a little Wii action - some virtual sports video games.

We started out with some bowling.  Linda won the first game with a 151.  I won the second game with a 172, but Linda had a 167.  Yes, it bothered me that she had the best two-game total.  :)

After that, we played a little golf.  Jim beat us all and I was last.  How humiliating.  :)

Then we moved on to ping-pong.  Linda & I both are pretty good at real ping pong, and we picked it up quickly.  It was quite a battle and it took extra points, but I finally squeezed out a victory.  Whew.

We both struggled with the canoe races before giving up on that.  Then we watched Jim & Chris battle it out in one of the airplane dogfight games.  Finally, the four of us struggled with frisbee golf.  Chris & I were way over par, but we still beat Jim & Linda by 10 strokes - we lost a lot of frisbees.  :)

That's the second time we've played Wii, and we've enjoyed it both times.  But I refuse to get it for ourselves until we get better TVs.  And I refuse to get better TVs until either the ones we have die OR we weigh a a few hundred RVs so I'll feel better about spending the money.  :)

Well, it was almost 11:00, so we called it a night.  We thanked our hosts and headed home.

Tomorrow we have an appointment at 10:00 and some other things to get accomplished.  It's supposed to be nice and bit cooler than today's 90 degree afternoon.  Guess we'll see.  :)

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Feeling Better, Getting Some Work Done - (Goshen, IN)

On Thursday, I felt a little better, but still didn't feel like doing much.  I answered some emails and took care of a little business.  Linda went to the laundromat.

In the evening, we invited Walter over for dinner as Amy flew home for a few days.

I felt even better on Friday and worked on our May Financials.  Those are now posted at Our 2011 Actual Full-timing Expenses.

In addition, I prepared a couple of web pages related to our new relationship with RVSEF.  The first one is an announcement and summary of our partnership:  RV-Dreams & RVSEF.  The second one is RV Weighing By Wheel Position which lists pricing, how to contact us about getting weighed, and other RVSEF weighing opportunities.

Now I'm working on a Frequently Asked Questions page regarding weighing.  I've still got some work to do on that one and I'll need to run it by Walter.

While I was working on all that, Linda has been finalizing business cards and signs and banners for RV shows and rallies.  She's much better at all that than I am.  :)

We're trying to get all our ducks in a row while we are here waiting for the Heartland Rally to start and while we'll be here for shipping purposes.

Later, I contacted the organizer of something called RVFest.  We couldn't find anything on the internet, but I got some contact information.

Apparently, RVFest was started last year by a group of Gulfstream RV owners.  They are having their rally right here after the Heartland Rally is over.  So, we might stay an extra week to do some seminars and RV weighing if they are interested.

Where we go and what we do after that is up in the air.  We have several options, but it looks like we either won't get to Maine at all or we'll have very little time there.  Things change, so it might be best if we save it for another time.  We don't like to rush beautiful areas.  :)

As the afternoon rolled around, I went to Lowe's to get wood and supplies to build the rack for the RV scales I envisioned.  I measured and re-measured and tried to think of everything.

But when I got there, their saw was out of order and I didn't have room in the Jeep for all the wood.  I stopped by a lumber yard, and a very nice gentleman helped me.  But they couldn't get to what I needed until Monday.

So, that trip was a bust.

Friday night, I planned on going to a poker tournament.  The Elkhart Elks Lodge at Christiana Creek Country Club has a Friday night Texas Hold 'Em Tournament.  They buy-in is only $20 and that includes dinner. 

So, I showed up.  However, the tournament was being held in a basement and smoking was allowed.  Hanging out for a few hours in that smoke-filled room would have made me sick even if I wasn't already susceptible.  I was really looking forward to playing, but for a change, I made a smart decision.  :) 

On the way home, I stopped at Lowe's again.  This time the saw was working and I got everything I needed and most of it was cut to the sizes I wanted.

Saturday morning, I was feeling even better.  So I went outside and started trying to figure out the best way to put my scale rack together.  Construction and carpentry are certainly not my comfort zones, so again I was measuring and re-measuring and trying to figure out where to start.

After erasing several markings on the boards, I finally got everything marked.  I even got my circular saw out and cut some boards without drawing blood.  :)

Linda's ideas and my ideas on putting the rack together were different.  Imagine that.  One too many smart aleck comments from me, and she went inside.  Oops.

Luckily, Walter had come out by then and he helped me think it through.  His thoughts were a bit more in-line with what I was thinking originally.  We both got out our drills and I drilled holes while he put in screws.

 

 

Linda took photos from the cool safety of the rig.  :)

Jim & Chris Guld (Geeks On Tour) arrived yesterday and Jim came by to check out our progress.

 

 

Before we got much further, Walter and I made sure we could get the rack in and out of the Jeep.  That was rather important.  :)

It was a tight fit, but it worked.  So we finished it up and put it in place.

 

 

There is just enough room with the back seats up.  But the scales fit nicely and there is room to get our hands in to get them out.  Oh, and the door closes too.  Bonus.  :)

Not bad for an amateur.  :)

 

With Walter's assistance, it was only a four-hour job instead of six or eight.  :)

Now we just have to figure out how to muffle the rattle while driving.  That's going to take some experimentation.

Anyway, I was happy that was done.

The temperature quickly got into the 90s, so we hung out in our rig the rest of the day.  DirecTV sent us a notice that we were getting about a half dozen or so movie channels for free for three months, so we've been watching movies while I work on the computer.

But now that I'm feeling almost up to par, we'll be getting out and about a bit more in the next few days.  Not sure what we'll be doing, but it'll be something.  :)

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RV/MH Museum, The Angel Bus, & More - (Goshen, IN)

I was feeling a little better this morning, so we decided to join Walter & Amy for the day.

Walter had a meeting with Dexter Axle, so we tagged along.

Along the way, he showed us various manufacturer and component parts plants.  Man, it's hard to keep track of what brand goes with what manufacturer much less what company makes what component parts.

Just for RV manufacturers and brands alone, I told Walter I needed some type of chart, like a family tree.  :)

It gets even more confusing with manufacturer closings, consolidations, and purchases over the last few years.  Some manufacturers aren't manufacturers anymore, but their names are being continued as "brands" of a larger manufacturer that may have taken over.

After Walter's meeting, we drove over to the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart. 

 

 

From the website:

"In early 2007, the foundation moved into its new facility at 21565 Executive Parkway in Elkhart. The 56,000 square foot brand new building houses the RV/MH Hall of Fame honoring industry leaders, a museum of vintage units from 1913 up to the 1970s, a Go RVing Hall showcasing the latest current models, an Exhibitors Hall where industry supply firms tell their company story, and the world's largest library of RV and manufactured housing related literature and photos."

 We met up with Al Hesselbart, an RV historian who has led the growth and development of the museum and library at the Hall of Fame.  Al also does a presentation called "100 Years of RVs in America" at various rallies, shows, and conferences including the RVSEF Lifestyle, Education, & Safety Conference.

Here is Walter and Al in front of the RV Industry Centennial display with photos of RVs from each decade.

 

 

From there, we took a tour of "Founders Hall" which includes vintage vehicles that were forerunners to today's recreational vehicles.

This is the 1931 Tennessee Traveler built on a Ford Model AA chassis.

 

  

This is an all aluminum motorhome built in 1988 using a 1976 Cadillac El Dorado chassis and a 1976 Oldsmobile Toronado engine.

 

 

It was designed so that it would fit in a standard-sized garage.

This 1969 Ford-based motorhome displays the evolution from truck campers to today's Class C motorhomes.

 

 

There were a whole lot more vehicles on display with a fascinating mix of ingenuity and engineering.  To see the museum's current inventory, click on this link:  RV/MH Museum Inventory. 

Before departing, we walked around the rest of the building and checked out the other displays.  As we were just about to walk out, I noticed a brochure for The Angel Bus.

I've been meaning to write about The Angel Bus, so this was a good reminder.  From their "About Us" page:

"Angel Bus is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing compassionate, non-emergency long-distance ground transportation to patients in need.  Angel Bus, which utilizes motor coaches and their volunteer drivers as well as commercial buses, was founded by Mr. William L. (Bill) Connor in May 2000."

Knowing many of our readers are always looking for ways to help or volunteer, we thought we would bring this opportunity to the attention of the motorhome owners out there.

From the museum, we dropped off a flyer for weighing at the Elkhart Campground.  Then we drove past some of the RV surplus stores on Hwy 19/Bristol Street, before continuing south to the Pla-Mor Campground just west of Nappanee.  We left another flyer in the office there before heading back toward Goshen.

Ah, but as we were going through Nappanee, we noticed a sign that said "Handmade Ice Cream".  Walter & Amy used to run an ice cream shop, and all of us were curious.

 

 

Rocket Science Ice Cream is run by one of the local Amish gentlemen.  We watched as he made four different types of ice cream and then used liquid nitrogen to flash freeze it.  With his shelf full of ingredients, the combinations were almost limitless.

By the time we were finished licking our cups, we were wondering if we could buy a franchise.  :)

Eventually, we made it back to the fairgrounds.

We rested awhile, and then started figuring out how we were going to carry four scales in the back of our Jeep.  We wanted to make sure they wouldn't get damaged, they would be easily accessible, they would be easy to get in and out, and we wouldn't have to always take them out to use the back seat.

We did all kinds of measurements and ultimately settled on creating a rack.  Now, we'll just have to see if I'm handy enough to build it.  :)

Linda worked on getting us some magnetic signs and yard signs in addition to the business cards she designed earlier.  I started working on that "RV Family Tree" that I had thought about earlier in the day.  If we are going to be a little closer to the industry, I thought it might be a good idea if we know who makes what and who owns what.  :)

But it didn't take long to figure out what a daunting task that might be.  Thor Industries alone owns seven manufacturers and over ninety brands.  So, it might take me a lot longer than I originally thought, but the project will be very helpful in the long run.

In the evening, we once again sat outside and chatted with Walter & Amy.  Of course my mind always wanders to questions I have, and I often change the subject when a question pops into my head that I don't want to forget.  Fortunately, Walter is so passionate about education, that he is always willing to pacify me.  :)

As it got dark, we eventually called it a night.  Good thing as I was starting to fade.  Hopefully, I'll feel even better tomorrow, and I can get some more things done .... maybe even build a scale rack.  :)