MOTEL FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS

We received good news yesterday afternoon. Our insurance company approved the repair of the roof on the 5th wheel. They actually approved a whole new roof. The owner of Charger Enterprises, Gerald Straw, convinced them that, because of the age of the existing roof, a patch repair would not work. The new rubber would not adhere to the old roof. With a sigh of relief, we were up at 4am, moving clothes, a few supplies and whatever we thought we may need over the next few days into the truck. We moved the 5th wheel into the garage, where they will be working on putting a new roof on, reinstalling the solar panels and the TV antenna. In the mean time, we will be spending the next few days in a motel in Elkhart, Indiana
We were feeling a little out of our element at 5am - sitting in the dark in the truck with no place to go! Once day light came, we decided to do a little touring until we could check into the motel. We drove to nearby Bristol, Middlebury, and Shipsawana where there are many Amish farmers cruising the streets and back roads in their buggies. Even though they use modern equipment on their farms, they still aren't allowed to drive motor vehicles.
This area is also the "RV Capital of the World" and many of the top RV manufacturers are located here. This is a picture of just one of the plants of KZ who makes a whole variety of trailers and 5th wheels in all price ranges. Most of the manufacturers in the area offer factory tours to see how RV's are built so tomorrow we plan to tour the Jayco plant in Middlebury and if we have time, maybe some others.
Another interesting attraction just down the street from where our 5th wheel is being repaired is the RV/MH Hall of Fame. We decided to visit there this afternoon after we got checked into the motel. It was very impressive to say the least and well worth the time to visit if you are ever in this area. They recently moved to this facility after outgrowing their old building and it's very nice. They trace the history of RVing from the early 1900's to today and have many old and interesting RVs on display. They have people from all over, including the Smithsonian come here to do research on RVing history. It is amazing to0 see how both primitive yet innovative these old pop up trailers, trailers, 5th wheels and motor homes were. We are definitely spoiled with all our modern conveniences. We'll do some more sightseeing tomorrow and hope the repairs to our 5th wheel are finished on Friday as predicted so we can be on our way to Wisconsin.