From the 19th to the 21st Century...and Back

Two can travel in harmony if you can hit the right balance of what each person finds interesting.  We started on our trip to Indiana for a gathering of FROGS (Forest River Owners Group).  Mike is the gregarious one; he chats with everyone along the way; he has never met a stranger.  I, on the other hand, have friends that I have known for thirty or forty years --or the friends I meet in the novels and nonfiction works that I enjoy reading.  I can chat easily with someone over a shared interest such as antiques, but hand me a glass of wine and put me in a social gathering and I practically turn to stone.  Sooo... we need time for Mike to roam and chat and time for Yvonne to look and collect antiques.

Springfield, Ohio gave us a great place to start. The Air Force Museum was our first destination. It is a fascinating place of great magnitude.  Two days of touring gave us some insight into highlights of aviation history. Mike found the end of WWII to the Vietnam era captured his interest the most since he was in the army during what they are now calling “the Southeast Asia War”.  I found the Flying Tiger plane piqued my imagination since we had the opportunity to visit the Flying Tiger Museum when we were in China several years ago.  Another connection for me stems from my teaching career.  I taught the poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell to some of my high school classes.  I could hear echoes of the lines as I gazed at the planes.  We both found the art work displayed on the fuselage of some of the planes and on the leather bomber jackets gave a more humanizing touch to the cold steel and aluminum.  The only disappointment was that the hanger containing the Presidential Aircraft was closed due to the federal sequestration.  It is almost unbelievable when you think that in the span of about sixty short years, we went from the Wright Brothers first flight in a bicycle-parts-and-canvas airplane to putting men on the moon and returning them safely to earth.

The Flying Tigers operated in China in 1941-1942

"Bock's Car", the Army Air Force B-29 that dropped

the "Fat Man" atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan

Two examples of custom painted WWII bomber jacket art

 

 

Two other days were spent scouring the antique malls including Heart of Ohio Antiques which reportedly covers 116,000 square feet.  The hunt is the heart of the fun of collecting.  Finding a tatting shuttle in a color mom doesn't have or discovering a state hankie not yet represented in my collection is always exciting for me.  Just consider the hands that held these small treasures over the decades and all the stories connected to these inanimate objects.

Moving on to Indiana, we were among the first wave to show up at the Elkhart County Fair Grounds in Goshen for the FROG Rally.  Frankly, the two big draws to this event are the bountiful quantities of delicious Amish food and the factories fixing any and all issues (free of charge) on all brands of Forest River RVs.  This year 354 RVs gathered from all over the US and Canada to attend the rally.  Mike was part of the parking crew, and parking 354 RVs - from R-Pods to forty foot motor homes is no small feat.  Neither is serving breakfast and dinner to 723 people. What is even more mind-boggling is the ability to remember names of individuals met once over a year ago, which the organizers, brother-in-law Bob and sister-in-law Cindy, are able to do.  We were able to re-connect with many of the people we met on several trips last year, plus make many new acquaintances, both American and Canadian.  We even saw a fellow from Missouri that Mike went to grade school with.

Food, all tasty and in abundance, ranges from pit-baked chicken to buffalo steaks.  Crowds gather and lines form at least a half hour before dinner is to be served.  But this simply gives people a chance to chat about their travel destinations.  The Lexington (KY) Horse Park is now on our list of “let's try that sometime.”

One of the possibilities during the rally is a factory tour.  Since both of our travel trailers have been the Rockwood brand, we toured the Rockwood plant, quite an impressive operation.  The dedication to detail is evident.  Some of the Amish families have three generations involved in the production line.  It is quite a contrast in culture to see the factories.  Inside, the Amish workers are building the latest in high-tech RVs, while out in the “parking lots” their mode of transportation to and from work continues to be horse and buggy or bicycle.  

The Amish presence is found throughout the community. It is quite a sight seeing a line of buggies at Wal-Mart.  Young Amish women can be seen at the Shipshewana Flee Market wearing traditional head covering, plain dresses and...flip flops!  A staid black buggy waits in front of the gas station so the youngsters can hop out  and get a Slushie.  Shops are quiet and cozy. The most sensory filled shops are the bakeries with savory herb breads, taste-bud- tantalizing cookies --chocolate, chocolate chip, molasses – light-as-air raspberry angel food cake...walking into a bakery is like getting a warm hug of deliciousness. I refrain from taking pictures of people because that would be inappropriate in the Amish community, but I do take a photo - after ensuring there are no people in the frame- at a local grocery store. 

At the conclusion of the rally we head northward --again not on the original schedule-- to visit the sand dunes and shoreline of Lake Michigan.  In Holland, MI we find a state park that is on the beachfront. Within a block of our site are the sand dunes and waves of Lake Michigan.  People are playing a fierce game of volleyball, children are gleefully burying each other in the sand, and others, like us, are strolling along the edge of the lapping water as the sun melds into soft pinks and purples and dips into the horizon.  We discuss possible destinations for future road trips, as the sun slowly disappears into the vastness of the blue waters of Lake Michigan.  More trips, more Road Stories...