Heading to Northern Indiana

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Our two month stop in Pineola North Carolina has been quite memorable. It will be hard to give up all the outdoor activities and sights of this region, but we need to head out to get our new furniture installed in Elkhart Indiana. Some people have questioned the need to have the furniture replaced. But if you actually saw what they looked like and the mess they create, it would be clear something needed to be done. Our rig’s sofas and chairs have been “afflicted” with peeling issues for several years now. Many others with RVs from several different manufacturers have similar issues. We have been using slip covers in an attempt to at least reduce the mess. Last fall, we tried to find a place near our campground in Florida to reupholster the furniture but could find one we felt comfortable with. So we took all sorts of measurements and worked with the vendor in Elkhart to have new sofas and chairs built. The order was place right before Thanksgiving.

Passenger Chair (without slipcover)

Driver Chair

J-Lounge

Sleeper Sofa

Originally the plan was to have things installed in April or May, but with COVID, the snow storm in Texas and other parts shortages, the furniture didn’t show up. It wasn’t until late August that we got the call from the vendor saying everything had arrived and we could schedule our install. The drive from Pineola to Elkhart is a little under 700 miles. It will take us at least 3 driving days to cover that distance but after looking over the route and possible stops along the way, we opted to extend it to 4 days with 3 overnight stops before getting into Elkhart.

Our first stop was at Indian Mountain State Park in Jellico Tennessee less than 1/2 mile from the Kentucky border. It’s not a very large campground with only 47 sites but they are full hookup which is unusual for a state park. Coming in on a Friday evening wasn’t the best idea. Most of the sites were already occupied so there were lots of vehicles and kids running around. We managed to get into our site safely without needing to ask anyone to move their car so we could back in. We didn’t really explore the park that night and given we had another 200 miles to travel the following day, we left the next morning reasonably early. So there isn’t much we can say about what this park is like.

The plan for the following day was to drive up I-75 to the Elks Lodge in Florence Kentucky. I have several relatives living in the Cincinnati area just across the Ohio River from northern Kentucky. I called my sister Friday night and asked if she had plans for Saturday. As it turned out she was going to be around and was even planning to make dinner so we got invited over after we settled in at the Elks Lodge. While we were driving, Chris realized there was another Elks Lodge in Newport Kentucky. Neither of the lodges had utilities so we just planned on dry camping and running the generator as required. The second lodge seemed to have a larger parking lot and was closer to where my sister lives so we headed there. It turned out this lodge did have some standard 15 amp outlets on a small shed at the far end of the parking lot and they were fine with us plugging in. This allowed us to keep the batteries charged and the refrigerator going while we were gone. It was nice to catch up with my sister and have a wonderful dinner.

We had another 200 mile driving day on Sunday taking us into Indiana, around Indianapolis and north to the small town of Peru. There is a county fairgrounds here that has camping sites available. We pulled into the place but it wasn’t clear where we should go since it seemed rather deserted. As we were looking around, a man walked over to help us out. He is in charge of the fairgrounds and has a small house on site that he lives in. They have a couple different camping areas scattered around the grounds. He got us parked near the cattle barn which has 50 amp electric and water. There is also a dump station on the other side of the buildings. Not bad for $30 per night and this area is open year round. It would have been a prime spot during the fair, but was nice and quiet while we were here.

Our Spot at Miami County Fairgrounds

On our way to the fairgrounds, we had driven past Grissom Air Force Base and saw there was a museum next to it. We check their website and discover it is open for a few more hours. We had planned to have a late lunch and take it easy, but we are suckers for this type of thing, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat in the car and headed to the museum. It only $7 per person and has a small building with indoor displays and a couple dozen planes in the fenced in grounds. The weather looked questionable so we headed outside first to take advantage of the dry conditions. We managed to see a few of the planes before the rain started. We took advantage of the cover provided by their large wings and scurried back to the museum building to check it out.

Boing B-47B Bomber

Grumman C-1A Trader

KC-97L Stratofreighter

C-119G Flying Boxcar

The rain came down hard enough to hear it on the roof of the museum. We checked out about half of the inside before realizing the rain had stopped so we headed back out.

Women of Air Force Display

Helicopter Controls

Fighter Cockpit

Helicopter

It wasn’t very crowded with maybe ten other people people wandering around. Given the small size of this place, it doesn’t take too long to explore the planes. It’s not as big as other air museums like the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson or the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. Each plane does have an information sign with all sorts of details about it or similar models. It was enjoyable to learn some things and see the planes up close and in person.

B-25J Bomber

A-10A Thunderbolt II

TF-102A Delta Dagger

TB-58A Hustler

Near the southern end of the outdoor displays is a 30 foot observation tower that was used during the Cold War to monitor the base for intrusions. By 1991, the tower was decommissioned and at some later time was moved from the base to the museum grounds. What was neat is visitors are allowed to climb the stairs and walk around the outer platform. It’s possible to look into the enclosed room where the guards could monitor alarms and sensors. It’s a very sturdy tower so Chris had no issues climbing to the top. The other advantage of the tower is the commanding view of the planes at the museum.

Observation Tower

View from Tower

EC-135 Stratotanker from Tower

TA-4J Skyhawk from Tower

We finished up the rest of the outdoor displays and headed into the building to finish up those displays as well. We likely spent 90 minutes total to see it all. We didn’t stay in Peru Indiana long so it’s hard to say if Grissom Air Museum is a “must see” attraction, but we enjoyed our visit.

UH-1H- BF Iroquois "Huey"

F-4C Phantom

F-11F Tiger

Grissom Air Museum

We only had about a 90 mile drive to get into Elkhart from Peru on Monday. So we decided to drive thru Nappanee and stop at Newmar. This is the manufacturer of our motorhome. We have been in the area years ago when we were investigating different brands of rigs. Back then, we took several factory tours to see the manufacturing facility and came to the conclusion that Newmar was top of our list for brands to consider. In the intervening years, they have built a brand new service and parts building with 52 service bays and a campground area next door for service customers. We had heard good things about the place and figured it would be nice to check it out in person. Specifically we wanted to head into the parts department to see if they had a few things we needed. It wasn’t clear where we should park since a passcode is needed for the camping area and there isn’t a great spot to park for 30 minutes while we shop. We asked one of the employees driving a cart around and he pointed to an adjacent lot we could park at.

Newmar Service Center

It’s a beautiful facility and quite a busy place. We have heard that the wait to get a service appointment is nearly 6 months! There is a wonderful customer lounge and it was rather full. Service customers are greeted at 6 AM for their coach to be pulled in for work. In most cases, the rig is pulled back into the camping area by mid-afternoon so the customer can spend the rest of the night. Depending on the work being done, this may take a day or two, or a week or two. We were expecting the parts department to simply be a manned counter that we ask for specific parts. They do have this, but there is also a large store area with hundreds of common parts. We were like kids in a candy store. We found a few things we needed and a couple of things we didn’t realize we wanted but didn’t break the bank in the process. Surprisingly some of the prices of items was cheaper than we could have found them elsewhere. We ate lunch in the parking area and then headed up to Elkhart.

Our destination was Bradd & Hall. This company does a lot of RV interior modifications and upgrades - from furniture and cabinetry to flooring. They work with several RV furniture manufacturers and we had custom sofas made to fit our interior space as well as new captains chairs. The plan was to have them remove the old furniture and install the new first thing the next morning. They have room at their facility for a several rigs and even have four 30 amp power pedestals. We got in before they closed so we were able to go in and check things out. They have a nice showroom with lots of sample furniture as well as some smaller items like footstools and end tables. They originally said they would start the install at 9 AM but we could start as early as 8 so we picked the earlier time to get out sooner.

The next morning they had me pull in the motorhome into the service bay and pull out the fronts slides so they could get to work. The install took a few hours but didn’t run into complications so I guess all our careful measurements paid off. It was nice to not have to deal with getting rid of the old furniture. It looks like they were going to remove the old captains chairs power slide mechanisms but from the looks of things, they simply put old furniture by the side of the road and it just “disappears” within a day or two. The new furniture looks nice, is quite comfortable and most importantly doesn’t have flakes coming off of it. We had put a slack day in our plans in case problems arose and more than one day was needed but we we out of there before lunchtime.

Captains Chairs

J-Lounge

Jackknife Sofa

So we headed over to the Elks Lodge in South Bend Indiana. We knew they permitted RV parking and even have both 30 and 50 amp outlets and water if needed. The only drawback was all of the outlets are close together on the backside of the building, so to get 4 rigs connected to power would require some coordination. We were the only ones there and nobody else showed up later so it wasn’t a real issue. We found a reasonably level spot that had a view of the lodge’s pool. From the looks of things, this pool hasn’t been used in many years but we still had a poolside view!

South Bend Elks Pool

We had lunch and then headed over to the University of Notre Dame not too far from the lodge. We’ve heard the campus is quite pretty and we wanted to check it out for ourselves. We were there 3 days after my alma mater (University of Cincinnati Bearcats) had come to Notre Dame stadium and beaten the Fighting Irish in football. I was tempted to wear a shirt or baseball cap with UC Bearcats logo but decided the students on campus might not appreciate my humor! Chris investigated how parking on campus works since we have found many campuses make finding visitor parking difficult if not impossible. ND has a visitor lot that actually works out well. We used a kiosk to get 3 hours of parking for just a few bucks. From there, we headed about 3 blocks to the Eck Visitor Center to get a map and advice on what should be included for a couple hour tour of campus.

Some of the buildings have COVID regulations that only permit students and faculty to enter, but the majority of the buildings we wanted to visit allowed us to enter. Just behind the visitor center is Hammes Bookstore. We take a quick look inside but didn’t spot anything we needed.

Inside Bookstore

We head north and pass Alumni Hall. It has some interesting gargoyles on the top of the corner tower.

Alumni Hall Tower

Closeup of Gargoyle

We continue up the sidewalks past some other large and old brick buildings heading to the Main Administration Building. It’s possibly the most recognizable building on campus with its gilded gold dome with a statue of Mary bringing the overall height to just under 200 feet.

Edward Sorin Statue - Founder of ND

Approaching Main Administration Building

It’s definitely an impressive looking building when approaching from the south.

Administration Building

Dome Closeup

Side View

We head up the steps and enter the building. Even though there are lots of lights on, it’s a rather dark interior with some dark wall hangings in the entrance hallway. Near the center of the building is a large circular opening with open hallways on the floors overhead.

Below the Dome

Upper Floor Overlooks

Staring up from the center of the opening likely 100 feet overhead is a mural painted on the underside of the dome. It looks to be quite detailed but is hard to crane your head back far enough for a good look - binoculars would have come in handy. We headed up some of the fancy staircases to other floors before heading out. It’s a neat building.

Dome View from First Floor

Closer View of Dome from Third Floor

Just to the west of the administration building is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Completed in 1893, it’s a large and beautiful building. The front bell tower rises to 230 feet.

Glimpse of Basilica Bell Tower

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

We enter from the side door and even it has some intricate stone carvings over the entrance. I always get a sense of awe when entering a big, old church. But this one is unlike any I can remember.

Side Entrance

Stained Glass

Large ornate columns hold up the beautifully painted and curved ceiling. With all the stained glass windows, side vestibules and golden works of art, it seemed like a sensory overload.

Curved Ceilings

Lots of Stained Glass

Huge Ceiling Mural

Another Basilica View

Side Vestibule

We slowly walked around the basilica trying to take it all in. As we worked our way towards the main entrance, the organist started to play the massive organ. The sound was incredible and brought chills to my body. A sister was at the front entrance greeting visitors and answering questions. We asked her about the organ and discovered this one was just installed back in 2016. It consists of 5164 pipes! This building was the highlight of the stop at ND.

Single Stained Glass Panel

Massive Pipe Organ

View from Main Entrance

On the northwest side of the basilica is the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is a scaled down version of French shrine and built in 1896.

Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes

We start to head east across campus to check out the Hesburgh Library. The woman at the visitor center had suggested we head there to check out the view of campus from the upper floors. It took us a bit to find the elevator but eventually did. It’s a 13 story building so we hit the 13 button but nothing happened. Since we hadn’t moved, the door opened and another person entered. We asked if she knew how to get to the top floor, she told us that was the penthouse and cannot be reached by normal people. She pushed the button for the highest floor we could get to and we were off. There are actually very few windows in the building, not very large and quite dirty. The view out wasn’t all that great.

A View from the Library

Due south of the library is Notre Dame Stadium. Make sure to look back towards the library or you’ll miss one of the other highlights of campus. On the south side of the windowless wall is a 134 foot by 68 foot mural call “The Word of Life”. Created in 1964, the mural could be seen from the field of the stadium and has a nickname of “Touchdown Jesus” since the figure of Jesus in the mural has his arms outstretched much like a referee signaling a touchdown.

"Touchdown Jesus!"

View Across Reflecting Pond

The stadium itself is highly revered much like the time we visited Lambeau Field in Green Bay. It isn’t open to the public and it wasn’t clear whether tours are offered with COVID restrictions.

One Entrance to Stadium

Looking Down Towards Field 

Knute Rockne Statue

By now we had spent well over 2 hours wandering around and were getting tired and also needed to head back to the car since we had only paid for 3 hours of parking. We did a slight detour thru a sculpture park but by then we were sort of worn out and didn’t explore it fully. This was a nice stop along the way and killed the extra day we had left in the schedule.

Inside Hayes Sculpture Park

Our next reserved stop was at Charlestown State Park at the far southern end of Indiana just across the Ohio River from Louisville Kentucky. That would be close to a 300 mile drive so we had planned to get thru Indianapolis and stop at the Columbus Indiana Elks Lodge about 200 miles from South Bend. The drive turned out to be fairly easy and we got to the lodge early in the afternoon. We had expected to dry camp and run the generator as needed but when I went in to pay and determine where we should park to be out of the way, we were informed we could park next to the building and have access to the 15 amp outlet on the side of the building. This worked out well for us and since it was early, we headed into downtown Columbus to get a few geocaches and see what it was like.

Our first stop in town was at a covered bridge in Mill Race Park. It is a pretty park with a pond as well. A sign next to the bridge showed the water level during a flood of the nearby creek back in 2008.

Covered Bridge - with high water mark on concrete

Nearby Pond

Next we headed to downtown proper. The county courthouse building is rather nice. Right next to the courthouse is the veterans memorial. It consists of 25 forty foot tall limestone pillars carved with the names of those lost from the county during wars. There is also an interesting modern looking bridge just a couple blocks away that I needed to check out.

County Courthouse Building in Columbus IN

Interesting Veterans Memorial

Closeup of Engraved Pillars

Neat Suspension Bridge

Flatrock River View from Bridge

Often we don’t take the opportunity to explore an area when we are just passing thru and dry camping. Glad we managed to fit a quick tour of town in. Next stop Charlestown State Park for 10 nights of fun.