Wednesday, August 17, 2011

More Factory Tours

(Millersburg, IN) Hi 82 Lo 64 --  Another early start to the day. Yesterday Jim called DRV (formerly Doubletree RV) and reserved a spot for today's factory tour at Howe, IN. It was about 40 minutes away so we left at 9am to make it in plenty of time for the 10am tour.


DRV makes three lines of luxury fifth wheels, Select Suite, Mobile Suite, and Elite Suite. We were the only ones that came for the tour, so it was very personalized. No pictures were allowed during the tour. It was very up close and personal, and we even got to interact with the workers. They're currently building only 10 units a week (compared to about 20 for Carriage) and, like Carriage they build to fill orders, not to build inventory. We were very impressed with the quality and attention to detail on the assembly line. They build beautiful units, and if we couldn't own a Carriage, we'd certainly choose a Mobile Suite. I fell in love with the Mobile Suite 36RSSB3. The tour was two hours long and very detailed.

We were both starved when we left there so we went to one of our favorite places for lunch, Rise and Roll Bakery in Middlebury. They make great sub sandwiches, and then for dessert we each had one of their fabulous donuts. Jim says eating their donuts is like a cloud in your mouth. :) We'll visit there at least once more before we leave the area.

Right across the street from the baker is Forks RV, Inc, makers of the custom-built Continental Coach line of fifth wheels, and on a whim we stopped there to see if we could get a tour. They welcomed us warmly, and Dan, the Vice President of Sales & Marketing, spent over an hour showing us around. They consult with their customers and help them design the perfect floorplan and then build the unit entirely to their specifications. They're one of only a few companies that do that (New Horizons, Travel Units, and Space Craft are three that I can think of). The units they build are big (36' to 52'), very heavy (wood frame construction), and very expensive! Their units are at another level of quality. They only built about 36 units a year, and that includes fifth wheel RVs for full timers, fivers and trailers for Hollywood (for movie sets), and other commercial type rigs.

From there we went to a nearby cheese factory, about two miles out in the fields. We could look through a window and watch them make the cheese. There wasn't much going on at the time we were there, but we did buy some cheese. It wasn't as good as the cheese we got in Wisconsin, but it was pretty good.














We came back to the RV and mingled with some of our neighbors that will be leaving tomorrow. We met the president of the Carriage Owners' Club. He's here working with the factory managers on some deals for the club. It was great hearing all about the club and where they go for rallies and the chapter meetings.

We had a light dinner and settled in for the evening.  We'll do errands tomorrow and work on getting more of our winter travels planned out.

9 comments:

Jim and Sandie said...

You definitely are keeping busy. And learning lots about fivers.

A couple of newer paintings 2019 said...

Busy day! It's so interesting to watch RVs being built!

Rick and Elaine NB said...

I always try to leave your blog to my end of day reading..you two cover so much territory and have so much energy I'm ready for bed after reading it..lol wish I had your energy my dear!!
hugs
Elaine

KarenInTheWoods said...

ahhhh if you like that Wisconsin Cheese so much, you can just come back to visit again~!

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Margie and Roger said...

Terrific! You are going to only be 43 miles from us this winter! That is a really nice looking park - I think you are really going to enjoy it. We can 'meet in the middle' for lunch!

Dave and Maxine- Wandering Wingers said...

Taking all of the factory tours is a lot of fun. Seeing how different manufactures process their units is interesting. Having all the Amish food to choose from is just icing on the cake.

Diane and Rich said...

this past June, we were camping at River Plantation RV Park in Sevierville, Tn and there was a DRV rally being held there. Was the first time we had seen this brand of 5th wheels. What was most interesting were the large trucks that a lot of the units were being towed with. We saw license plates on the units from all over the country.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Nice to see there are a few factories still left in the USA.

I think you visited both of them. ;c)

Tom and Marci said...

cloud in your mouth . . . what an accurate description!

We went to the Rise N Roll when we were staying in Middlebury at the beginning of July -- it was our first time there - YUM!

We like Guggisberg, too . . . Bryce liked their creamery cheese . . . he wants to go back for more!

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