Tuesday, June 18, 2013

RV Factories and Amish Buggies

(Elkhart, IN) Hi 75 Lo 63 – We’re trying to get used to the time difference. It surprises us a one hour change can make such a difference. It wasn't a problem when we were younger. :)

We got a facebook message from Roland, one of the  Facebook followers, told us he and his wife Nancy are parked right in front of us just across the street. We met with them this morning. They entertained us with stories of their trip to Alaska a few years ago. They’re leaving in the morning for Ohio. It's so great meeting new friends.
2013-06-18 nancy  roland ballows met at elkhart cg

We left after lunch to drive around. Everywhere you go in this area there's an RV. They're either driven or pulled by an owner, or coming out of one of the many the RV factories and on the way to dealers. All kinds of RV's. All the storage lots for the factories are full, and it's so great to see so much inventory. It sure looks busier around here than two years ago when we were here last.

We had a few things to get done today. First was lunch. Jim's been craving chicken wings for about a week, so he found a Buffalo Wild Wings nearby. We both love their wings. We then went to Millersburg to check out the closed down Carriage factory. It was so sad to see the place our RV was built all desolate and overgrown with weeds. (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

This was the office for the courtesy RV park that was behind the factory.
2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (5)

The RV sites with full hookups are now all overgrown with weeds. We spent a week in this park a couple of years ago while getting some warranty work done.
2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (4)

Factory buildings all empty and shuttered.
2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (6)

2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (1)

2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (2)

2013-06-1 closed carriage factory (3)

It's so sad that a company that built such a quality product had to go under due to financial mismanagement. We sure love our Carriage product, and would not hesitate to buy another one on the used market.

We're having some service work done next Monday at Fox RV in Middlebury. We drove by to check out their location and met the owner, Larry Fox. Fox RV did a lot of the warranty work for Carriage, Inc. before they went under, so he really knows all about Carriages and Cameos. He made us feel very comfortable about entrusting him with our home.

When driving around this area you have to be careful of the Amish horse and buggies. They have the same rights on the road as motorized vehicles so you have to be very careful when passing them. Here's two in front of us, and one coming at us from the other direction on a hill.

2013-06-18 buggies in Middbury IN (2)

We had to make a stop at our favorite bakery, Rise and Roll in Middlebury. We picked up some of their wonderful donuts for breakfast tomorrow (if we don't eat them tonight, that is). It's the best place in the world to get donuts. They also have meats, cheeses, jams and jellies.

We came home and had dinner, then settled in for the evening.

6 comments:

Rod Ivers said...

I'm afraid that would be too depressing for me to go to the closed down factory...

Why turn back East when there is the whole other half of the country out on the West side of the big river???

Maybe Colorado or something.... They'll put the fires out here in a couple of weeks......

Jeannie and Eldy said...

You are in our hometown. Love it! It's always fun to see it through someone else's eyes. :-)

Gypsy said...

I think it is sad when any American manufacturer goes out of business, especially the ones that built a quality product.

Tom and Marci said...

We LOVE the Rise-n-Roll!!!

Bob and Jo said...

Really sad, we visited just before Carriage closed. Love that bakery.

Speedy said...

We have had the worst weather here in Amarillo so we left today and drove to Santa Fe. It was nice here today. No rain or hail storms to contend with.

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