Fall Foliage 2013 part three. At Shipshewana.

At 8 am we called the KZ factory in Shipshewana, IN. and told them we were on our way there for the upcoming rally, but first we needed some repairs made.  We got directions and when we pulled up to the maintenance facility we found RV's in various states of repair and crews busily working on them, but the service manger, Marty Yoder, stopped what he was doing and personally fixed our immediate problem, the water leak.

This trailer was getting a new floor.  It a little unnerving to see the top portion suspended from a hoist while the chassis was on the floor waiting for new plywood subfloor.

Our other issues, mostly maintenance and hail damage repair, would require a full day, so he offered to park our rig at the corporate headquarters building, where there are hookups, and we could stay there overnight.  We drove into town, and did a little shopping, and when we returned the trailer was parked as promised.

There are hookups behind the corporate office for for the VIPs like us. 

The next morning, at 5 am, employees were arriving to go to work, so we struggled out of bed, gave them the go ahead to work on our trailer and went to town for breakfast.  By 3 pm it was finished. Amazing!

The Rally didn't start for another day or so, so we took some time to drive to Lake Michigan and see a few sights along the way.  For starters, they heard I was coming, so they had put up a sign.

They welcomed me with open arms.

And gave me my own brewery!

The whole thing was surreal.  I still can't believe it!

Anyway, we made it to Lake Michigan and back.  The Rally started on Friday and we had another day to spend, so we went to the local flea market/auction.  The flea market was like most others, but the auction was absolute chaos.  Inside a huge metal building were thousands of pieces of junk (AKA antiques) being sold at auction by 8 auctioneers....at the same time!  It was deafening, and a great excersise in focusing and self control.  I had to be very careful not to make any strange gestures or else I might have bought the old canner and all sixteen jars that came with it, or who knows what!

This was Amish Country, so we had to watch out for the horses and buggies and bicycles.  We visited the Menno Hof, which is a facility to educate and tell the story of the Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites, many of which are located in this region. The buggies these days are equipped with front and rear flashers and turn signals for nighttime travel. 

At the Shipshewana North Campground we finally got to set up a camp for a few days.  In case you were wondering, Shipshewana was an Indian chief in this area when it was being settled by the white men. The town was named after him.