A place where old customs meet the modern world. Shipshewana is a charming small town in Indiana that is home to one of the largest Amish populations in the U.S. Before you get to the town, you see signs to be cautious of horse and carriage buggies on the road. It doesn’t take long for you to start seeing them all over.
This past summer we visited Shipshewana because we attend the Keystone Cougar Rally here. Our rig, distinguished below with the arrow, backed right up to the famous Flea Market. The flea market has over 700, (yes I wrote that correctly) vendors selling everything that you can think of. We easily spent 4 hours walking around and spending money here for those important things that we can’t live without.
From our campsite, we could watch a welder working on his art that he sells at the flea market.
What do you do at a Rally?
From our experience, you meet a lot of new people with a common interest. You can also take classes to learn things about the Cougar rigs, you play games, and you eat a lot of food.
When we checked in, we were given a Keystone insulated bag full of goodies that we could use. From T-shirts to coffee and stickers and coupons, it was quite a stash.
This was our first night at dinner. Kasey Findley, the rep from Cougar, organized the catered barbecue, and it was so good.
We went over to the Keystone Cougar plant for classes about our rigs. My favorite teacher, Bart Taylor, was there again to make learning fun and not dull.
Bart is teaching us about the slide box.
After a couple hours of classes that flew by, we were given lunch organized by Kasey again and she knocked it out of the park with Mission Barbecue. It was so good!
During our break, we were allowed to walk into the rigs that they had on premiere. This one was my favorite but for our lifestyle it wouldn’t work for us.
This 5th wheel is gorgeous and check out the patriotic wrap on it. Maybe that is why it is my favorite.
After lunch, we had a factory tour led by one of the team lead workers that know all the ins and outs of constructing an RV.
It never occured to me that every sticker that is on your rig is placed by hand. If you have ever had to replace a sticker of a vehicle/motorcycle, you know that it is very hard to get it in the correct place and not crooked. Have you seen how many stickers are on you RV?
At the end of our classes, I had to tell Bart how much I enjoy his comedic relief during our class and he was gracious enough to take a photo with me.
For those that were interested in doing a basket exchange, we did this the second night. I had been collecting things around the country knowing that I was going to participate since I didn’t do it last year. My basket wasn’t as exstavagent as many of the baskets, but I enjoyed the process of collecting from many different Harvent Hosts around the country.
There were well over 100 baskets made.
I received an amazing backet from the state of Kentucky from my new friend Doris Webb. It had 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of whiskey, T-shirt, spices, wine glasses, and hats. Doris was so excited to share the contents she came over to explain everything.
We took part in the corn hole competition and didn’t do very well but we had fun. There was also horseshoe competition.
One of our members Michael Helgeson played live music for us one night and fun was had by all.
In the evenings, we could gather as a large group around a campfire, but in my opinion it was too hot. A few us us gathered at our own sites and enjoyed the sunset.
One night we even had a roasted pig, what a treat to be fed by Dale Thornton who cooks for those in need all over the country.
Blue Gate Theatre
The night before we started the rally, we went into town to catch a show. It seemed that it was appropriate for us because the show’s summary was that Ned and Nancy from Fresno, CA go on a roadtrip across America in their RV. Well since we are from the Fresno area, we thought this could be fun. The show was a musical and was quite funny for the most part. There were parts that were somber that I didn’t really care for but for the overall experience it was quite enjoyable. When we purchased our tickets, we had the opportunity to have dinner before the show, but we chose not to do that this time. So be sure to check out the Blue Gate Theatre.
We enjoyed our own dinner and a show before heading to the theatre.
I can’t get enough of watching these guys.
Menno-Hof Museum
We actually stayed here as a Harvest Host the night before checking in for the rally. The museum is a fascinating museum that teaches you about faith and life of the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterites through multimedia presentations. The cost to visit the museum is $9.50 and in my opinion, it is well worth the money if you’re interested in learning about the history of these fascinating people.
In our off time, we went on a tour of the area. The travel center suggested doing an audio tour called “Off the Beaten Path”. It took us a good couple of hours, because we stopped in La Grange to have lunch which was about half way through the tour. They actually had a whiskey tasting which of course we had to try.
So if you have never been to a rally regardless of the company, I highly recommend it. We have met some really great people that have become really good friends through rallies. Thanks so much for joining us. Stayed tuned as we spent time in the windy city. Please hit the subscribe button to follow our travels.
Welcome back and welcome to Indiana! Thanks for joining us, as we explore the area for a couple of weeks. We are a husband-and-wife team that travels the country in our Keystone Cougar 2100 RKS, and we love to explore new places. This blog highlights the Crawford, Indiana area and we were introduced to a native noisy creature.
As we were traveling along our way to Crawford, we found the Nestle Bunny at the Nestle Plant.
We found our way to Crawford KOA for two nights. We did learn about a new creature called a Cicada.
These little creatures make sooooo much noise. Oh my goodness!
Lane Place
While we were in town, we visited Lane Place in Crawford, Indiana. The beautiful house belongs to the Montgomery County Historical Society. The house started with a 3 room cabin in 1830 and in 1845 the front part of the house was built in 1845 when Henry Smith and Joanna Elston Lane were married. The house went through many renovations over the years
The reconstructed Speed Cabin is also on the Lane grounds.
The house next door is being renovated by the local chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.
Wabash College
While driving around this beautiful town, we stumbled upon another college.
This college was founded in 1832 and is a private men’s college. The campus is 65 beautifully wooded acres.
This is the local courthouse.
Stay tuned as we head to Illinoise and fly back to California. Please like and hit the subscribe button.
Thanks for joining us, and welcome to Indiana as we explore the area for a couple of weeks. We are a husband-and-wife team that travels the country in our Keystone Cougar 2100 RKS, and we love to explore new places. The drive into Indianapolis was nuts because there was so much construction going on, but the skyline was nice.
Today we begin with visiting the RV Hall of Fame and museum in Elkhart, IN. My husband has been dying to come here!
Fun Fact: This is a Harvest Host. The only thing you pay for is your admission to the museum unless you want power which we did because it was hot.
It is a beautiful campus!
Their “mission is to recognize, preserve, and honor the history, pioneers, and individuals who have been instrumental in making the Recreational Vehicle and Manufactured Housing industries what they are today.” I think they have done a really good job in showcasing RV’s throughout the years. We spent about 3 hours walking around.
The highlight of the museum for Andrew was seeing the KYD bus. Backstory, we follow an RV couple call KYD (Keep Your Daydream) and they bought a 1984 Blue Bird Wanderlodge in 2021. In July of 21 they embarked on an epic adventure of traveling route 66 in the bird. They then ended in Santa Monica and drove back to Indiana and the bird was inducted in the RV Hall of Fame in March of 2022.
See the joy on this man’s face!!!
He was so giddy that he sat where Mark had sat.
They even have a model on how RV’s are made. This was really cool to see. Keep reading and you can see it in the Cougar manufacturing plant later in this blog.
So if you like RV’s and want to learn about the evolution of the RV industry, this is the place to go. I highly recommend it. Check out their website at https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/
Keystone Cougar rally
The next day we headed over to Shipshewana, Indiana for our Cougar Rally. This was our first rally and didn’t quite know what to expect. It was a great experience even with about 125 rigs there.
Where the red arrow is where our rig is.We even had women’s driving school. It was such a good experience.
The rally had so many events scheduled, and we met so many people. We all met up for dinner each night and had a grand time. Each night was a theme with food and entertainment as well as a basket exchange for those that wanted to participate. During the day, we had class and events as well as a factory tour.
Here is one of the dinners.
Can you guess what the theme was this night?
Keystone Cougar Plant
This is one of the seminars at the Keystone Cougar assembly plants.We got to see how our rigs were made. I’m not gonna lie, this was soooo cool!!!
Shipshewana
We entered the city where the old and the new converge together. Where automobiles share the roads with Amish buggies. I have always loved the way of the Amish, so to get to experience a little touch of it was awesome.
The Amish working the fields without machinery.Beautiful pond in town outside the Blue Gate Restaurant and Bakery.The food was good but I was surprised by it. It didn’t taste fresh, but rather from a box or can.
We did go into the bakery after lunch and purchase some baked goods and some peanut butter.
Stay tuned as we venture into Ohio to visit with old friends and see the sights of Ohio.
Our last day in Ohio was at a Boondockers Welcome. We came in during a rain storm but we had an absolutely wonderful stay.
I try to capture each state sign but it is not always there, I only get this from the GPS. We stopped at a rest stop in Green Forks, Indiana and spotted this really cool seal on the floor. It was a very clean stop.
We only stayed in Indiana one night. We stayed at the Crawfordsville KOA Journey https://koa.com/campgrounds/crawfordsville/. It was raining when we came in but we got out between storms to take some pictures.
It was a nice big park even with all the puddles.
Our site was nice but we didn’t even unhook in the rain.
A nice play area for the kids when the weather is nice.
A big dog run for your fur babies of all sizes.
They even had these small camping cabins if you are traveling and don’t have a tent or an RV. Neat way to “get out there” and significantly cheaper than a hotel.
I thought this was left out from Halloween, but I think they keep this up all year long. It was kind of funny and made me laugh.
Illinois
We headed to Springfield, Illinois and stayed at Double J Campground. This was a perfect location to see everything in the area.
This wagon is along historic Route 66 and it is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest covered wagon in the world. A statue of Abe Lincoln reading a law book sits in the huge wooden wagon, which stands 24 feet tall. Its a 5-10 min. stop and a great place to let the kids out to stretch their legs.
Double J Campground
This was a very big campground that had something for everyone. They have RV sites and tent sites.
Nice big showers!
So it was good to know where to go in the event of a Tornado.
The restroom was very clean and updated/
A great big playground for the kids to play.We had ladder ball and a big chest set in the grass.As well as a volleyball net.Inside the covered area high stakes ping-pong ensued. I won’t say who won, but the winner is NOT in this picture!Horseshoes anyone?Mini-golfThe campsite itself was nice and big with a picnic table and fire pit for those that like to smell like smoke. Don’t get me wrong, I love campfires but I don’t like smelling like one.
If your planning to visit Springfield, Ill. or just want to enjoy a vacation in the campground, this is definitely the place to stay. For just $62 a day we thought this was a great gem. If your interested in Lincoln stay with us as we explore all things Lincoln.
Lincoln Home National Historical Site
Our first day into Springfield, we went to the Lincoln Home National Historical Site. We started off with a self guided tour through the park walking in Lincoln’s steps. We got a sense of who his neighbors were and what life was like in 1860’s. We went back the next day to get a tour of the Lincoln home. Be advised that school groups fill up the tours during the school year.
The house sits on the corner of 8th and Jackson Street. The original house that you see from the front was built as a one and a half story house with 5 rooms in 1839. In 1844 the young Lincoln family moved in. In 1846 the first remodeling of the home occurred. The Lincolns added a bedroom and a pantry to the back of the home, and the kitchen was removed from the back of the house and shifted over several feet to its present location. Between 1849 and 1850 another remodel happened, stoves were installed in the parlor rooms, the brick retaining wall in front of the home was constructed, and the front walk was bricked over, replacing the wooden sidewalk. As the family grew another renovation was done between 1855 and 1856 the front of the home was raised from one-and-a-half stories to two full stories. The bedroom was moved to the upstairs portion of the home, allowing for the creation of the rear parlor. Wood folding doors were added to the parlor at this time and the front parlor windows were permanently closed. The rest of the home was raised to two full stories allowing for the present 12 room nearly 3,000 sq. ft. home. The Lincolns lived in this house until they left for the White House in 1861 and never returned due to the memories that they had created here.
The Lincoln’s entertained their guest in the parlor, it is considered the most formal room of the house. This is the same room that Lincoln was formally notified of his presidential nomination.
The living room where the family spent time together and the children played.The dining room was much smaller than I expected. I don’t know how they did it.Mary spent many hours managing the household and raising children. Mary oversaw the activities that made this a well-run and inviting home. First impression is that the kitchen was small and I don’t know how she cooked for 5 in such a small space.
Lincoln’s bed was very simple like the man himself.
His tiny little desk that he wrote many a documents from. I don’t know how he sat at this.
His closet.
Mary Todd Lincoln’s room. Her dresser she brought with her from her childhood home.The Lincoln boys bedroom where Tad and Willie shared a room.Mrs. Lincoln had 1 hired girl to help out around the house. Notice the walls do not have wall paper on them. And the floorboard were original to the house.
We traveled the 22 miles out of town to explore the reconstructed New Salem village where Lincoln lived and worked as a young man from 1831-1837. Lincoln came to New Salem by flatboat.
The village features twenty -three historically furnished buildings.
I was amazed that the fire places were made from wood and not rock. I would have thought this would have been a fire hazard.
This is the home of Isaac and Elizabeth Gulihur. They lived in this cabin after getting married in 1831.
This is the Johnston residence. Robert made and repaired spinning wheels, wagon wheels, and did a lot of cabinetry.
This is the First Berry-Lincoln store. James and Rowan Herndon arrived in the spring of 1831, built a store and opened it that fall. In the summer of 1832, James sold his interest in the store to William Berry. Rowan was not happy working with Berry and later sold his interest in the store to Lincoln. When a larger and better stocked store became available across the street, they moved their business there in Jan. 1833 on a promissory note which meant no money was exchanged because Lincoln and Berry and no money.
New Salem was a wonderful way to walk in Lincoln shoes. We took lunch with us and had a nice picnic before wondering around the grounds. If you like history, this will not disappoint at all .
The Lincoln Museum
Oh my goodness, let me just say that this is the best museum that I have ever been into. The cost of admission was a mere $15 and worth every penny. When you first enter, you see the Lincoln cabin on the left and the white house on the right with the Lincoln family in the middle.
Our first stop, curtesy of the museum docent was the holographic show “Ghosts of the Museum” and the special effects theatres will entertain, educate and mesmerize you with ghostly images, live actors and high action. It was amazing. You couldn’t tell what was holographic vs what was real. I couldn’t tell if it was a real person or a holograph. We then proceeded through Lincoln’s cabin.
The attention to detail, was amazing. There were forest noises as well as the dog snoring here sleeping at Lincoln’s feet.We then proceeded to the slave market exhibit.This exhibit depicts Lincoln during his time in New Salem while working in the store that you read about above. All of the figures looked so real!
The Lincoln’s were very lax with raising their children. They loved their children so much that they pretty much got away with anything. This next scene is a day that Mr. Lincoln took his boys to work with him and they are very rambunctious. When you enter this room, you can hear the boys yelling, screaming and laughing.
Lincoln’s law partner William Herndon said that Lincoln “worshipped his children and what they worshipped; he loved what they loved and hated what they hated.” Notice the ink on the wall!
The third oldest child was William Wallace Lincoln. The young Lincoln child died while living in the Whitehouse from typhoid fever. This next picture shows the Lincolns leaving a party downstairs as young William lays in his bed.
You can feel the turmoil that the parents were feeling. A happy occasion downstairs, and a somber room upstairs.The cabinet room that the Emancipation Proclamation was first shown to his cabinet.
The war room was an amazing depiction of the war room during the civil war. An interactive map shows where the war lines were, how they moved, and dates and amounts of casualties during any one battle. I wish I would have gotten a picture but was so enthralled with the whole 10 min. display. It truly is a teachers dream and wished this was made available to teachers. It brings the whole thing to life.
John Wilkes Booth sneaking into the Lincoln viewing box.
The depiction of Ford’s theatre with the Lincoln’s box seats
This picture was taken April 24, 1864, in New York City. Only 1 picture exists of this great president after he was assassinated. Mrs. Lincoln thought is was highly disrespectful to Lincoln’s memory. Secretary of State Edwin Stanton ordered all the plates and negatives to be confiscated and destroyed. Many years later after Mr. Stanton had passed, his son found the single picture and mailed it to Lincoln’s old secretary of state John Nicolay in 1887. It remained hidden until 1952 when it was found in the Illinois State Historical Library manuscript collection.
This somber room makes you feel as if you are viewing Mr. Lincoln during his funeral. The room is dark and quiet with somber music quietly playing. Nobody is speaking in this room. It is very eerie.
If you only have time for 1 main Lincoln things, the Museum is a MUST! You can spend several hours there with so much to read. Another must see is the Lincoln Tomb
As you have read in past blogs, I love cemeteries. I love seeing how old they are and to pay respects to those that have passed young and from what diseased plagued the area of the time.
With that said, I was not prepared for this presidential tomb. This tomb sits up on a hill in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The Lincoln Tomb was formally dedicated on October 15, 1874. The obelisk is 117 feet high, with a full length statue of Lincoln at the center. On the corners are Infantry and Cavalry statues . It is really a sight to see.
After his funeral and burial services, his coffin was placed in a receiving vault for seven months.
The burial site sits in the middle of the building. As you walk along the corridor that is marked with statues and quotes , you will find yourself in the middle burial room. President Lincoln is approximal 30 inches behind and 7 inches below the seven ton block of marble.
Across the walkway is the resting place for the rest of the family with the exception of Robert Todd Lincoln who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Side note, we did find the first recorded burial plot in the cemetery. Believe it or not, the deceased passed from teething, of all things.
In today’s world it would be unheard of to have a colored section. There are slaves, Lincoln’s boot maker and friend, a conductor in the underground railroad are all buried in this section.
Sites around town
This building was built in 1840-41. Lincoln moved into it in 1843 with his law partner, Stephen T. Logan. The partnership dissolved in 1843 and he took William H. Herndon as his junior partner. They moved to another location in 1855 and their partnership disintegrated with Lincoln’s death. The Lincoln law firm occupied several different locations in the area, but this is the only site that still stands.
This building built in 1852 is currently a law office and holds so much history. This is where Lincoln left for the White House. In 1868 it was closed to train passenger when a new station opened up. In 1968 a fire destroyed a freight wing and was remodeled in 2012-13.
Stayed tuned for more in Springfield and so much more. Please hit the subscribe button if you like what you’re reading!!!
