Wednesday June 10, 2009-Heartland rally, Goshen

We woke to cool temperatures of 55 degrees. Many of us were soon in sweats or jackets to keep warm. Our friends Rick and Blanca, from Detroit Mich. prepared breakfast of pancakes for the surrounding trailers including us. Rick fixed the pancakes with fresh fruit in them and had some home made syrup. Very tasty....

I went to the Dish Network store on the other side of town to get a replacement part for the LNB holder that had broken yesterday. I had taped it up but it didn't hold and let the receiver drop down, losing our connection. I called the store and was told that they had the part I needed but when I got there it turned out to be the wrong part. I had to come back home to get the broken part to match it up. Once I got the correct part, we were back in business.

The Bobcat (Bob Curry) rode with me to the Dish store. He bought some parts to put his system into service, so it was a good trip for both of us. It was a good time to just drive over with Bob.

When I got back and got the cable up and running, we went over to Shipshewanna to a large flea market. We had lunch at a restaurant there and stayed at the market most of the afternoon. Many of the people working at the flea market and restaurant are dressed as Amish. None of us asked them if they were in fact Amish because we did not want to offend them about their religion. I know that they do not want to be asked to pose for pictures and most seem very shy.

After visiting the flea market, we wanted to shop for some handmade quilts that were for sale in the area. We ended up at a store called Laura's that was run by a man named Lavern Kauffman. Bill talked to him quite a bit and learned that he has worked for Keystone (Montana) for about 9 years and has built a scale model of an RV plant. He has many beautiful wooden pieces in his store and a large rack of quilts, but they are also very expensive. We looked at one that was priced at $1,200 but it is very large and very detailed. Lavern said the craftswoman had worked over 1100 hours on the quilt, so the price is not all that bad for the work involved. It is still out of our price range but it is pretty.

The only thing we bought was some food. We bought home made bread, peanut butter and cookies and returned home ready for some good snacks. Tom and I took one of the golf carts to look at a new Landmark Augusta with the full body paint and a new Ford F-550 that were on display near the hall. When I drove tom back home, I saw the truck that forum member PMM Jarrett had built. We stopped for a few minutes and visited with him before I came back down home.

We sat outside until almost 11 o'clock, chatting and visiting with our friends. It stays light until after 10, so it makes sitting out late very easy to do.

Another good day at the beginning of the Heartland rally.