Newmar Service Center, Nappanee, ID

                                                      Oct 19, 2014

After our 5 day stay in Lansing, MI. for our visit to the MSU Small Animal Clinic, we drove south to the Newmar Service Center in Nappanee, Indiana. We had a couple things that needed to be worked on, so we made reservations a month prior.

The first night we stayed in the overflow section, because we got there after 4PM and the full hook up section was full. We had to be up and the coach ready to go for service by 6 AM the next morning. It was still dark out, when the service man came to our door and took our coach away for a diagnostics day. While our Nest was gone, we found a spot opened in the full hook up section, and placed a "save this spot orange cone" on it. Joe then had to give our service rep. the new site number, so he would know where to park our RV for the night.

After having breakfast at McDonald's, and spending most the day in a very small lounge that allowed dogs, it was time to get our home back. All the RV's are brought back to their sites at 3:00. We found a spot across the road from the service center that Mallery liked to walk for her daily duty. Most of the parking lots at the center are gravel, so it was not to Mallery's liking.

View from the lot across the street to the full hook up camping ground of Newmar Service Center.

After walking Mallery we crossed the street back to the Newmar plant and walked through the gas model chassis stock lot.

Half of Nappanee is comprised of Amish and Mennonites who have businesses, farms, and work in the RV manufacturing industries. I enjoyed the many horse drawn buggies that we saw during our stay in Nappanee.

In  July of this summer the water heater would not work with electricity. We had to turn it on with the propane. Joe tried to fix the problem by changing the water heater element, but to no avail. The diagnosis came back that the circuit board was burned out. This circuit board part needed to be shipped to the service center.

 

In the full hook up campground section of the service center, we were in the last spot at the end of this row. You can see just the front end of our white Honda. There was a large lounge in the building to the left, but dogs were not allowed, and Mallery was with us because dogs are not allowed in the RV's while being worked on.

The next day we slept in until 8:00 because we were tired. Our bus didn't get picked up until 9AM.  Someone told Joe, if you didn't want to get up and be ready at 6AM, they couldn't do much about it, so we just sleep in. After our bus left us we went to McDonald's again and than looked around Nappanee. We found that Nappanee had decorated apples all around town.

There is a annual Apple Festival held here which is probably why they have apples through out the town.

The Apple Festival is held on the 3rd weekend of September for 3 1/2 days. A 7 ft wide, 600 lb apple pie is baked annually.

While downtown we stopped to see the annual Fall Flower Carpet which is created from 7,000 12' Belgian Mums.

I stood on the platform to take this picture of Joe and Mallery.

It takes 12 people working 135 hour over a 4 day period to build the display.

We saw this sign at the local Baptist Church. This scripture is one of my favorites found in Psalm 46:10.

Joe took this picture of the Nappanee Post Office.

This tree in front of the Post Office was created by an artist after the tree came down.

We spent a couple of hours browsing in the Kountry Cabinets and Home Furnishings. The Amish have such high quality workmanship in their furniture and cabinets.

Loved this picture in the store, but I had to pass it up as I don't know where I would put it yet in our home.

Nappanee is a regional center for both the RV manufacturing industry and the Amish craft and tourism industry.
Nappanee holds the distinction of having the longest city name in the United States containing each letter in its name twice.

Back at Newmar I took a picture of this motor home who met it's match with a witch on her broom.

 Amish Acres is located just a mile down the road from the Newmar Service Center. Amish Acres is home to Nappanee's Arts and Crafts Festival. This festival has won many awards. Readers of Sunshine Artist magazine rank the Art and Crafts Festival as the third-best Classic and Contemporary Craft Show in America. The Art festival was also listed at number one in the category of "best attractions for group travel in Indiana" in Travel Trade Magazine. Senior Group Traveler selected the Arts and Craft Festival as one of only seventy "Editor's Choice of Outstanding Festivals and Major Events"; the Art and Craft Festival being the only one chosen from Indiana.

The Round Barn holds plays at the theater at Amish Acres.

Amish Acres also has a restaurant that serves authentic Amish Style cooking.

We decided to eat there the night before we left.

The meals were a bit expensive at $22 each. (Or at least expensive for us)!

 Tom and Rose, a couple we met in the dog lounge at Newmar Service Center showed up and we invited them to our table. They full timed for 10 years and now travel during the summer. Originally from the state of Washington, they purchased a winter home in Lake Havasu.

The food was great, but there is more than we normally eat. Drinks and desert are included, and each table gets to chose two meats choices. There were too many side dishes brought to our table to remember.

We also had the leak we discovered, a week prior to leaving our new home in Boyne City fixed. Our service tech found two running lights above our front window that were cracked allowing moisture in. The lights had been chalked several times, but due to age they needed to be replaced. All of the other running lights were also replaced. Then our bus was run through a building that produced a rain shower of 4 inches per hour to check for complete sealing. We have also had several hard rains since, with no leaks.We spent 4 nights at Newmar, mainly waiting for the water heater part, which was a lot longer than we had planned. While there, we also took turns doing the Newmar factory tour. One day Joe went and the next day I went. Someone had to stay with our Mallery, making it impossible for us to go together. On the tour I learned that anyone is welcome to stay free at this service center, whether you are a Newmar owner or any other RV owner, even if you are just passing through. They must be hoping you will go through the tour and decide to buy a Newmar! The day we left, I woke to find myself extremely dizzy. I went to walk Mallery and bent over and nearly past out. When I went to bed that night, while lying down, and turned my head to the right, my head spinned for what seems like10 seconds or more. This condition has continued now for a month and I am wondering what now!

We are currently in Gulf Shores, AL. for the winter. I haven't blogged for a while as the family is keeping me very busy. Mallery seems to be doing better, as I have put her on 2 different supplements.

Lansing Cottonwood Campground & MSU Small Animal Clinic

                                                Tuesday 10/14/14

After a night at the Gaylord Super-Wal-Mart, we headed further south to Lansing, MI. Most of the drive that day was in the rain.

Thankfully it stopped raining when we arrived at the campground in Lansing for the set up.

Mallery liked this campground. It is funny how she doesn't care for some campgrounds and others she does. Joe and I think it all depends on squirrels. When she had a full time home, she loved running around the yard chasing squirrels up trees. This campground had lots of trees and squirrels. We found a path that took us along a creek.

The path wound along the ponds in the campground also.

On this day Mallery seemed to have lots of energy,

but it was a cold day, and she thrives on cold days when it comes to walking.

Usually it is hard to find campgrounds in larger cities. It was nice to have Lansing Cottonwood Campground right in the middle of the city, since we had to go to MSU the next day.

This is a picture that Joe saw in the registration office. He told me I needed to go inside and see it.

This is what happens when grandparents takes their grand kids camping in a RV, and leave their engine on, while hooking up outside.

The office workers were working on a huge puzzles. Puzzles drive me crazy. I have tried to work on a few in other campgrounds, but it usually causes me anxiety because I can't find a single puzzle piece to fit in the puzzle. I envy anyone who can do these puzzles.

This is a picture of Lansing Cottonwood Campground I found in the office.

Because it was mid October the pool was closed for the season.

The next morning we had a 10:00 AM appointment at the Small Animal Clinic at MSU. After visiting with a Dr. for a while, we had to leave Mallery for 6 hour at the clinic for blood work and special x-rays. Not realizing I was going to have to leave her, I didn't give her medicine that morning. Joe and I ran home which was only 20 minutes away and got her medicine. When I dropped the medicine off at the front desk, I also told them she had not done her morning daily duty, so I was concerned she would be in a small cage stressed for hours unable to relieve herself. They reassured me that their cages were large and they would walk her outside if she needed to take care of business. The day was long, as I told you in a previous blog, and when we came back for our 5PM appointment, we were told Mallery did in deed have a tumor. As we left the clinic, I felt down with the findings from the test. We barely got out the front door and Mallery took care of business on the sidewalk. Nope, I don't think anyone walked my little girl! They were also unable to get her to take her pill, even wrapped in a treat. I figured this would happen, because she usually won't eat unless I am with her.

After doing an internet search on dogs with cancer, I learned they should be fed a high protein and fat diet with no grains. This will slow the growth of the tumors. Dry dog food can not be made without grains or carbs, which is what she has ate her entire life. I had Joe get me some ground beef and chicken at the store. I froze the protein so I could have it available to add to Mallery's regular food. When your dog has cancer, it is very important for them to eat. The cancer changes their metabolism, which is why dogs and people lose fat and muscle so fast. A skinny dog or person has no reserves to provide energy, which they need to fight the cancer.

The appointment at the clinic took a lot out of Mallery. She does not do well away from her pack. She probably also felt the sadness, in our Nest. I recently read that a dog will not know he or she has cancer, but will sense worry or sadness from it's owners. It is important for the dog owner to have a positive attitude so the dog does not become stress. The dog will feel the negative energy which will promote further sickness.

Last Day & On The Road Again

                                                       October 13, 2014

Our last week in Boyne City, it rained, and rained and rained. With that continual rain we found a leak in the log cabin part of our home. Joe put a bucket on the mantle to catch the drip and called one of the contractors we had interviewed a few days prior. Fortunately that contractor was able to come over that day and fix the problem. He got a gold star for his quickness, and he is the number one pick for contractor on our list for the bathroom renovations.

And with all that rain we also found a leak in the motor home. I guess when it rains, sometimes it pours! The day before we left, we moved our bed back into the motor home. Mallery seemed to do fine that night when we left the house and went to bed in the motor home. The next day before we left, I walked Mallery one more time down the alley, and told her she was once again a RV girl!

Joe parked the Honda across the street in Bill's drive, so I could help direct him and the bus out of the drive, past the ditches.

 It was much easier getting out then it was getting in the driveway with the bus. Joe headed down the lake shore road, and I stopped to take one last picture of the lake before I hopped into the Honda to follow him.

Sometimes the lake can be so peaceful!

Goodbye Lake Charlevoix. See you in the spring. We will miss you, but not the cold!

At the city park in Boyne City we hooked up the car. There was no place at the house or closer, that was a good hook up place.

It looked to us that we were leaving just days before the peak of color around the lake. Next year we will stay longer, but we had appointments to keep.

Our first appointment was in Gaylord, MI about an hour SE of Boyne City. I looked at Mallery, as we traveled down the road. She was back to the Full Timing Rver dog she has been for the last 6 years! So glad she adapts so easily.

Joe had found a business in Gaylord that worked on trucks that said they could try to fix our leveling jack. This jack got messed up when we were trying to get our bus into our spot next to the garage at our new house. They had a pit that the bus could be driven over, making it an easier access to get to the leveling jack.  Joe unhooked the car, and I started to move the Honda away from the bus. As I started to pull away, I heard the guy tell Joe that there was no room for error. He said make very slow and small moves with the wheel. I have always been the directing guy who gets Joe and the bus into the camping sites. Joe tends to make large moves with the wheel, and I am always telling him not such big turns. I drove off to a side parking spot and started to pray. Anxiety was kicking in and I imagined Joe moving the wheel too far in one direction and putting a bus wheel in the pit and the bus on it's side. I have noticed since I have had to lower my hormones, I get a lot of anxiety. (Just one of the many problems that I get when my hormones are low). The Lord answered my prays and after what seemed like forever in prayer, I heard the bus making that annoying backing up beeping noise, with the bus emerged from the building that houses the pit. All was well once again. The leveling jack was fixed, and for only $48. What a deal! Joe was told if he had came in the winter, it would have cost twice that, because he would have to pay for the heat that is lost when the door is open to bring the bus in.

Our next stop was just down the road to get some much needed propane for the chilly weather we were experiencing.

While the propane tank was being filled, I noticed across the street, the deciduous trees in full color below the towering pines. Once full of gas, we drove down the street to the Wal-Mart for a good nights sleep. Yes, I know we only traveled an hour from our house, but that is the prerogative of retiree's that carry their home with them. I guess we are just like turtles!