2018 Great Lake States - Indiana, Elkhart & Brown County S.P.

2018 Great Lakes Trip – Indiana, Elkhart & Brown County S.P.

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x9nxxNEYLAdqDmN36

Sunday September 2^nd – Wednesday, September 5^th

Elkhart 4-H Fairgrounds Campground, Goshen, IN

Heading south out of Michigan, we had decided to stop in the Elkhart Indiana area. This place is the capital of RV manufacturing. These manufacturers all conduct factory tours. We visited both Keystone and Jayco to watch their processes and to ask questions. Our RV is now 6 years old, and we’ve played real hard with it. We are looking into possibly getting a new RV for our future travels. Keystone has a new line of toy haulers that we are looking into and we watched some being built. These new RVs have so much newer technology and we are ready for an upgrade. 

We camped at the Elkhart 4-H Fairgrounds. They have an enormous area for RVs and at that time there were very few RVs there. Our site was right next to the poultry and rabbits barn. The dogs were able to run free off leash for some freedom. The campground was very comfortable and had all necessary facilities. Kurt rode his bike one day along a paved recreation trail that wandered through the towns and farmlands. He truly enjoyed that ride.

We found that this area is also thriving. There were various kinds of manufacturing plants all around the area and “Now Hiring” signs at all types of businesses.  The town of Goshen seemed to be the nicest town in the area and looks to be growing. This area is also surrounded by farmlands, as you would expect in the Midwest. We enjoyed our four days there.

Thursday September 6^th – Tuesday, September 11^th

Brown County State Park, Nashville, IN

Next stop was Brown County S.P., where we had visited in June on our way north. We thought we could try again to get in some mountain biking, since it rained some of the days there previously. We drove south of Indianapolis to this park. The weather forecast did include a couple of rain days, as the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon would be passing through the area. The trails were in decent shape to ride the first day there, but it did start raining on us at the end of our rides. Then the next two full days we spent in pouring rain. We were stuck in the camper most of the time, if the wind wasn’t so bad to sit out under the awning. Even the dogs were getting cabin (RV) fever, we all wanted to get outside.

We waited a couple of days for the trails to dry out. After that the riding was fun, but still some muddy, wet areas. I also explored a historic log cabin, which is now being used as a picnic area. The last day there, we went into the nearby town of Nashville. There is an excellent Mexican restaurant there, where we enjoyed lunch. We did walk around town some and browsed the little shops. If we ever travel through Indiana, we will definitely stop at this great state park.

Now on to Ohio!