Kalamazoo Nature Center near Kalamazoo, MI

Sunday, July 31, 2016

It is overcast this morning so a little cooler.  We decided it would be a good time to go hiking.  We went to the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

We decided to start with the difficult hike called Rapture Ridge.  It started out easy and beautiful.

We made it to the top and this was the view.  We were disappointed.  The difficult part of the trail was a short steep part to the trail.

There was a stream that meandered through the park.  We crossed it several times.  Above and below are a couple of pictures of the stream.

Along the water's edge at another spot, we saw 2 dragon flies mating.  Tic got them at a cool angle.
 

Afterwards, one of them went to a leaf on the water.

We saw turtles in several places.  Here's two of them.

There was an indoor arboretum.  We went in and Tic was whistling as he usually does.  When these parakeets heard him whistle, they started tweeting in response to him.  If he got quiet, they were quiet.
This is the best picture of the 2 of them together.

This was our adventure for today.   

Kalamazoo, MI

Saturday, July 30, 2016

We finally get to leave Master Tech RV Service and get back on the road.  We are only going about 75 miles north to Kalamazoo, MI to an Outdoor Adventures park named Kalamazoo Resort.  

We have a nice fairly level site.  It rained a lot this morning at this park.  We are glad to be in one of the higher sites.

This evening we decided to take a walk around the park just to look around.

We saw several hibiscus bushes in bloom.  This is just one of them.
 

This is one of two ponds here in the park.
 

 There's a large number of Canadian geese.

There is a really cool looking miniature golf course here.  See both above and below.

More beautiful blooming bushes.

This is a stream of water flowing into the other pond in the park.  You can tell this stream is over its banks.  Even so, none of the roads in the park are flooded or even have large puddles.

The following 3 pictures are of the clouds here as the sun is setting.

Beautiful evening and a lovely walk.  The temperature is now about 70 degrees F and is supposed to get down to 63 degrees tonight.  We are enjoying this cooler weather.  The rain cooled things down.  I think tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and warmer.  It was nice while it was here. 

Master Tech RV Services in Elkhart, IN

Wednesday, July 20 - Friday, July 29, 2016

We came to Master Tech to get our windshield replaced after shattering it a few weeks ago and to have the 3M shield removed from the front of the coach and Diamond Shield put on.

We are able to stay in our coach while the work is being done.  Only downside of that is we need to be out of the coach by 7am.  This is where we are parked in the evenings. We have 50amp and water with a dump on site.

It is a real mess to get this 3M shield off.  Notice the scratches on the left middle of the picture.  They scratched it in many places.  They originally told us it would take about 8-12 hours to remove and it took them 4.5 days.

This is a beautiful sunrise we got a picture of one morning.

For our first time, we tried Steak 'n Shake for lunch one day!  

Here's one of the beautiful sunsets we've seen.

We had to have the front repainted.  Here's the new paint job.
The windshield still has not been put in.

They are finally starting to put the Diamond Shield on the front.

Here shows the dramatic difference between Diamond Shield and none.

Finally a week after the new windshield arrived the damaged windshield is being removed.

It was quite a process.  The windshield kept cracking.  All the yellow tape is over cracks.  It is finally out.  Next they cleaned the seals in preparation for the new windshield.

New windshield up and being fitted into place.

The installation process was interesting to watch.

Finally about 5pm, they had finished everything and moved us back outside.  The front looks GREAT!  We don't have a scar on the front curb side any more either. 
       We are looking forward to getting on the road tomorrow.  We have been here 10 days.  While we could sleep in the coach and had 50amp service, it was stressful to have to have the coach ready to move everyday by 7am.  Glad we are done!


 

Shipshewana, IN

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

We were advised to get to the Shipshewana Flea Market if at all possible.  We found out that it was open only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so decided we needed to get there today. (We absolutely won't be here next Wednesday! I'm ready to leave).

The flea market opened at 8am.  We didn't make it there until just before 10am.  It was HUGE.  Below are pictures of the typical booths we saw.

Goose clothes???? Now I've seen everything!  MAYBE!
 

Well after 2.5 hrs of looking around in the heat, we decided we had enough and left.  But not until Dusty bought 2 summer dresses and a sports top.

We were also told we needed to go see Davis Mercantile in Shipshewana.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  We found it in downtown Shipshewana.  If you had not seen in previous posts, we are in Amish country.

 Parking places for the Amish buggies were everywhere.  

 This cute building is the back side of the Davis Mercantile.

There are 3 floors to the Davis Mercantile.  It has several various kinds of shops on each floor.  All the floors are this beautiful wood.  This store had quite a number of family type statues.
 

The 3rd floor had this beautiful carrousel!

What a fun time!  However it was time to get back to MasterTechRV and check on the progress.  You know the squeaky wheel gets the grease.