Small Towns - Indiana

Took a cruise through some of the Amish farmland today, visiting the towns of Benton, Millersburg, Topeka, Ligonier and Syracuse.  Most of these towns are closed up tight for Sunday afternoon, but we had a pleasant 84 mile trip through some of the most well kept farms in the nation, I believe.

Our first intended stop was in Millersburg, at the site of the former Carriage RV Manufacturing facility. Some of you may know that we have had a variety of fifth wheel trailers over the years, and probably would still if we hadn't had structural issues with the last one, a Carriage Cameo.  The Cameo was a well appointed unit, with nice features like a fireplace and comfortable seating.  However, ours developed some structural issues that would have been prohibitive to have repaired, so we sold it and bought our first motorhome. We still have fond memories of "Carlotta" the Cameo, as it was to be our retirement rv, and was outfitted with every convenience known. With that in mind, we located the location of the Carriage plant in Millersburg, knowing that Carriage had gone out of business during the economic meltdown, but still wanting to see where Carlotta had been born.

Articles in the trade magazines tell of the property being subdivided and sold, with the intent to form a business park environment. Let's hope so.  Carriage had an immense facility, with 440,000 sq ft under roof in over eleven buildings. The site included a full service rv park and visitors center with regular tours of the plant. The site has been idle since 2011, and it shows.  Weeds have taken over the rv park, and the "tour" sign hangs by one side.  Sad.

Millersburg also is the home of the Rockwood plant, with many subsidiary businesses in and around the town.  Next we went to Topeka, Indiana.  The farms were neat and clean on the roads leading to Topeka, with a horse drawn buggy clip clopping along every mile or so.  Topeka is the home of several more rv manufacturers, but I didn't get the names because I'm on rv overload.  Everywhere you look there is something rv related.

We passed through Ligonier on the way to Syracuse.  Syracuse is famous for having one of the nicest lakes in Indiana, Lake Wawasee.  As we drifted into town, we started scoping out places for lunch, finding a likely spot with some confusing signs and an interesting roofline.

The lake is very nice and large, with powered boats galore, and is surrounded by luxurious homes, each with it's own private dock.

So, after a nice leisurely drive, we're back home in Nappanee. Nessie goes into the hospital tomorrow morning at 6 am, EDT, and we have to be ready.  Even though she's only traveling a few hundred yards, everything needs to be packed for travel, so our job this evening is to prepare for that.  She is scheduled to be worked on each of the next five days, so we'll get good at this unpack in the evening and repack in the morning thing!