Shipshewana, Indiana to Western Pennsylvania

 We left the Chicago area (Joliet) and moved along east in to Indiana to the town of Shipshewana.

 

 

 

It was still pretty hot and humid so we opted for a campground where we could get full hook-ups (electric, water, and sewer).  Unfortunately, a storm blew through the area and knocked out all the power.  That meant no electric to run the AC and no water since the pumps are run off electric.  (We were later refunded our campground charges due to the lack of utilities.)  

 

 

 

We were in Amish and Mennonite country.  I just loved hearing the clock, clock, clock sound of the horse and buggies going by.  

We were in the area to take a scheduled tour of the factory that built our Grand Design Reflection travel trailer.  Unfortunately due to the storm that knocked out the power at the campground it also knocked out the power to the factory so our tour was cancelled.  We were really disappointed because we purposely took this route to do the tour.  Oh well, next time we're in the area.

We left the next day and drove across the state line in to Michigan to get diesel since it was cheaper.  At one point we needed to turn around and ended up getting stuck in the mud in a parking area.  With so much rain from the storm the grass was REALLY soft.  Uh oh!  Now what???

 

 

We tried to place pieces of wood under the wheels to gains some traction but that didn't work.  Then Al got the idea to disconnect the truck from the trailer and then reconnect it with the truck at an angle with the front wheels on more solid surface and use the 4 wheel drive to pull the trailer out.  It worked!

We left quite a mess of the grass!  Sorry.....

So that cheaper diesel cost us a lot of time and aggravation!  Lesson learned!

Now back on to our plan for the day.  We continued east to our next stop in Sandusky, Ohio.  

  

We got settled in to the Crystal Rock Campground.

We drove over to see Lake Erie and a lighthouse.  The Marblehead Lighthouse is on a peninsula of land in Lake Erie.  Marblehead is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the American side of the Great Lakes.    

 

 

Lake Erie shoreline

Cedar Point Amusement Park

 

 

 

Lifesaving Station

 

 

After the lighthouse, we continued along the loop road stopping off at various farm stands.  Eventually it was time for some ice cream.

Toft's Ice Cream, Yummy!

Next up we arrived in western Pennsylvania and made our way to a property in Slippery Rock.

 

We were very fortunate to be hosted on a beautiful property and got set up next to their pond.  Our host, Mark, had us drive across his freshly mowed field to get to the pond.

Using our solar panels at this location.

We were parked in such a beautiful location it was hard to stop taking photos!

Sadly we could only stay for one night as we thoroughly enjoyed this location.  

Our next night was spent on another property in the middle of Pennsylvania in the town of Julian.  

The property had a huge 'U' shaped driveway so we were offered an area with hookups or we could park up on the grass.  We were only spending one night so we parked up on a level section of the grass.

Hitchhiker on our truck.

After dinner, our hosts, Kathy and Randy, invited us to their porch for homemade ice cream where we chatted and watched for lightening bugs. 

So this was our route for this entry.  We made it to my home state of Pennsylvania! 

 

Next stop, eastern Pennsylvania and my family!