FLEETWOOD FACTORY, FIFTIES DINER, GOODBYES

Our motor home is a Fleetwood Terra, and I'm pleased with its performance, its ability to pull hills, gas mileage and other aspects of this vehicle/home. We spend a lot of time in it and we must give up some comforts in exchange for the life on the road. Its an envious life-style, we've learned, as you meet and greet people in all types of situations. Ours seems a romantic life of constant entertainment. And, it is. Yet our reality is filled with the everyday chores and particulars of living well in a tight space. It doesn't work for everybody.
Jim was bent on visiting the Fleetwood Factory and taking their factory tour. I'm glad I went, even though it sometimes felt like a sales presentation in that, you are satisfied with our product, here is what you have to look forward to when you upgrade. The behemoths above, 42 and 44 feet in length, with slide-outs have very fancy interiors.

The other two couples on the tour mentioned their likes and dislikes about their motor homes which are similar to these in style. Obviously, a perfect one will never be made.

They pre-sell to dealers before building their motorhomes. From the parking lot, they seem to be doing very well. (No pictures allowed in the factory.)
Our friends, Pat and Richard have a very nice, well built trailer parked nearby. Richard commented that he would buy a motor home when he wins the Magazine Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. We all laughed.

Fleetwood does not make the biggest motor home, but one of the best to be sure. It was nice to see how they are put together, the quality that goes into them; the efficiency of the company, and the way they treat their employees. For me, it validated our choice of this particular motor home and its attributes.
After the tour, Richard and Pat took us to a real fifties diner; one with autographs of local high school coaches and real student class sweaters and memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceilings. It was such fun to be inside this place with every piece of memorabilia bringing back memories.

We met Elvis and Marilyn at the door of Arnolds Diner which is located in Decatur.

 Jim used to wear his hair like James Dean, and identified with his wild, independent image just a bit, as we all did at that age.

Arnold's still uses car hops at night, on roller skates, dressed in their poodle skirts; saddle shoes on the inside at lunch. The walls and ceilings are just stacked with  memorabilia.

This old dial pay phone...

A pair of speakers from a drive in movie.

Coke bottle fan blades.

A Schwinn bicycle hangs from the ceiling and an old Mobile gas pump greets you at the door.

Richard and Pat had no way of knowing that we had watched a nostalgic video the night before about Doo wop music. Arnold's Diner was the perfect choice. The food was standard fifties fare "improved" meaning very good tasting and hearty servings. We ended the meal with tin lizzie sundaes, (spanish peanuts over hot fudge on vanilla ice cream.)  My soda shop from high school days called it a tin roof sundae. It was great fun, with wonderful memories. Then, we had to say goodbye.

It will be several years before we meet again.

BIRDS CAN BE FRIENDS

My friend, Pat Whitfield, is a bird lover. She is dedicated to her "friends" and has a whole room full of them. They are free to fly around the house during part of the day, (those that like to). Cockatoo George, is on her shoulder and a dove sits on her hand.

These lovebirds nestle in shredded paper, protecting their egg. You can barely detect the egg because it is small and white against the white paper. Pat is no longer breeding birds to sell. She just enjoys her friends.

She only has two large cages, now. They are friendly and cheerful and provide much joy to her life. It takes a lot of dedication to nourish and feed and care for these birds.

Along with the birds, Pat collects bird houses. There are so many I couldn't begin to count them. The one above is so appealing to her birds, they continually peck at the wood and widen the hole. Others they leave alone.

When she walks down the street, George sits on her shoulder and doesn't make any attempt to escape. He obviously loves her. It seems as though everyone likes birds, but the birds have an affinity for Pat. When we visited Moaning Cave last September, the parrot in the cage fell in love with Pat and spoke to her, words the owners didn't know the bird could speak. It allowed her to pet it and didn't want her to leave. This huge parrot could have snapped her finger in two.
 A wild dove in  my yard allowed her to approach it so closely, she could almost touch it. They sense the bird lover and act differently around her than around others. 

 Bird houses and feeders around her yard become nesting boxes, like this feeder above.

And this one. Both are quite low to the ground. They seem to trust that nothing will happen to them. Did I mention there is a cat in this house as well?

 This bird house was my favorite, but so far, the birds don't choose it. They know what's best and Pat is on their approval list.

RVMUSEUM/HALL OF FAME, ELKHART INDIANA

The Elkhart RV Museum/Hall Of Fame, has a great history of recreation we can all relate to. With the automobile in their lives, people wanted to wander farther afield. Early efforts were just modified cars. This old Tin Lizzie had a unique telescoping design, a bureau pulled out on one side....

 A "kitchen" on the other side, and you still had to find somewhere to sleep, maybe a tent, or under the vehicle if the weather was nice. But most early models were simply shelters in which to sleep and store your food stuffs.

Many of those early recreational vehicles were custom built affairs like the Tennessee Traveler above.

It was built like a house, with the wood stove, heavy plank floors and walls. It featured a built in ice chest, but check out the drivers seat.

This originally had a bench seat with no back. Imagine what a comfortable ride that must have been? The owners installed the above seats during a remodel.

Here was another drivers seat, resembling a club chair. It came as a $35.00 accessory. Entrepreneurs saw a need and the first professionally  manufactured units started as basic shelters for a trip, then more elaborate shelters with  heat, cooking, and light. Then water and  refrigeration was added. Then, toilets and showers until today, we have all the comforts of home in miniature.

One old time unit had a built-into-the-ceiling propane "lantern" that resembled a light fixture.
And, of course, all the comforts of home with radio, curtains, a fly swatter and a fan. Another had windows that rolled up and down like car windows.

Another interesting unit was built to fit into a standard garage.

Of course, you couldn't stand up in it.

 This little trailer put the cooking outside and the sleeping and storage inside. This is a sleek metal type of "teardrop" one of the most popular camping trailers ever made. I owned a tear drop for many years and wish I had never sold it. These little trailers were economical and fit the average family's pocket book, plus you could haul them with a smaller, less powerful car.

This unit was a touring car not a true RV.  Mae West didn't sleep in it. She was induced to come to the Hollywood studios by being driven back and forth from her home to the set with it. Probably the only unit known to have a back porch where she would sit outside and take fresh air while being driven to the set.

When we stepped out of the Hall, we saw this unique two story custom RV with a truck cab sitting in the parking lot.

After leaving the hall, we had dinner at the Liberty Cafe in Fort Wayne with friends Pat and Richard Whitfield. For more photos, click the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/82510RVMuseum#