South Bend Indiana and My Childhood Home

We left the Fleetwood Service Center a little later than we wanted to, luckily our next stop was only a couple hours away. We arrived in South Bend Indiana, found a nice RV Park and settled in for the night.

 Friday morning we were off and running early as we knew we had a longer than usual drive up to Wisconsin. But first we had to stop by and see my childhood home. Several months ago Sheryl and I were looking through some old pictures and found one that had the address of the house in South Bend where I was born. Pretty cool, and thought, if we ever got up that way, it would be pretty neat to stop by and see it. Well that day finally came and we were here. Looking it up on Google maps the house was on the outskirts of town and from the looks of it, progress and growth did not creep into this part of it. The house (only one of ten in the whole area) is still surrounded by corn fields and farm land. Above is the road the house is on.

And there is was, no change in 53 years, since I was last here. Of course the trees are larger, but that's about it. I was hoping someone would be home, but seems everyone was gone and I didn't want to looks like a prowler snooping around. We just looked from the road, reminisced and took a few pictures.What a really cool feeling, I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me, with very limited background on any of my family, it was good to see.
After our short visit we were off and running again, we set our sights on Two Rivers Wisconsin and headed north. I was really dreading the drive through Chicago but it didn't turn out too bad, lots of traffic and crazy drivers, but traffic flowed and we were thru it on no time.
We made it into Two Rivers around 4pm, got all set up and went to dinner with Sheryl's niece. But more on all that later. So until next time................................

Cumberland Covered Bridge and Blackford County Indiana

 Since we had a couple of days to kill and we pushed on through to the Decatur area from Cuba MO. it was another day of exploring the local area. Sheryl and I both had never seen a covered bridge, and since there happened to be one just down the road a bit, off we went.

 I know for many people who grow up around these simple things it's no big deal, but for some of us it's a throw back to the past and reminder of simpler times, even if we've never seen one before. The Cumberland Bridge is unique as it was washed away in the early 1900s, not long after being built. The folks in the area found the bridge about a mile down stream, recovered it and transported it back to it original place, all with 1900's rural era technology, quite an amazing feat for those days.

 After spending some time at the bridge and exploring the countryside we started back towards the campground and discovered a pleasant surprise. The small town close to the campground was actually the Blackford County Seat, complete with 1800 era town square and the massive courthouse taking center stage.

 At each corner of the courthouse grounds, there is a tribute to our Military and all of those from the local area (named) who died in each war since the Civil war.

 Beautiful Old Building

 Inside the Cumberland Bridge

 Decay off the Town Square

County Library

That was our outing while waiting for today to come. Today we move on over to the Fleetwood Factory Service Centers Campground and get ready for tomorrow's appointment. They are saying the service should only take 4-6 hours, we sure hope that's the case. Then we can continue our journey northward towards Wisconsin for a week or so visiting relatives.

That's it for now, we'll let you know how the service goes, so until then...................................