We stopped and said "Goodbye" to Nick and Terry on our way out of Celina on October 2nd and headed to Duncan RV Repair in Elkhart, Indiana for our remodeling project. We knew they would follow us to town in a few days.
We drove around Fort Wayne, IN and headed up to the Indiana Toll Road ($7.75) and after 164 miles we were in our assigned site at Duncan.
This was our view:
Our last stay in Elkhart was in August.
We came back from errands on Sunday and found Mike and Elaine parked here (this photo was through a window so it is not very clear):
They came hoping Duncan could squeeze them in on Monday. The four of us went out to dinner at Culver's.
Unfortunately Duncan was booked for the next three weeks but was able to determine their electric hot water element was no longer working first thing Monday morning. Mike and Elaine moved on to another place in Elkhart that could fit them in.
We are getting some remodeling done to the front for an LCD HDTV and much wider sun visors. Here is how it looked before the remodel with the two power sun visors at their lowest position.
Our tech was David, who specializes in TV modifications.
In back we are taking the TV out completely and adding doors to the location. Here is a before photo. If we ever want another TV in this room we could set a flat screen on the night stand, which is visible in this photo and use the existing power and cable connection.
A close-up:
We are also getting a few other changes made along with some annual maintenance.
Progress in front at the end of Day #1 with the front TV gone.
Day #1 in back the rear TV is also gone with a huge space behind it we can now use for storage.
Evita liked having a new place to explore:
David also installed a new outlet below the steering wheel for us. This outlet will be very useful.
At the end of Day #2 the new HDTV was installed in front and working. David also routed an HDMI cable to where our DVD player is so when we upgrade the player we will be able to get the best picture possible by using the new cable.
At the end of Day #3 the new sun visors were installed and all the old cabinet pieces put back in. The new visors will make a big difference. This photo is with the visors down to show how much more they do than the old ones.
Day #4, 5 and 6 were handling some maintenance, and other items, and waiting for the new cabinet pieces. The first set of cabinet pieces were of unacceptable quality to David, so they were reordered.
Day 7 (October 13th) was the final full day, with one small item needed to finish. Here is the front almost done.
We just need a few fabric buttons which David will make overnight to cover the snaps.
We are done in the rear with the new cabinet doors, which David stained himself. The cabinet handles came out of the toilet room, which now has coordinating handles since the old handles are no longer available.
Looks good!
Day 8, the 14th, David stopped by in the morning and put on the buttons he had made.
What the buttons look like:
We headed inside, reviewed the bill and paid up. Now we could head east to Virginia Beach, VA and then head south slowly. It is too late in the fall to stay this far north.
We had spent 12 nights at Duncan and we were ready to head out. The weather was not that cooperative to exploring so we did not do much.
We met Nick and Terry for dinner at their favorite Samuel Mancino's on Old 20 once they were back in town for a bit. Good food and even better company.
Other than the two meals mentioned out with friends we ate out on our own mostly for lunch while the motorhome was in the shop. We found a nice Thai place, Bangkok Thai, in Mishawaka. We had an OK Mexican meal at Miranda's in Elkhart (on 33 almost in Goshen). We had a quite nice lunch at Mad Anthony's in Elkhart. We had lunch both Tuesdays at Between the Buns where Bill had the $3.95 cheeseburger and fries Tuesday special and Diane really enjoyed the chicken fingers. We also ate at Fazoli's, Houlihans and TGI Fridays.
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