Month: October 2017

The other city we did not get to see on our way up was Louisville, KY. Even though we enjoyed the stay at Charleston State Park on our way up, we were too busy the first 2 weeks in July to do any sightseeing.

Towards the end of the week, the Temperatur dropped and we had the first freeze when we got up this morning

Even though we should not have been too surprised as it is the end of October, it did come a little sudden as the weather so far had been good to us. Well, at least we had the Campground almost to ourselves

So we donned the warmest clothes we could find and headed downtown Louisville, KY which lies just across the Ohio River.

What would a visit to Louisville, KY be without its famous sites:

The Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum

The numerous Bourbon shops like Evan Williams, Bulleits, and numerous others with instructions on how to distil Bourbon

The Muhammad Ali Museum

The KFC YUM Center, Home of the University of Louisville’s Cardinals

And numerous other sites reflecting an active history and vivid past

German History in Louisville, KY dates back to 1787 when the first settlers arrived. By the 1850s almost 35% of Louisville’s population were Germans and public schools were taught in German.

German Churches were started, meat packing companies formed Butchertown and over 30% of the population still has German ancestors.

Schnitzelburg, a Louisville suburb, was formed by German Immmigrants in 1891 when the first street cars connected the area to the city of Louisville

But just like in Indianapolis, IN Germans fell out of favor during World War I and last names were changed and pasts hidden.

Old factory remnants still carry the history until today

Another interesting and historic city in the Midwest that we enjoyed visiting. The only thing we skipped was lunch on the Queen of Louisville, docked on the Ohio River

Whilst we tried to focus on the downtown area yesterday, we planned to visit some sites outside the metropolis area.

First on the list – Crown Hill Cemetery, established in 1863 and overlooking the city from the north.

The gravesite of Hoosier Poet James Whitcomb Riley lies on the highest point, “The Crown”

The 23rd US President Benjamin Harrison also rests here

Many old and grant mausoleums are part of the vast cemetery

the military portion

The Chapel

And apparently some of our unknown ancestors

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the 555 acres of privately owned grounds are a definite must see in our minds. Thanks to its 25 miles of paved roads, the sites are easily visited as there is even a map, showing who rests where.

Next on the list were brief stops at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home to the famous Indianapolis 500 automobile race.

Lucas Oil Field, home of the Indianapolis Colts

and of course the obligatory visits to the German Sites,

Claus’ German Sausage where the butcher is not only from Germany, but a master in the meats he sells. Good that we brought the cooler

Our last stop was the Rathskeller for some late lunch of Rouladen

The Restaurant (the oldest in Indianapolis) and meeting facilities are in the basement of the Athenaeum. Build in 1894 as the “German Haus”, it housed the major German organizations of immigrants that came to the area after the 1848 Revolutions in parts of Europe.

Anti-German sentiments during World War I made the society rename the building the Athenaeum, the name it carries today. It still houses a lot of German Groups, but is also the Home of the local YMCA.

OK, so we cheated a bit, as this is just outside the downtown area. But in conclusion we enjoyed the 2 days in Indianapolis, IN and were glad we had decided to stop on the way back.

After our business trip to the West Coast and the stop at REV to pick up the RV, we were heading back to Indianapolis, IN as we did not have enough time to see the sights on the way up.

Summer months are just too busy to sightsee and there is not enough time to do so properly. Worked the week, cleaned up the RV, found that they did not do as well a job as the first time around. Is that because we were not there to look over their shoulders?

So, headed into Indy on a nice morning. Nights have become slightly cooler and are in the mid 40’s, but the days are still all the way up to low 70’s. Exceptional weather to explore.

Not knowing what to expect, we started with the city. Found a parking garage and walked into the downtown area with the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial at it’s central axis.

Down Washington Street to the Indiana Statehouse

and the Eiteljorg Museum

the NCAA Hall of Champions on the White River Trail

and back past the Convention Center

Up Meridian Street to the Indiana World War Memorial

past Obelisk Square

and the Scottish Rite Cathedral

at the American Legion Mall we turned around and headed back

The car was parked at the City Market and we were hoping to get some food before heading home. Unfortunately they only serve breakfast and lunch and were closed.

So we headed back to the Campground but had to stop at the Heidelberg Haus for some Leberkaese

Tired but happy we went home. We did not think that Indianapolis has so much to see, positively surprised that there is and everything is within walking distance.

A week out of the RV and into the Hilton in Long Beach. Short nights and long, busy days. This is our 16th Convention as AW Transportation and we knew it was going to be busy, but fun.

The flight from Ft. Wayne, IN via Chicago, IL to Long Beach, CA was fairly uneventful and smooth

and we landed in LAX on time

It would take some time to report on the week and every meeting we had, so we will keep it short

Pat from Shanghai, our most important Australian in a developing country

Thomas our fearless EUROMOVERS leader from Luxemburg

In deep discussion with Mattias our Finnish EUROMOVER

Talking about recent shipments to Mexico with Roeland

Dan from Japan

And with Thomas again, waiting for the opening reception to start

Eddy, our insurance agent and the rest of the gang after the reception, closing the bar at the Convention Hotel

Scottish movers in national garb for the closing ceremonies

We did take some time off to see the local sights and Long Beach is a community changing from a port city to a convention and tourist type of place with interesting food trucks

the original Queen Mary as a hotel, museum and local attraction

an interesting Harbour with restaurants and trinket stores

and of course, a light house

All in all, a week to see almost everybody we have worked with all year, see new people, chat about business and after all a more or less welcome break from RVing as the people we met in Long Beach, CA could not be more different from the folks we have met on the road thus far.

After 5 weeks in the State of Michigan, it was time to head back to Decatur and REV to get the items fixed that did not get done back in July. This worked for us, as we have the IAM Conference coming up in Long Beach, California.

So, after a few days of R&R in Elkhart, Indiana

we are back in Decatur

and off to Long Beach, California tomorrow.

Towards the weekend David and Cheryl came to visit from nearby Grand Rapids, MI. We had met David back in July at the Fleetwood/REV factory tour and decided to meet again before we headed south, especially since David believed Kirsten and Cheryl would get along well due to their German heritage.

It was a fun filled few days with lots of talks trying to figure out the RV industry, visits to the Framer’s Market

the city of Holland, MI

And of course sunsets (this one is yours David)