The Process Begins.....

We arrived in Elkhart on Tuesday, ahead of a big midwest storm. We were supposed to get large hail and bad wind, but it went to the north of us. Whew!

We are all settled in at Camp Tompkins, (Eldy's son's house). We have a HUGE site (haha--Brian's side yard), access to a fitness room (an exercise bike), a fire pit outdoors with beautiful Amish made Adirondack rockers, and a gorgeous flowing pond.

Also a shower house comes with the site (bathroom basement shower) should we happen to fill our grey tanks too quickly, haha. We don't have a sewer connection, but we found a local company, Cripes Sewer, that will pump out our black tanks for 80.00 each time if we are here for longer than two weeks at a time. Wastewater management is a must when you are mootchdocking-(staying with relatives) and you only have water and electric hookup. We have onboard storage tanks for when we are not hooked up to sewer. We have two black tanks-one for the main bathroom in the RV and one for the half bath. We have two gray tanks--one for the shower and sinks, and one for the kitchen sink. Gray water (the soapy dishwater and running water from sinks) can be dumped into a drain or at the edge of the woods on the property, but the black tanks have to be pumped or cleared out by dumping into a portable potty type canister, which we don't have, or by a septic service.  The black tanks will fill in about two weeks, the gray tanks fill much sooner. So we watch and make sure to be ready when we need to dump. 

How do you know when you need to dump? Most RV's have gauges that are supposed to show you how full your tanks are. But many RV black and gray tank gauges quit working after awhile because "stuff" gets stuck on the sides of the tanks and gunks up the gauges, rendering them pretty useless. There are all kinds of methods out there to supposedly clear your gauges and get them working again. Dawn dish detergent, fabric softener, ice cubes--(dump them down the toilet and then while you drive they are supposed to knock the stuff off the sides of the tank as they melt.) But despite our best efforts to keep the tanks clean and using different methods to clean them, our gauges quit working accurately not long after we got our rig. So how do you know when to dump if the gauges are not accurate? When you can see the water in the tank in the toilet start to come up to the opening in the toilet bowl, it's time to dump the black. When the shower stall drains super slow, it's time to dump the gray. (Or else your drain might be clogged with hair and gooey soap.) We are very informal about keeping track. That's just what we do.  After you've been RVing for awhile, you learn when it's time. The size of your tanks also determine how long you can go before dumping. (SPARKY! That's more than anybody wanted to know!....exclaims Eldo.) Well sure, but some people have no idea what living in an RV is like and how essential things are handled, so Sparky just threw that in today....She didn't intend to get anal about it.....HAHAHAHAHA! (GROAN.......)

The Pumpkinvine Bike Trail as Abshire Park in Goshen, is about seven miles away, so Sparky is going to get back on that while we wait each day to hear about estimates for repairs. The truck goes in Tuesday for repairs and will be tied up for about three weeks.

Sparky is glad to have the Pumpkinvine bike trail to take her mind off things like insurance claims. That is such a great trail! Paved most of the way, solid level gravel in parts, it's always a great way to see the Amish lifestyle and Amish folks out and about. 

Today, Sparky rode on the trail for 14 miles. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and the Amish were dressed in their finery, returning from church and walking home. The women had on starched white bibs over long black dresses and wore black bonnets. The men wore white shirts, black coats, black pants and black hats. The kids were dressed in black and white as well. Sparky saw a little boy go running down a county road towards his farmhouse, all dressed up for Sunday church but no shoes on, running barefoot and carefree down the lane. It seems like the Amish are ahead of the theory of "grounding", letting your bare feet connect with nature, the woods, the grass, the earth, which is becoming a trendy term these days, as they go barefoot a LOT, even in cold weather! They go barefoot, it is said, to feel closer to God and the earth. The connection with nature, as part of God's creation, is an important part of the Amish culture.

It's early April and the only wildflowers spotted today were hepatica, the first among the many wildflowers that will eventually bloom along the trail.....The flowers are most commonly blue or lavender and they are really starting to pop along the trail.

Sparky went riding a few days later, and more is blooming. How about the beautiful Star Magnolia? Incredible blossoms.....

Sometimes you can see a small bison herd right outside the Jayco factory plants along the trail...the calves are out and about with their mamas. It just seems a little weird to see bison grazing right outside of RV factories.

Sparky started subbing in the local schools. Whoooo-eeee! The kids are a handful! Doesn't matter whether you are in kindergarten (average class size of 20 little rascals, you can count on somebody always pitching a royal hissy fit over some perceived wrong, somebody kicking and hollering on the floor, and somebody who is already VERY ADD or somebody just not ready for kindergarten), or managing a tough 4th grade class--(the highest Sparky will go, since girl drama has now gone from middle school down to 4th grade). BUT--she still loves it. Kindergarten especially, even if they are a handful. Who doesn't love a young child who, within minutes of meeting you, comes up to you, gives you a great big hug and says, "I love you!" and that's multiple times a day! Sparky has brushed up on lots of useful classroom management tips gathered over the years and some fresh new ones. And here's how you know you are teaching kindergarten for the day...

Teachers of elementary kids like to use "call backs" to get kids to simmer down and focus, even if it's for short periods of time. It works pretty well. You say, "Macaroni and cheese!" And the kids respond with, "Everybody freeze!" And they stop what they are doing...Hopefully. Times have changed. Now we use...Teacher: "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" Kids: "SpongeBob Square Pants!" Or this from DoJa Cat on Tik Tok.....Teacher: "Why don't you......Kids: "Say so!" Sparky doesn't do Tik Tok, so that one probably is not going to be used. She likes to use, "Waterfall, waterfall...." and the kids make movements with their hands like a waterfall running down and say, "SH-H-H-H-H-H...."

After the first day Sparky was EXHAUSTED. Her feet hurt, her back hurt, and it was challenging. But--she is meeting some great young minds, teachers' and kids', and loving to see what teachers are now doing and using in the classroom. It's been three years since she last subbed. Stay tuned for a few school stories now and then. After all, this is still a travel blog but we aren't moving for awhile while we wait to get stuff fixed. But, we might take some day trips, you never know! So Sparky is going to mix it up a bit as far as topics.

This week Eldy (a.k.a. Eldo) celebrated his quarter century birthday! We had a great family dinner at Michael's Restaurant in Elkhart, which gets 4.5 out of 5 stars. It's a terrific Italian restaurant! Great Italian subs, mostaccioli, lasagna, pizza and more. Here is the birthday boy and his new toy from his family.... A remote control car....Vroom, vroom!

Eldy's 75th birthday

    

Happy birthday to my sweet guy!                         

                                             

                                                                        Bye for now.....