Friday May 14, 2010 Going "Home"

Yesterday afternoon we got the word that our motorhome would be finished today and we would be able to leave the Amish Inn and return to our "home". Thank heavens! Living in a motel is not to my liking. I guess traveling in the motorhome has spoiled me. No matter where we go I always feel I'm at home. Motels lack comfortable chairs and usually have a strange odor- and I can't help but think about those TV shows that talked about the bedbugs in hotels and motels.
Travis has been absolutely the best dog during all this. Of course, he has been with us everywhere. We have gone to restaurants for carryouts, most of the times, and returned to the motel to eat. Yesterday morning Tom and I went to the lobby for the continental breakfast and returned to the room to hear Travis whinning so this morning we took turns getting our breakfast and returning to the room to eat. This motel has raised their fee for having a dog in the room from $10.00 to $75.00 and if there is any damage from the dog a credit card will be charged $250.00. We had been quoted a fee of $50.00 so that is what we paid. This fee is a onetime fee not a daily rate but I think it is much too high.
This morning we are staying in the motel until close to noon unless we hear before that time that the motorhome has been returned to the "Camp Newmar" area. "Camp Newmar" is the area that has full hook-ups for owners having work done on their rigs. We will probably stay there until Sunday before moving on. Sunday we feel we will need to leave to make room for others coming in for servicing of the units.
This area of Indiana is like a step back in time. There is a large population of Amish here so horses and buggies are everywhere along with lots of bicycles. The Newmar factory employees many Amishfolk. These Amish people come to work on their bicycles at 6am and leave in the afternoon to return home to do their farming chores. While at the factory they may use the modern equipment and drive motorized vehicles but not when they leave. Yesterday we went to an Amish bulkfood store and found it closed along with the Amish schools and other Amish businesses and then we saw a sign saying a store was closed for Ascension Day. There are many craftsmen/women in this area- cabinetry, furniture making, quilting. It is a nice area to visit as it seems to move at a slower pace.