Northern Indiana Vintage Trailer Rally
KOA Kampground
Granger, Indiana
7/28-7/31/11
Milwaukee in the rear view mirror sped me on my way south on a major interstate. I was surprised when the Garmin took me off the interstate and routed me onto an older state highway. I guess it was shorter than the interstate, but was a bit more stressful due to the closer traffic, intersections, and differing speed limits. On the other hand I did get to see suburban Skokie.
This highway took me onto the major interchanges around and through Chicago. I was going slowly, really crawling along with a rolling traffic jam and doin’ ok. At the south end of town I was getting ready to shift to the left onto an eastbound freeway when a car sped up on my left and cut right across in front of me and I missed the opportunity. The Garmin recalculated a new route and boy did I get some more sightseeing! I ended up going east on 79th street. I was the only RV going through the two lanes of the “South Side of Chicago” with thoughts of Jim Croce songs about Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Jim and Slim running through my mind. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to turn around or back up in the tight traffic. With a resolute trust in the Garmin I crossed town and got on the Skyway Toll Road. They must think a lot of the Skyway; it cost me $10 for about a five-minute drive segment.
After several more toll road challenges I got to the KOA Kampground in mid afternoon, and was directed to a great spot in the shade with a cement patio. The KOA host even led me to the spot and then stayed to verbally direct me into the optimum space for that site. I was set for the weekend. For the first time the Jauch Collection of re-canvassed sling chairs saw daylight and the matching awning went up without delay.
I was late to the 8 pm meet-n-greet session since I was still on Central time and Indiana is in the Eastern time zone. How did I miss that? Surely there must have been a sign somewhere along the road. After a watch readjustment I walked with the folks around the campground at 10 pm to see the lit up trailers like they were “back in the day,” well, like “back in the night.” Along the way there was genial conversation, cocktails and charming views of the glowing trailers, lanterns, hanging decorative lights, and even a lit up palm tree.
I was very comfortable spending two days of strolling, seeing unique creations, learning from those more experienced and talented than I, and marveling at the range of treatments to the old bones of the trailers. One of my favorites was a beautiful Yellowstone 14 footer with polished aluminum top and sides complemented by a turquoise side stripe. What made it unique was that after the polishing it was caught in a hailstorm. The pebbled look on the polished roof of the little guy was just charming. It was a testament to how hard the people worked to get it looking so good, but that nature will still have its say. I like that kind of character.
With some prearranging Lee Dick, a good friend from our Brazil days came from Auburn, Indiana to visit. Lee left education and has been in Indiana banking, has a lovely wife and two children. He also has displayed some creativity in converting a 1937 Chevrolet that I last saw in his family’s barn. It was in pieces, rusted, dusted and otherwise coated with excrement from various barn dwelling birds, bats, mice and who knows what else. I had implored him to drive the project over from his home in Auburn, about an hour and a half drive. He’s not taken it that far before but after a weather check and an early departure, the throaty exhaust announced the arrival of his purple street rod. Naturally we took a spin, but spent most of the afternoon in the 1940s sling chairs that go with the awning.
Our sling time was also the time of the Open House home tour of trailers so I was often interrupted to answer questions or point out features of the Angelus. For everyone it was the first time they’d ever heard of the brand, so everything about it was a new discovery. Karen calls the trailer “cute” and I did hear others use the same term but I was very gratified to hear others say it was “Fabulous” or “Stunning” or from one of the experts ‘You did this exactly right.” The feature that got the most raves was the original 1946 linoleum flooring. It IS very rare to see that component survive after 60 years. In a near blizzard of interior turquoise themed trailers, the tomato red of the Angelus was also a standout. Of course, the turquoise was correct for the fifties and the Angelus was from the forties.
After hosting for about two hours, Lee and I left an information sheet on the table in the trailer and went on our own tour. People were so nice and proud of their salvage and restoration of these antiques. Some were re-configured to suit the owners’ needs, some were still almost original, and others were in mid-development. There were four or five Sisters on the Fly there with their painted trailers. This group of female campers/fisherpeople has held events on the White River, which I’ve attended. I believe I heard one lady say that they now have over 2,000 members. Originally, it was two sisters who liked to fly fish and traveled around in their travel trailer. There were long trailers, tiny trailers and even a couple of vintage motor homes from the 70s.
One of the nicest features of the event was a workshop hosted by a guy whose work I’ve admired online for years. It was very helpful. His trailer was simply a masterpiece. He redid all the wood in it, has period correct furnishings down to the magazines (trailer magazines at that) and a beautiful moss green paint job on the exterior of the 30-foot trailer. It was way beyond what I could do, so I was so happy to hear him and see the trailer in person. I could go on and on about the variety, but I’ll just leave it that it was thoroughly delightful.
The owners were cordial, nice folks that were pleasant to share stories with. Several times during the event I just dropped in on folks sitting outside and found myself sharing tales of trailers, remodeling challenges and triumphs. In short…. my people.
Notable was the way these people had coped with the challenges of the heat and the uncooled trailers. I saw air conditioning units free standing inside some trailers, some units outside on the ground with ductwork into vents inside the trailer, one with a small unit inside the trailer cabinetry, and the always popular “take out the window and mount a unit in the space” approach, but the best was a very clever approach which preserved both the inside and outside of the trailer’s integrity. This method used a big tripod for a public address speaker to set an AC unit on outside the trailer at window level. The window was then lifted open (like mine do), the unit moved flush against the window frame and then used some packing foam to stuff between the frame and the AC unit to seal the flow, plugged it in, and voila…cold air inside! This is the way to go, it provides AC to the inside yet allows the outside and inside to remain stock. It’s all about the preservation.
There will be many pictures posted soon.
I packed up and headed home Sunday. Many had pulled out but as I left the lady who had coordinated the event was still at the roadside to thank those departing. I thanked her and as I drove away I heard her say to a friend nearby, “Beautiful trailer.” I drove away on cloud nine. As I Ieft town I saw I wasn’t the only Mountain Homer there: a truck passed by pulling a Champion bass boat! Going down the interstate I was enriched by seeing the quilt patterns painted on the barns. I ‘m sure there’s more to know about them, but even without knowing the stories there, they made a lively sideshow to the freeway boredom. Speaking of boredom, I was barreling down the interstate thinking it was some very flat county when a town sign became visible. The name of the upcoming town was Kansas! How appropriate.
Like the first day of the trip I had planned to sleep at a rest area, so didn’t want to get there too soon, hence the late departure. I again set the cruise control at the speed limit and this time headed south. Making good time I got to the rest area with three hours of daylight still left. One reason is that I’d just gone from Eastern time zone back to Central. It was too soon to stop so I motored on and found myself back in Theodosia by midnight. Howdy greeted me with a standing hug and Karen with kisses.
How sweet it is to get home. This was a wonderful trip with much gained in family knowledge, travel experiences, new friends, and increased personal growth. Yes, I threw out outdated food, took medicine on my own, showered and did laundry without prompting, kept gas mileage records and organized the family search materials. The next challenge is to transfer these emails and the appropriate photos onto the genealfamilial blog. In that way the whole experience will be recorded and available to those that I didn’t send the emails to. Once again, my thanks to all who made the trip possible and those who enriched my experience on the road. Thanks also to those email recipients who replied with words of encouragement and commentary.
DON'T FORGET: For a more visual perspective of the trip, a web album of over 100 photographs with captions is posted at https://picasaweb.google.com/udadster/JulyTrip2011a?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ7O8bTM_pieBQ . Feel free to look at any time, if you want to see the pics first, or after you read each posting.
Happy trails to all.
Happy trails to all.
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