Monday, September 29, 2014

MOC--dinner, factory tour, relief sale and catch up days

Goshen, Indiana
Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds
Back In Site #429


Last night the Montana Owners Club members went to Miller's Country Kitchen for an Amish dinner.  We went last year and didn't hesitate at all to sign up for it this year.  

Yep, that's a bowl of homemade ice cream.

The food was delicious and plentiful.   I'm not sure how many different kinds of pies they had, but there were some I'd never heard of.  

Bill and I had ordered some cinnamon swirl bread to take home.  By the number of tables that the bread was on, most people must have also ordered bread.  

We waddled back to the coach and called it an evening.

This morning we rode with Susie and Bud to the Montana factory tour.  Due to waiting on trains, we arrived later than expected.  We only had time for one donut and a cup of coffee before our tour started.   

They were very proud of the fact that Lippert frames were right next door and they just rolled them over.
Notice Gloria and Sharon, it's Friday and I wore red--remember everyone deployed.  

The building in this photo is new and 300,000 square feet. They build the High Country model in it.j

I also learned why Montana's are so popular in cold climates like North Dakota.  All the other manufacturer's run their water lines inside the frames.  No wonder people have their water lines freeze.












Mark Krol answered every question we had, and explained what Montana does better in the construction and why.  
Last year when we toured our guide didn't take us upstairs.  I was amazed how they made the roofs stronger and lighter.  


I had internet problems and today is Monday, and I'm trying to remember what happened on Friday.  Not an easy task for this under developed brain.  One thing I did like was the plug in for the solar is standard.  


After the factory tour, we were shown the brand new prototype models.  Everyone was handed a questionnaire asking our opinions of new things they have added.  Bill and I liked the rear den model best but unfortunately they built them too well and don't wear out.   We're happy with ours.  I do like this year's exterior much better than last years.  Bill said having the 12 volt heat strips in the floor, would be nice on a cold night in the bedroom or bathroom.  I was surprised when they said the price had dropped by about $6,000 from the year before.  

Lippert had an afternoon seminar explaining their products and maintenance.  

The Mennonite Relief Sale started at 5 pm.  We hurried over to try and beat the crowds.  
We didn't get a chance to try the haystack last year but it was worth waiting for.  It must have weighed 5 pounds by the time we got through the end of the line.  

The quilts that they auction off are beautiful and photos or words will never be able to convey the work.  They were all hung in plastic.  There were hundreds of them.  Bids of over $15,000 are about the norm.  
  Thank goodness, the MOC has prepared a booklet for every attendee.  It is 56 pages long and has the photos of everyone as well as the events.  There is so much happening, I have to go back to the book and see what we did on Saturday.  

The day started out with a potluck breakfast.  I'm amazed at how much food you can consume for breakfast.  
This was the rows of hot food.  There were six more tables of the cold foods.  

It's a good thing I took a photo of Jim Fischer and John Kohl measuring our height or I would have forgotten.  This is one of the things that didn't get put in the schedule.  
We didn't think the last time it was measured that it needed to be hitched to the truck for an accurate measurement.  Thirteen two, thirteen two, now don't forget to correct that in the Rand McNally GPS.  

We skipped the day night shade class as we repaired one by ourselves when we had the Cardinal.  

John Kohl and George Persons are the official photographers for the rally.  Everyone stood in front of the red barn for the photo.  
 John had the timer set and took a couple of shots.  George and John also took couples photos. 


Susie and Bud Walsh
Marilyn and LC Boyer

There was a yard sale going on the whole day, but we didn't buy anything.  We did participate last year and sold everything we had out.  

John Kohl was in charge of the "tips 'n tricks".  It was probably the class I enjoyed the best.  We came away with good hints on how to do some things.  

Terrie Ames had a quilting class.  Someday, I'm going to sign up for that early, as it fills up quickly.  I did manage to make a bracelet that looks nice in Lynne's class.

One of the highlights of the rally is the wine and cheese party.  It does seem to get pretty noisy the later it gets.  

I might have had too much wine in this photo.
A few of the prize tables.

Okay I'll just say a little bit about Sunday and call this the end.

Jim Fischer gave a good class on hand signals and we learned some new tips.  

I was still having problems with my new phone so we skipped a couple of classes on full timing, work camping, water softener, Alaska and just went to town.  We got back in time for the pot luck.  More food just what we needed.  

The Dometic class today was very informative.  Bill came away with more hats--just what he didn't need.

The ladies luncheon was a lot of fun.  I drove some ladies to the bag factory.  
We had a nice luncheon at the Trolley Cafe.  I think the highlight of the stores was the thrift store.  

We're off to the free dinner in Elkhart for the MOC members.  I'll try and catch up tomorrow.  

Turtle Safely......

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