We left home Thursday morning at 8:30 -- a little eager to be on our way to Mounds State Park for the Indy 500 Time Trials weekend. For now it was just us, but later Caleb and Halie and Micah would be joining in. Arriving at 11:00 we found our site still occupied, and check-out wasn't until 2:00. The group at "our" campsite seemed pretty grounded for the moment. Rather than sit and stare at them, we left to eat lunch and do a little shopping at our favorite Fryes Electronics store and a newly opened Caballa's store. Timing was perfect as we arrived back at 2:15 to find our empty site waiting. Thirty minutes had us set up and the welcome sign out! Jeff Foxworthy says: "You might be a Redneck if you've ever used an ironing board as a buffet table!" Close to our campsite was another Airstream, and it didn't take long to meet up with Ron and Boni for a get-to-know-the-other-Airstream session. We broke to fix supper, but met back around their campfire for a deeper session. Boni showed me an easy way to make 'smores: put your roasted marshmallows on a chocolate covered graham cracker -- how simple is that! Same key ingredients, but the chocolate is already in place! Thanks, Boni! Friday morning was deliciously lazy with absolutely nothing planned. Tom was up to discover a raccoon had ransacked the garbage bags in the truck bed -- had we really neglected to close the tailgate -- or did that little critter manage to open it? I woke up at 8:00 and joined Tom outside for coffee. Ron and Bonie were hitched up and came over to exchange contact information before leaving. I am sure we will be camping with them again down the road . . . we bonded as Airstreamers so often do! We had been intrigued by signs to the nearby town of "Historical Pendelton" and decided to check it out for lunch. Rarely have we seen a town as neat and tidy as this -- both downtown and every residential neighborhood we drove through. We stumbled onto "Pierogi in a Pinch" for lunch -- an amazing little restaurant featuring . . . pierogis. Many different kinds of fillings to choose from (and the ability to mix and match) and served with grilled onions and sour cream and a wonderful cucumber salad. They were so good that we bought some of the cheese and potatoes pierogis for Saturday's steak dinner with Caleb and Halie. The town also boasted Falls Creek Park -- a park as clean and proud as the little town itself. We never did, however, find out what was "historic" about Pendleton . . . I had been hoping for a wool blanket outlet! Our afternoon sitting session was under cloud-covered sky, and although it was 68 degrees it was a bit chilly calling for a sweatshirt. After a BBQ chicken supper we took the day's trash to the dumpster and walked back to the Great Mound -- a nice trail through the woods. By 8:00 it was apparent that rain would put in an appearance --starting as a light sprinkle but predicted to continue through the night. It did rain all night . . .very steady, but not hard. By Saturday morning wake-up time the rain was out of the area for the rest of the weekend. With no plans for the day, we took a tour around the countryside north of Indianapolis with no destination in mind. I had promised Tom PBJ sandwiches in the pie irons, and we were back tending to them by noon. By 2:00 we were in our chairs waiting for Caleb and Halie to arrive. These two brave souls were going to try a new camping/sleeping arrangement -- in Caleb's mini van. We had it all worked out with a trial set-up in the driveway at home, but tonight would be the real thing. We had the seats all folded down -- hurray for stow-and-go seating! On the floor were two heavy duty camping air mattresses and two twin-sizes memory foams that curved up the side wall of the van. Each had a sleeping bag liner and a variety of cold-weather bedding on top. They declared the whole arrangement to be comfortable. Sunday morning the boys left at 8:00 to pick up Micah, who drives to Indianapolis, parks his truck, and piles in the truck with us for the next week! Halie and I opted out of the all-day-track-experience for a little shopping excursion of our own. Halie got new shoes and while we were eating at Red Robin the waitress gave us the hot tip that Old Navy had jeans for 76 cents -- so swore a customer that had just come from the store! Of course we had to check that out, and while it was NOT true -- the store did have 40% of everything -- even already marked down items. Halie stocked up on jeans, making the trip very worthwhile.
By 2:30 we were back at the campground, which had emptied out considerably, and I taught Halie how to settle into the ZERO-G position. . . for four hours of sunshine, blue sky, nice breezes, books, naps - - - Halie got an A+ for style! The plan was to meet the boys at a restaurant for supper and then split up with Caleb and Halie going home, and Tom, Micah and I spending one more night at mounds. That all worked out as planned, and Monday morning we were home by noon! One little Airstream problem to document -- the AC quit working! Thinking it was just me not knowing how to work the AC, Tom planned to tinker with it at home. It was a no-cool for him also, and on Monday afternoon when the dealer, the factory, and the roadside assistance program couldn't trouble-shoot him through the problem, plans were made to take the Silvermine to the factory for hands-on help at 7:00 Tuesday morning! Tom was home by 5:00 with a newly installed AC . . . just 18 hours before our next trip out . . . camping at the Indy 500. On asphalt. With temps in the hight 80's predicted! Be sure to come back and check out that story.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |