Elkhart, IN

Well, I bet you know that Elkhart is the home of the RV/mobile home industry, but I bet you didn't know that over 50% of all band instruments are made in this city.  I was wondering why there was a statue of a French horn in a local park, so I looked it up.  Who knew?

We left Madison this morning in the rain (what else is new) and promptly ran into road construction on the interstate.  Obama's stimulus money must be being put to good use because it seems that no matter where we go, roads are being torn up and reconstructed.  Not to say that they don't need it, just not all at the same time!

Since there are alternate roads in the area, we left the interstate behind and traveled on some minor roads, finally getting down to US 30 which we took east across Illinois and into Indiana.  It wasn't fast, but it was scenic.  It was fun seeing the countryside change from farmland to suburbs to downtown shopping areas.  Amazing how large the homes are and how relatively small their lots are.  In the older sections of towns like Joliet and Chicago Heights, the lots are bigger and the homes have been around for quite a while.  Believe it or not, we actually passed a Harrah's casino in downtown Joliet and didn't stop to visit!  We saw a building in Joliet which looked like a medieval castle or old-time armory - turns out it was the Joliet High School. 

Did some shopping at a Macy's in one of the malls along the way.  It was good to get out of the car and walk some.  Took US 30 about half-way across Indiana and then headed north to get on US 6.  Arrived at the intersection with US 6 to find that it was closed, so we continued on north to US 20.  Decided to stop in Elkhart because we had crossed into the Eastern time zone and lost an hour.  Not much sense in continuing on because there were only small towns on US 20, so we were better off staying in Elkhart.

Tomorrow we continue east, heading toward Rochester - should arrive in late afternoon sometime.