Chapter 3 - Columbus, Indiana - June, 2006

There are quite a number of different organizations of RV owners. Some of these are open to all RV owners, and others are unique to a particular brand. We discovered early on that there was a group of Roadtrek owners who are very loyal to their Roadtreks, and who gather together occasionally in rallys to meet, greet, and swap stories. Since Roadtreks are spread all over North America, the organization is divided into regions. Being from Ohio, we fall into Region 4. The Region 4 chapter had a rally scheduled for June in Columbus, Indiana and we decided to make this our first RV rally.

Columbus, IN is about 200 miles from Columbus, OH and it took about 4 hours to make the trip. The rally was held at a place called CERAland, a large 320 acre private park that belongs to the Cummins Employees' Recreation Association, and includes camp sites, a lake with paddle boats and fishing, a sports complex, swimming pool, golf driving, trap shooting, and archery ranges.

After checking in and parking the Big Turtle in our assigned spot, we wandered over to a large tent to meet some of the other owners of the 38 Roadtreks that came to the rally. In the evening, we enjoyed a potluck dinner, visited with other Roadtrekers, and strolled around the nicely landscaped CERAland grounds.

The next morning we were treated to a tasty Continental Breakfast and made plans to tour Columbus, IN. Because we registered late for the rally, all of the seats on the organized bus tour were taken. We drove a few miles to downtown Columbus to make our own arrangements for a tour of the famous Columbus architectural sites.

Columbus, Indiana is a small city of around 39,000 located half way between Indianapolis, IN and Cincinnati, OH. One of the unique features of Columbus is a collection of buildings designed by some of the best known architects in the world. The Cummins Engine Foundation offered to pay the architect’s fee for any new school that was designed by an architect selected from a list supplied by the Foundation. Later, they expanded the program to include a variety of public buildings. Other companies and church congregations also decided to seek architects who would add to the community’s quality of design. Names like Eero Saarinen, Harry Weese, Richard Meier, and I.M. Pei led the American Institute of Architects to rank Columbus sixth in a list that included Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, DC, for architectural innovation and design.

Since we missed out on joining the Roadtrek tour group, we stopped at the Visitors Center to take one of the public tours. Unfortunately, the tour for the day was already full. So, we made a bus reservation for the following day, and after admiring a glass chandelier and other works by Dale Chihuly on display at the Visitors Center, we viewed a nice video program, bought a guide map, and did a self-guided walking tour of the downtown area.

Our tour included visits to the local library (designed by I.M. Pei), Lincoln Elementary School (by Gunnar Birkerts), St. Peter's Lutheran Church (by Gunnar Birkerts), the Irwin Union Bank (by Eero Saarinen), the Commons Mall (by Cesar Peli) and Cummins Corporate Office Building (by Roche Dinkeloo). Inside the office building a display of diesel engines built by the Cummins company was on display. One engine was turned into a sculpture by hanging all of the parts in the fashion of an exploded view.

 After grabbing a quick lunch, we drove several miles out of town to join fellow Roadtrekkers for a tour of one of the Cummins engine plants. The plant we toured was making diesel engines for Dodge Ram pickup trucks. Parking was on the factory roof. The engine assembly begins with a conveyor feeding cast iron engine blocks (from Brazil) into big machining centers where surfaces are smoothed and holes are drilled. The machined blocks then move down the line where teams of people at various stations add the 400 some parts that make a finished engine assembly.

The members of each team switch positions several times a shift to keep their jobs a little more interesting. Pistons (from Italy), wiring harnesses (from Taiwan), and other parts shipped in from various other countries are put in place, and the final assemblies are tested. Then the engines are shipped to Mexico where they are installed in trucks. Then they are shipped back to the USA for sale. This transnational production business is a little mind-boggling.

After the tour, we headed back to CERAland for a catered BBQ dinner under the big tent. There was a lot of time for socializing with our new friends, exchanging Roadtrek maintenance tips, viewing the latest model (brought in from Kitchner, Ontario, just for us) and playing games.

The next morning we had another Continental Breakfast, and then headed back to Columbus for our Architectural bus tour.

The tour lasted about 2 hours and our guide was a man who had retired after 35 years with the Cummins company. He had a lot of interesting things to tell us about the architecture in the area, and the general history of the town.

After the tour we headed to the nearby town of Nashville, IN to take in the attractions there. Some time back, Nashville became a kind of artists' colony and started attracting tourists to the many local galleries. We parked next to a line of fellow travelers and toured the town. It is quite a tourist trap with all of the shops and eating places you would expect, but mostly with a local slant. I spent some time chatting with a lady who ran a candy shop. She was a little disappointed that more and more of the stores were selling things that were not locally produced.

Back at CEREland we joined our group for a hot dog cook-out complete with the option of cooking your own S'mores (a typical camper dessert made from graham crackers, chocolate, and a roasted marshmallow).

The next morning, after another fine catered breakfast, folks started packing up and going their various ways. We said good-bye to our many new friends, and headed east. Since we had to get the Big Turtle to it's resting place in the Woodhaven pole barn, we took a different route back. We drove south around Cincinnati, and then took route 23 east to Waverly, OH. This road is known as the Applachian Highway, and was promoted by former Ohio Governor Rhodes (who was originally from southern Ohio) to help stimulate the economy of the rural southern part of Ohio. The Appalachian Highway, is one of the most beautiful drives in the state. It is, for the most part, a good quality four-lane road that travels through a very scenic landscape of rolling hills. It crosses route 23 just a few miles south of Waverly, OH so we stopped off at Bristol Village to see what was happening at our future home site.

June, 2006                                                                       and future...

We will be Moving to Bristol Village after Diana retires in December, and we have already contracted for our new home. On this day, while Diana went to her currently favorite swimming hole (the heated indoor pool in the Activities Center) I took a walk to 342 Oak Ave. The old house at the site had already been demolished and the landscape crew was just finishing up the job of removing several large trees and overgrown shrubbery in preparation for constructing our new house. (I can hardly wait for construction to start.)

From Bristol Village we took a scenic route through the Hocking Hills on our way back to Woodhaven. Our first Roadtrek rally had been a nice vacation and a good introduction to some of our fellow Roadtrek travelers.