In October we covered most of three states: Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee. We moved from Sparta Il., to Fort Knox, Ky., and stayed there for 10 days. During this time we toured a good part of Northern Kentucky, enjoying the sites and tastes of this area. There are a great number of adventures to take part in in this part of the country. We visited a bourbon distillery, wineries, Mammoth Cave National Park, and a number of Kentucky towns with their wonderful old homes and buildings. Many of the towns are going to great efforts to restore their downtown areas and by all appearances are quite successful in their efforts.

We then moved to Indiana, staying in a nice park in Jamestown, which is just west of Indianapolis. We were in the area of the Covered Bridge Festival, a gigantic flee market and food fest that takes place every year in mid-October. The leaves in this area were starting to turn, so the views were spectacular. The sounds and smells of fall were everywhere, with farmers in the fields harvesting the corn and beans. There was a farmer in the RV Park who was able to answer our questions on harvesting methods and equipment. The modern equipment is highly technical with GPS, and moisture sensors are installed in the combines.

Next we moved to Nappanee, Ind., to the Newmar Factory to have some much needed work done on our coach. We were there for five nights and with the coach in the shop all day we enjoyed the local area. This is the heart of Indiana Amish country, so there were horsedrawn buggies and people on bikes everywhere. They have special horse parking areas at the grocery stores, as well as at most shopping areas. We were able to visit one of the tourist attractions and learn a lot about the Amish way of life. Again, the leaves in this area were at their peak, so we were able to enjoy the fall colors. We took in a tour of the Newmar factory and enjoyed seeing how the coaches were made. They are producing about 15 coaches a week now, one of the few who are producing anything.

Our coach work was completed on Friday and we moved on Saturday morning back to Fort Knox. We spent three nights there resupplying before moving on to the Nashville, Tenn., area. We enjoyed this area immensely as the leaves were at their peak when we arrived; however, many have now fallen as there was a rain and wind storm last Friday.

We do not normally enjoy the large cities and so have avoided the downtown area of Nashville. We have enjoyed the rural areas surrounding the city. Again, the small and medium size towns have done a remarkable job of restoring and maintaining their downtown areas. Most towns have some type of square in the central district, which has been revitalized, and most of the store fronts are occupied.

Tomorrow is moving day, so we head to eastern Tennessee and the Great Smokey Mountains.