September 2026: Our TRIP to visit friends and explore the Entegra and Newmar Factory Tours to decide which motorhome to buy for our following adventures back on the road again.

So, with our Villages housing settled, we started thinking of how we could continue the Roughing It Gently RV Travelogue, and do it more in tune to actual TRAVEL, rather than just having to go from pace to place to solve one problem or another. So now, if without the major expenses of a large diesel pusher motorhome that had so much expenses and offered so little opportunity to travel to places where a large motor home was not allowed, as was the case with our last 2023 Fleetwood Discovery LXE 44B, we intend to change all that and start to enjoy RV'ing once again.

Mary wanted to get back to doing some traveling... and to get away from this excessive Florida heat, as well as to visit our Wyoming friends, who we miss. So it was decided that since our The Villages issues have all been resolved... new house bought and relatively settled into, the first house listed, sold and closed on, and the diesel pusher sold, we would take off to take care of some business in Texas, and visit our friends in Star Valley Ranch WY, and then go to our favorite haunts in Indiana to our meat market at Lowery's in Buchanan MI, and Cheese shops in Shipshewana IN, and while there take a Factory Tour of Newmar in Nappanee IN and of Entegra in Middlebury IN. The trip put on 5,985 miles on the 2022 Ford Explorer XLT, which now has about 20,000 miles.

Newmar
A = Mobile AL, B = Katy TX, C = MHSRV, Alvarado, TX, D = Kemmerer, WY, E = Newmar in Nappanee, Entegra in Middlebury; E&S Sales and Yoder Meat & Cheese in Shipshewana IN and Lowery's Meat in Buchanan, MI, F = Hotel stay in Bowling Green KY and Not Marked Hotel in Millbrook AL

In Alvarado, Motor Home Specialist RV (a Blue Compass dealership they said they had lots of our interested RV to see, but they only had an Entegra 34G and no Newmars. What a disappointment. That's a good way to lose business.

In Kemmerer, WY we missed seeing our friends Darren and Rozz (they were out hunting). However, we met them for lunch in Afton and then saw them again a few days later, when we returned headed back south and east, from a one-week stay at a rented Park Model in Star Valley RV Resort. While at SVRRVR we were able to visit with our other friends Richard & Carolyn Hensel, Brent Shever, and Sue Hazen and the kids (Charly and Red). Jerry Hazen was away hunting. However we had a good 'dog fix' visiting with Charly and Red. We tried to visit with our old neighbors John McDaniel and Karen Ririe, who no longer answer any emails or texts, but there was no answer on their door either. Hopefully they are OK.

Then continuing our trip we stopped in to visit Darren and Rozz Housley, after their hunt and spent two days visiting with them It was a good thing that we had brought then some burgers and brats that they like, because their hunt was uneventful, given all the rain that had been coming down. About a week later they did send us a photo of a good looking Buck with a big rack they took down. So all is well that ends well. We loved seeing them again and spending some time with them. We have a very diverse set of good friends, age wise. Bill calls Darren and Rozz, 'the kids', because they are in their 40s, whereas Jerry and Sue are in their 50s and 60s, compared to us in our mid 70s. It must be our youthful attitude, like Clint Eastwood, who "doesn't let the old man in".

Then on to Indiana we stopped at our favorite Lowery's Meat & Seafood Co in Buchanan MI and restocked on breakfast sausage and brats, then visited Yoder's Meat & Cheese Co. and L&S Sales (where all the Amish shop) in Shipshewana IN. We also visited the Newmar Factory Tour and visited with a Product Manager and visited the Order/Design Center for Newmar, which was very enlightening. The next day we visited the Entegra Factory Tour which, by contrast, was a really big let down. It is actually not really the Entegra Factory, (just called that) as it is no more than the Jayco factory that Jayco shares with Entegra to make their RV there as well. It is the Jayco Factory, which shares its facility with Entegra to build 'some' of their class A gas coaches, but by all appearances they only build and service 'a few' Entegras, compared to the majority being Jayco products. We only saw about 10 Entegras in the factory and none being serviced. Even their Service parking/hookups' area' only had about 15 spaces in it, and only three customers motorhomes were there for service. Even seeing how they build their RVs (Entegras or Jaycos), they are clearly a step (or two) below the Newmars. Another thing that Mary noticed and pointed out is the difference in cleanliness of the factory floor. At Newmar they are constantly brooming the floors and they have these grates in the floor that they sweep all the trash into, with a mechanism to sweep it all the way from one end to the other, so even the grated track stays clean. We estimate that at the end of those sweeping tracks the trash is disposed into a container that can be easily dumped. But at the Jayco/Entegra factory the floors are only swept into trash barrels in areas, not always totally picked up. Actually, while walking the factory floor we were constantly being warned about debris left on the ground. At Newmar there are also marked walkways for people to stay out of dangerous areas; yet at Jayco/Entegra there are none and tours can wander in any area. Newmar does seem to be at a level above that of Jayco/Entegra, as to how they make them, as well as to how reliable they are after the sale.. Among several things that Mary picked up on, for example, is that Entegra (or Jayco) don't do their own painting of the coaches (they outsource it to a non-Entegra or Jayco painting company. So if there is ever an issue with the paint and one takes it to the Entegra plant service department, they would have to refer it to the other company or let a dealer, deal with it. By contrast Newmar service everything of their coaches and services ALL coaches that were ever built at their factory, no matter how old they are. Our tour driver said she has a 2019 Newmar travel tailer that they no longer make and they still service it right there at the factory. Also during the fabrication process, Entegra and Jayco send their wall sections to have the windows and other cut-outs done by another company, which then returns the wall or section built into a storage compartment door as applicable, to be stacked until mounted on the chassis for that model, at the factory. One item that Bill picked up on is that their roofs are rubber coated, like most 5th Wheels, rather than being fiber-glassed and solid like the diesel pushers, which subjects them to easily being scratched/torn by overhead branches, as happened to a 5th-wheel we had.

We timed these visits just right because soon thereafter, on our way back home it started to rain 'hippopotamus and elephants' (not just 'cats and dogs'), just as we started to head back to Florida. The first two days it was just light rain, but by the end of the second day, getting into Alabama and the next day headed home into Florida, all hell broke loose and at times we had to slow to a crawl because visibility was almost a white-out in sections. But, eventually we got back safe and sound.

On the way to Nappanee IN

In Nappanee IN... Mary's Lil' Red Truck at Coppes' Plaza

In Shipshewana IN...

It always amazes us how neat they keep their lawns (and they are BIG lawns)

Love these RED BARNS everywhere...

Our favorite Meat & Seafood Market (Lowery's) in Buchanan MI

Our favorite Meat & Cheese shop in Shipshewana IN... YODER's

Some Amish ride bicycles, so how to tell them apart from Mennonites. IF black pants and white or dark shirts, probably Amish; colored shirts and sometimes khaki pants, probably Mennonites.

A Mennonite buggy with a trailer to carry tractor tires. Mennonites are allowed to use some machinery and dress a little more relaxed than the Amish. Notice this guy's shoe choice (sandals).

Meijer's Market, where Mary finally was able to find and buy her

Hot Dam! Cinnamon Schnapps to mix with her Apple Cider.

She hates it when I take photos of her. I hate it when she gives me THAT look.

A Nappanee Amish couple, typically dressed.

Typical Amish modes of transportation.

An Amish Parking Lot at the supermarket. Not seen in this photo, the horses have a covered canopy to keep them cooler and drier, when the sun is hot or weather is wet.

We made one other "shopping" stop on our way back to Florida, in Red Bay, AL. We discovered Big Star Grocery Store's Deli on our numerous trips to Red Bay to have work done on our Tiffin Phaeton. The Deli makes a Signature Baked Bean recipe that contains ground beef. It is delicious and is one of Bill's favorites. They also smoke pork butt, which is also very yummy. Mary called the Deli on Friday and placed an order for Sunday pick up. We reached out on Sunday, about an hour before we expected to arrive and the response was awesome! "It 's all ready for you!" And it was, 6 containers of baked beans and 2 smoked pork butts. We could definitely recommend this store!