The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amassed one of the world's most extensive musical collections.
Elkhart County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the county's population was 207,047. The county seat is Goshen. Elkhart County is part of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is also considered part of the broader region of Northern Indiana known as Michiana, and is 20 miles (32 km) east of South Bend, Indiana, 110 miles (180 km) east of Chicago, Illinois, and 150 miles (240 km) north of Indianapolis, Indiana. The area is referred to by locals as the recreation vehicle (RV) capital of the world and is known for its sizable Amish and Old Order Mennonite population.
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located 15 miles (24 km) east of South Bend, Indiana, 110 miles (180 km) east of Chicago, Illinois, and 150 miles (240 km) north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area, in a region commonly known as Michiana. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. Despite the shared name and being the most populous city in the county, it is not the county seat of Elkhart County; that position is held by the city of Goshen, located about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Elkhart.
Wakarusa is a town in Harrison and Olive townships in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,758 at the 2010 census.
A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans, fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, and truck campers.
Forest River Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles, cargo trailers, utility trailers, pontoon boats, and buses.
A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which offers mobile living accommodation.
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tours of the spaceport. The "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit contains the Atlantis orbiter and the Shuttle Launch Experience, a simulated ride into space. The center also provides astronaut training experiences, including a multi-axial chair and Mars Base simulator. The visitor complex also has daily presentations from a veteran NASA astronaut. A bus tour, included with admission, encompasses the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center. There were 1.7 million visitors to the visitor complex in 2016.
Airstream is an American brand of caravan easily recognized by the distinctive shape of its rounded and polished aluminum coachwork. This body shape dates back to the 1930s and is based on the Bowlus Road Chief, an earlier all-aluminum travel trailer designed and built by Hawley Bowlus, the same designer and engineer who also oversaw the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis.
The Travco motorhome was an aerodynamic Class A recreational vehicle built on a Dodge chassis from 1964 until the late 1980s. The Travco design originally emerged as a 1961 model called the "Dodge Frank Motor Home" and marketed with the assistance of the Chrysler Corporation, being the maker of its chassis. 131 were produced the first year, with an average price tag of $9000. The Travco/Dodge Motor Home design and fiberglass body were refinements by Ray Frank to the original Frank Motor Home, a conventional box-type design based on the Dodge chassis and built in Brown City, Michigan from 1958 to 1962. Ray Frank, founder of Frank Industries, also coined the term "motorhome" and went on to develop Xplorer Motorhomes. Frank has been inducted into the RV/MH Hall of Fame & Museum as the father of the motorhome.
ElDorado is an American manufacturer of cutaway buses, owned by Forest River, with its headquarters and main factory in Salina, Kansas.
Thor Industries, Inc. is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles (RVs). The company sells towable and motorized RVs through its subsidiaries brands including Airstream, Heartland RV, Jayco, Livin Lite RV, and others. The company's headquarters is in Elkhart, Indiana. It has manufacturing facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Idaho, and Oregon.
Northern Indiana is a region of the U.S. State of Indiana, including 26 counties which border the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio. Northern Indiana is also considered part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis. The area is generally classified into other sub-regions; Northwest Indiana is closely tied with Chicago economically, culturally, and politically and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The north central region centers on South Bend metropolitan area, with economic connections to southwest Michigan. Northeast Indiana is centered on the Fort Wayne metropolitan area.
The Ford Airstream is a concept car built by Ford that made its debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The Ford Airstream is a retro-futuristic crossover utility vehicle that was inspired by the classic Airstream recreational vehicle trailers built since the 1930s. The modern Ford Airstream concept includes a plug-in hybrid hydrogen fuel cell drive system, called HySeries Drive, that operates exclusively on electrical power. Ford calls the Ford Airstream Concept "a futuristic look at crossovers" as "modern touring vehicle(s)" for recreational travelers. The concept vehicle was designed in cooperation with Airstream, a division of Thor Industries. Design and name was possibly influenced by the Ford Aerostar.
Winnebago Industries, Inc. is an American manufacturer of motorhomes, a type of recreational vehicle (RV), in the United States. In 2018, the company expanded into motorboat manufacturing with the acquisition of Chris-Craft Corporation. Winnebago has also manufactured light-to-medium utility vehicles as well as other products. The company is named after Winnebago County, Iowa, where it used to be headquartered. The county is named after the Native American tribe who have historically lived in the area. During the 1970s and 1980s, Winnebago Industries depended on Native American history and traditions in naming their products, for example "Chieftain" and "Brave." They also used Native American iconography and patterns in their designs and period advertisements.
The Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) is an international organization of families who own and enjoy the use of recreational vehicles. Since 1963, FMCA has issued more than 500,000 memberships to families who look to the association as their source of information about all facets of RV ownership and travel. FMCA is a member-owned association that maintains its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and employs a full-time office staff. FMCA is governed by volunteer officers who are elected from within the ranks of the association.
Holiday Rambler Corporation is an American corporation which primarily manufactures recreational vehicles. It was founded in 1953. In 1961, Holiday Rambler’s introduction of aluminum body framing ushered in a new era of lighter, stronger and more durable recreational vehicles (RVs). This aluminum frame (Alumaframe) became the standard for lighter and stronger RVs for 40 years. Holiday Rambler was also responsible for many firsts; built-in refrigerators, holding tanks and aerodynamic radiused corners. As Holiday Rambler moved into motorhomes, they were the first with tag axles and the kitchen slide-out revolutionized "interior engineering" in the field. Holiday Rambler was sold to Harley-Davidson in 1986 and later in 1996 to the Monaco Coach Corporation where its future, then under Navistar International Corp., was difficult in 2010 as it was for most motorhome manufacturers.
Heartland RVs is an American manufacturer of recreational vehicles located in Elkhart, Indiana. Founded by former Damon Corp. CEO Brian Brady in 2003, it was purchased and became a subsidiary of Thor Industries in 2010.
A mobile museum is a museum educational outreach program that bring the museum to the people rather than vice versa. Typically they can be in Recreational Vehicles (RVs) or trucks/trailers that drive to schools, libraries and rural events. Their business model is to use grant or donor support, as they goal is to make the museum exhibit accessible to underserved populations. Below are some examples of mobile museums.
Livin Lite RV was an American manufacturer of recreation vehicles sold under the CampLite and QuickSilver brands. It was based in Shipshewana, Indiana. The company was most recently managed by KZ Inc., a subsidiary of Thor Industries. Livin Lite made truck campers, fold-down tent camping trailers, travel trailers, and toy haulers. They were known for their advanced lightweight aluminum construction techniques.
