Describe a factory tour or other type of tourist excursion you’ve enjoyed during your travels.
Whether it’s a planned stop or an unexpected discovery off the beaten path, many attractions can be educational or fun — or both. Check out several described by readers below:
We are proud owners of a 2017 Tiffin Allegro Open Road 32SA. This past July we took an eye-opening trip to the Tiffin motorhome factory in Red Bay, Alabama (www.tiffinmotorhomes.com). They make an average of 12 coaches a day at the plant. It was amazing to see the detailed process of factory workers crafting handmade cabinets, making the massive slideouts, assembling the 5 miles of wiring that go into a motorhome, and working as a team to install the fiberglass roof from a suspended cable system. It typically takes up to six weeks to complete this process for each coach. The tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours, and we all wore headsets and safety glasses. Two exceptional tour guides explained the process. This is a great way for all Tiffin owners to learn how their coach was made.
Janet Duvall, F467121
Jacksonville, Florida
Every year we visit Hershey’s Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania (www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld). In the 1990s the Hershey tour actually went into the factory, where you watched workers assemble the products. In recent years it has become a factory tour ride, with animation and film clips of the products being made. Hershey’s Chocolate Tour is still a great ride, with free samples of candy at the end. Hershey’s Chocolate World is open almost every day of the year, in the sweetest place on earth. Free RV parking is available. Our family visits this “world” twice a year to stock up on our candy treats. Hersheypark, an amusement park, is nearby.
Richard Cicchetti, F387705
Plymouth, Massachusetts
While volunteering as campground hosts at Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, Colorado, we took a day trip to nearby Boulder and the Celestial Seasonings plant. Located at 4600 Sleepytime Drive in Boulder, the free tour gets you up close and personal with all things tea. Free samples are included in the tour (www.celestialseasonings.com).
Elaine Overby, F447845
St. Johns, Florida
Many years ago, we visited the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, California, and I have never forgotten the awe I felt. To see what a simple man did with simple tools beginning in 1906 was amazing. Baldassare Forestiere was a Sicilian immigrant who bought land in Fresno, California. Lacking refrigeration, he dug a root cellar to store his food. As the summers were hot, he started taking his afternoon siesta there. Eventually, he expanded his underground dwelling to encompass several acres. He grafted citrus trees and planted them in such a way that his harvest lasted longer than trees grown aboveground. Architectural and agricultural students come to study his cellar and the trees he grew there. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and the list of California Historical Landmarks. Adult admission was $17 in 2017, and tours are seasonal (www.undergroundgardens.com).
Jaimee L. McCoy, F137433
Stagecoach, Nevada
With our granddaughter in tow, we had a good visit at Hammond’s Candy Factory in Denver, Colorado, “Where Sweet Dreams Come True” (www.hammondscandies.com). All mixing, cooking, pulling, and shaping is accomplished by skilled candy makers rather than machines, except for a unique late-1800s device that shapes ribbon candy, but even that is hand-cranked. Buckets of samples are available at the start of the tour and, of course, there is a retail gift shop at the end. We watched candy canes being made. The layers of candy material, filling, and wrapping are shaped into a large armload and first rolled into a shape about like a barber pole. The mix is hot at this point, to keep it flexible, and the workers wear cotton gloves. Then it is stretched and rolled, pulled into the proper diameter, cut to length, crooked, and laid out on a canvas-covered table to cool.
A.J. Oxton, F85558
Tonopah, Arizona
Future questions:
- Have you or a traveling companion ever forgotten something important when leaving on an RV trip? Explain.
- What type of campground do you prefer (RV resort, commercial campground, national or state park, U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management, etc.)? Please share why.