May 15-25, 2017
AMISH COUNTRY
Driving from W.
Virginia towards Pennsylvania, I noticed a change in the landscape. This included different types of trees, it was less
mountainous and in some parts, there was more traffic.
Working our way towards Intercourse, Pennsylvania (yes, that's where
we'd be staying for the next ten days),
the green hills soon turned into farmland. Entering Amish country, soon we'd be dodging
Amish families in their horse-drawn buggies on the road towards our RV spot. I
was excited to live (for 10 days) among their culture as I was intrigued by
the admirable lifestyle. Our RV park was
an adult only park with not many sites and our site was about ten feet away
from an Amish farm. Our new neighbors
were outside visiting with other retired friends but welcomed us warmly. A lot of RVer's come to this spot each
spring and summer (snowbirds) and over the years some of the regulars got to know our Amish
neighbors quite well. Our Amish neighbor
was Sam and his family has been on this land for generations. He is a hard working farmer where he and his
wife raised six children. More about the
Amish ( Sam and his family) later on,
but we were ready to go exploring. A
couple miles down the road was the cute, Amish town of Intercourse with the
majority of the stores being owned by the Amish and/or Mennonites. We bought a delicious pretzel while in town
and across the street was an Amish owned meat store. They carried homemade butter, farm fresh
eggs, fresh chicken, beef and enticing Amish desserts. The parking lot was shared with horses and
buggies and the cashiers in the grocery store were young Amish girls. We continued to explore the surrounding area
which primarily was made up of miles of farmland being worked by Amish men and
their sons. The simple (but lovely)
homes had laundry strewn from the house to the farm, with many road stands
along the way selling farm grown produce and fresh eggs.
Perry and I
discussed our dinner plans for the night and decided to get a bottle of red
wine to go with our meal. The grocery
store (the nearest was 7 miles away) didn't carry any alcohol which was no
surprise considering where we were. The
clerk mentioned we "might" find wine at a local gas station
"market" another 7 miles away.
We didn't mind the beautiful and serene drive to get that bottle of
wine! The drive took us to a quaint town
(once again Amish farmland everywhere)
with rivers and several covered bridges.
I was not minding this peaceful area of Pennsylvania but the next day we
would check out Lancaster (pronounced Lank-is-ter) a population of 60,000.
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| Out of the Appalachians |
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| Sharing the road |
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| A cultural experience |
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| An Amish farmer |
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| The truck parked outside an Amish store |
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| One of over one hundred covered bridges in the area |
We found a park to let the dogs play rewarding
ourselves on this warm day with a beer at a local brewery our friend
recommended. The dogs got a lot of
attention on the patio and our view was of a beautiful private college,
Franklin and Marshall. The dark clouds
were hovering and it was time to head back.
Locals recommended we visit the town of
Lititz with its cute downtown and beautiful parks. Here we found another great park for the dogs
and a delightfully old but busy main street with a well known, century old chocolate
factory. We weren't far from the Hershey
chocolate factory but opted to keep it on the smaller (less populated) side,
visiting the Wilbur chocolate factory instead.
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| Long's Park in Lititz, Pa. |
A park in Lancaster
TRACE ADKINS
GETTYSBURG
The local farm towns
have community sirens that sound if there is a fire (there are quite a few
local brush burns) and this morning I had heard a siren for the first
time. Shortly after, someone pounded on
our door making my heart skip a beat. It
was a local Amish girl selling baked goods.
She was so sweet and we couldn't resist the selection of goodies,
especially "whoopie" pies.
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| The Battle |
Brandon and "The Accident"!
Our trip here in
Pennsylvania was coming to an end and we wanted to pick up postcards in
town. Brandon called us while we were
walking and informed us over Face Time he had just heard from a Tap Room in
Chico about employment. He was excited
to make extra money and needed a haircut before going in to fill out
paperwork. Happy to see his excited face
(via technology) we transferred money to his low college student account. Fifteen minutes later, I received a call from
Brandon but on another number I didn't recognize. "Mom, I was in a car accident"! We had just talked to him! "What? Are
you Ok?" "I don't care about
my body, just my car". He loved his
20 silver Mustang that was now totaled.
"My arm is bleeding and they called an ambulance". This is NOT the kind of call you want to get
when you're 3,000 miles away, making you feel ill and helpless as a
parent. Thank God he wasn't seriously
hurt but did get stitches in his arm, hand and leg. I didn't care about the car, only the well
being of our dear son. (Brandon was spun
around after the other driver ran through a yield sign losing control and
running into a house). The other driver was not hurt and according to the
police report, was clearly at fault and
without insurance!
Getting past the
shock of the accident, the reality sunk in of no insurance of the other driver,
needing a rental car, etc……. I pray for our children's' safety and continued
good health while on this trip and I look at it that my prayers were answered.
Given the speed of the other driver and the fact Brandon's solid Mustang was
totaled, I feel prayers and the car saved him.
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| Once his pride and joy! |
THE AMISH- My limited
knowledge, perspective and reflection!
I admire and respect
what the Amish stand for……..Church going, family oriented, hard working with
very limited resources of the outside technology world. The children don't attend school beyond the
8th grade as the boys work on the fields and the girls teach younger children,
helping around the house.
Pony Boy- Sam, the father/farm-worker
across from us would be out on the field first thing in the morning, coming
home at dusk. Most of his children are
married but the youngest is about ten years old. He helps his Dad on the farm, but each day
rides one of his two ponies. We watched
outside our fifth-wheel, his care-free and dare-devilish ways riding his pony
bareback going so fast that at times I couldn't watch.
Sam- Every day Sam was out farming and
he would hitch up his five "jackass" (half donkey/horse) team right
outside our fifth-wheel. He was dressed
in long pants, long sleeved shirt and a hat (it was hot this week). His roosters would get them up (and others)
early each morning.
The people in
general are very quiet and subdued not having a lot of contact with the outside
world except maybe in retail (baked goods, eggs, candles, etc.). The houses are very conservative with
attached garages containing buggies. The
women and men dress differently than the Mennonites. On Sundays, the Amish families gather and the
children can be seen playing soccer.
Each morning we were awakened by the "Klip-klopping" of
hooves, families going to work or children to school. On Sunday mornings, the
long line of buggies going to church was like a freeway. It's amazing to see how the horses are
unaffected by the cars and trucks on the road and the number of buggies riding
next to traffic. Their buggies do have
turn signals and brakes enabling them to be safe on the roads.
NEXT- MY SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE……..,
NEW JERSEY, THE FINGER LAKES AND WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.
