A Day in Amish Country

The most interesting part of the Escapade for me was our extra HOP event through Amish Country. We got up early and bundled up as it was only in the 30's(burrr) and headed over to the two buses waiting for us. We were each given a bag and told to put our names on it. Hmm, wonder what that is about. So we climbed aboard.
The Amish are very devout in their faith. They believe in the literal interpretation and application of Scripture as the Word of God. They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life.

I think when most think of the Amish, they picture them driving their horse and buggies along the streets.

Our guide described how the most important thing in their lives is God and second is family. They are a very close knit society and everyone helps everyone else in the community. Not long after she said this we passed an example of this as people gathered to fix a roof.

We stopped at a buggy shop where the owner not only repairs but builts buggies for the community.

We also stopped at an one room school house. One thing I was surprised about was that the Amish only attend school until 8th grade. In fact, even the people who are chosen to be teachers only have an eighth grade education as well. They don;t forbid children to go on to higher education but they strongly discourage it. Again, they are about keeping it simple and not becoming worldly. Once the teenagers finish their schooling, they are encouraged to explore and act like normal teenagers for a few years when they need to decide whether to join the church or not. If they decide to leave the community at that time, they are not shunned but they can't change their minds and decide to come back later.

We also stopped at a camel farm. They sell the milk in companies in the US where it is often used for medicinal purposes. They also make soap which is suppose to be good for your skin. I bought a bar of mint soap to try.

We stopped at a store that sold products, such as jams, pastas, bread made by the Amish people. We found out what the bags were for. We had bought a loaf of bread and some ham spread. When we went to get back on the bus, we were each given a loaf of bread. Later, we got bags of pasta, jars of jelly, carmel donut holes, and popcorn. 

We made another stop to a house that was built in 1860 which has been lovely restored by the current owners. It was just beautiful down to the smallest details.

They had miniature donkeys which were very cute.

 We had also made a stop in the town of Shipshewana for lunch. Another stop was to see the RV Hall of Fame.in Elkhart. It is an 100,000 square foot museum and library that features a variety of historical recreational vehicles. Near the entrance they had many pictures of these, including a volkswagen bus, which was our first traveling vehicle back when our boys were just babies. We walked through the large rooms exploring rv's that went back to the earliest days of automobiles.

1913 Earl Travel Trailer with Model T Ford

1958 Airstream

1935 Covered Wagon Travel Trailer

Tear Drop Trailer

1966 Mustang Trailer

We finished up the day with an Amish supper. We all sat at large tables where the food was passed along in large bowls of pot roast, chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing. Then pies for desert. Everything was delicious and we had a really great day.

4 Wheeling in Moab

We have been to Moab in September of 2011 where we visited the two large National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands. They are known for their amazing red rock rock formations. It is also very popular, especially in the spring for jeep trips, mountain biking and rafting. This time we are here to meet up with a lunch of fellowe jeepers at an Escapees Outdoor Hop where we will go on a number of off road trips and a day of rafting,  We are staying at OK RV Park, a commercial park a few miles south of the town of Moab. Nancy and Terry, our friends from Jojoba are here. In fact when we were driving here from Goblin Valley SP, we got a phone call that they were right behind us in their Lazy Daze motor home. We had been at another outdoor hop with Pat and Dennis, who are leading the four wheel drive trips. Kay and Steve are the headers of the event. We came in Sunday as jeeps and motorhomes streamed out of Moab. Their was a hugh event the week before with thousands of people attending. There must have been traffic jams off road as well as through town. Lots of us came in early on Sunday with the rest coming in on Monday. This worked out for us as I had to go to a dentist on Monday. I was flossing and I heard something hit the wall.
Oh no, I knew what it was. A crown just popped out of my month. So Monday morning I went to a local dentist who was able to fit me in and reglue the crown back in. The dentist and his staff were just great.
Monday afternoon we had the first of our happy hours after everyone got registered. We had drinks and snacks and got to know each other. The headers went over where we would be going on our first run on Tuesday.
The next day we met at a nearby Shell to gas up and took off on the road to Gemini Bridges. We had taken this drive when we were here before but went in the opposite way. We stopped as we got to the unpaved road and aired up and then took off up the hill with beautiful scenery.

Lots of interesting rock formations. We stopped occasionally to take pictures and stretch our legs. Savannah said I want out too.

Oops Joe was trying to get through a tough spot and we got stuck. Most of the jeeps have been raised and there are only a few of us that are standard set ups. The jeep in front of us had problems but ended up going around an alternate section. We went ahead anyway and didn't take the right line. Terry got to use his winch and pulled us out.

We stopped for some lunch and then headed to the Gemini Bridges for a short walk. The Gemini Bridges are two alcove like arches that sit side by side. 

We continued on our way and finished up our run. Back at the campground,, we had happy hour and a number of us went to dinner at the Branding Iron.
Tomorrow a rafting trip down the Colorado River. Stay tune.