Pretty Day for a Drive

Saturday p.m.

We had a nice day today. It finally warmed up and was beautiful as this pictures shows. I think the colors here are much prettier than in Brown County this year.

We headed towards Shipshewana along the back roads. Drove a ways along the river and then under the colorful trees then we came to the Bonneyville Mill Park.

 The Mill itself was built in 1832 and is Indiana’s oldest continuously operating grist mill.

It is built on the Little Elkhart River and has a horizontal water wheel which can produce larger quantities of horsepower than the traditional vertical water wheel.

In the 1930s it was used to supply hydroelectric power to 45 customers. Bought by the County in 1969 it continues to produce flour from May to October. It grinds corn, wheat, rye and buckwheat slowly and methodically using the power of water.

#1 line shafts provide power to equipment on 2nd floor
#5  Elevator legs transfer grain after it has been cleaned
#9 Hopper scale bin  - used to weigh grain or store it

The Mill is part of a big park area.

Across the street is a big windmill and the winding river with lots of trails and small waterfalls. Really a pretty area.

In front of it is a beautiful dahlia garden. Flowers are still blooming all colors and just glorious.
As we continued down the highway closer to Amish country we saw the “horse and buggy” road sign, then the road apples and then the buggies.

Hadn’t eaten breakfast – still haven’t been to the market – so we stopped at a McDonalds to grab a bite and saw these parked in the lot.

For some reason I never thought of the Amish eating in McDonalds. I remember when we were in Pennsylvania and saw the buggy parking at the Wal*Mart. Don’t know whether it shows my ignorance or what. And even more surprising one of the buggies belonged to a couple at least as old as us. (young 70s)