A Short Visit to Shipshewana, IN

Saturday p.m.

Didn’t get quite so cold last night – didn’t hear the heater come on at all.
The part of Alfie that is waxed gleams like a mirror.
Sky is blue full of puffy white clouds so we decided to take a ride. Stopped first for breakfast. Sometimes I wonder about people. From the time we sat down in the booth until we got up to leave the guy in the booth in front of us was on his cell phone. Never put it down once. He wasn’t loud or obnoxious about it – it’s just that I could see him. I don’t think he ate one bite.
The Driver keeps complaining that I have too many blogs and it could confuse people - so I've been toying with a new blog - maybe try out WoodPress. BUT Have to figure out a name for it....Tried a few out while we were eating. How about "Mantra of the Golden Years - Recalculate!"  or  "Our Travels and Tribulations"  or "Old Farts on the Go"  What do you think?
Started out for Shipshewana – found another elk and The Driver looped back so I could get a picture of it.

It sure is pretty country here when the sky is blue and the sun is out. Lots of green fields, white houses and red barns.

 Notice the little outhouse looking building closer to the street.

It is a private phone booth. The modern Amish realize the importance of a phone for business so they have phones, but not in the house. They are in little unheated, unairconditioned no seat buildings. Can’t get comfortable while talking, strictly for business.
Two approved modes of transportation.

Almost a traffic jam. Three buggies (one is in front of the one on the right) and four cars - count us too.

I told The Driver to turn the wrong way at the corner. So we had to double back. We drove up this dirt road past big farms. So pretty.

Also passed this school house.

Another phone booth.

You can always tell when you close to a large Amish population. Just check out the apples on the sides of the road. 

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Going into downtown Shipshewana. There is a big campground right around here too.

Parked for a while to walk around. First we went into Davis Mercantile. All kinds of shops in there. Of course I found a quilt shop – I love to look at them. Just a few of them on display.

The Driver likes this kind with the shaded colors (I’m starting on one at home – not this pattern but with the colors.)

Went into a shop with all kinds of musical instruments. Wonder how long it would take to learn to play this one.

Thought this sign was cute.

The Driver sat down on one of the benches and went in and out the stores. Love this statue in the hallway.

A couple of fabric shops there – I had to restrain myself. How about this fabric made into a toaster cover. Love it. Reminds me of my childhood.

Another set of shops. The bike advertises a café.

Actually managed to get out of town without spending any money.
Such a beautiful day out. From there we went across the farm lands to the Goshen area.

A little warmer here - no frost on ground

Sat a.m.
The Driver is still sleeping!  It didn't get so blasted cold here last night, I don't think the heater came on at all. But we did keep the little electric one running.
If it doesn't rain we plan on going out and about just enjoying the countryside. Sure hope the guy gets here early to work on the wax job - If not we'll be here well into next week.

Visiting Middlebury, IN in Amish Country

Friday a.m.

Another cold night. Repair man is here checking the hot water heater. Just hearing a lot of “Hummms” Not encouraging. Turned out okay – just a little thing that wasn’t taken care of when dewinterized. So now we have hot water.
Took a short drive just down the road a piece. First through little town of Bristol, IN. Just a building there.

Then on to Middlebury where we had to pull into the fire station parking lot to avoid a detour – like the fire hydrant.

And this one is just down the street.

 I’ve noticed a few of these painted elks as we’ve been driving around but this is the only one I’ve been able to get a picture. We've seen different animals in different cities Los Angeles had angels. One town in oregon had bears.

Old building on the main street in Middlebury.

Again sharing the road. Most of the buggies we've seen the last few days have been these enclosed ones.

They were having a Fall Festival in town so of course we had to park and visit it. Right across the street from where we parked. Interesting combination for a store. Yarn and Hardware.

And we went in – it was a big place – a full ½ block long. These were decorating the wall.

Had a key made for the door of Alfie so I can carry just that key and not a whole ring of them. And The Driver found kites. Did he buy one? Need you ask? Will have to wait until we get to Mexico to get a picture of it in flight.
Lots of decorations and flowers along the street.

They smelled really good

Also a couple of buildings have quilt murals on them.

The Gazebo in the plaza where the festival was.

We followed our noses to the food vendors. I’ve been talking about corn dogs for a while so I had to get one. Didn’t taste as good as I remembered. The Driver had a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich, didn’t taste as good as it smelled. Walked around some. The Driver buying some farm fresh tomatoes. They smell so good.

Tried to talk Bill into buying one of these – he didn’t see why I needed one.

Passed the buggy parking on our way back to Alfie.

It never warmed up today but the breeze wasn’t so strong so didn’t feel quite as cold. The guy was at Alfie finishing washing him and got started on the wax job. What a difference. Alfie looks almost new.
Watching the truck race and writing this. #18 is running 2nd. Well he ended up 5th - bad pit stop. What a difference 2 seconds can make.
Just got a text message from oldest son about the crash at the air race in Reno. There have been a lot of them this year. Seems like there are a lot more tragedies both human and natural this year.
Tomorrow we may go to Shipshewana if the weather holds.

Visiting Wakarusa, Indiana

Thursday p.m.

Was a nice day today after a cold start. Well anyway I thought it was nice – low 60s – The Driver thought it was pretty cold. Really bothers his leg.
Praise be – the washer/waxer guy is actually here. He has washed the back, right side and front of Alfie and has been here about 4 hours. Glad he is paid by the job and not the hour. He does an excellent job though.
This morning we went out to breakfast then drove a ways south to visit Wakarusa. Just a little town but interesting. We were there last year but it was on a weekend day and everything was closed. Driving into town.

The main area of town is just four corners. This is one of the old buildings. The front of it is stamped metal that has been painted. As you can see one section needs to be repainted soon. A few of the buildings were the stamped metal.

One of the reasons we went there was to go into the Wakarusa Hardware store to see the tin ceiling and wall of drawers.

The hardware store has been open since 1904. The wall has over 1,000 drawers.

Can you imagine building this?

There are a couple of ladders that can be pushed along the wall to reach all the high drawers.

Then down a half block to check out the Quilt Garden that is here. In the area are 18 quilt gardens – each quilt garden has hundreds of plants that form a quilt square. Really pretty to see, but wish there had been a ladder to get a good over view.

Had to stand on a bench for this shot.

There are also several quilt murals around the area. This particular one is different and replicated every year into a Queen size quilt that is raffled off.

This is just one of the doorways in town.

Then around the corner to Wakarusa’s Dime Store – has been in business since 1907 and now sells over 300 kinds of candy. The original owner traveled the county with a pack on his back selling his wares from farm to farm before opening the store. They are known for their Jumbo Jelly Beans – all kinds of flavors

Talk about a kid in a candy store - just a very small part of the store

And of course I had to buy some. – They are really big – one is enough.

This is a “quilt” made out of jelly beans. It is called Grandma’s flower garden, is 4’ x 8’ and is a 9 patch pattern. There are 1600 Jumbo jellybeans, 7040 smaller jellybeans and took 60 hours to make.

Jellybean Quilt

Saw a lot of candy I remember from my childhood that I’d forgotten about. Just a couple of pictures. My Great Uncle used to give me these candy sticks when we visited his grocery store.

Bubble Gum Cigars – Oh Yah.

And Candy Cigarettes! Are they PC and more? We used to think we looked pretty sophisticated with them.

Eat your heart out Joan Crawford

And lots of old time soda pop.

Wakarusa is also the home of Monaco/Holiday Rambler RVs. Drove out around their plant. Just some of the stock sitting in a lot.

New transportation to old transportation. Share the road.

Just a pretty picture of the countryside.

Then back to the real world to WalMart to get a few more things we forgot.

It’s now 8:00 and Joel the washer guy just left – he’ll be back tomorrow to finish washing then start waxing.
I actually cooked dinner tonight – wow – then remembered we didn’t have any hot water to wash dishes – Yah I know – I just heated some in a pan. Can’t imagine how those women crossed the plains in covered wagons.
After the repair man comes tomorrow I hope we get out and about again. Tonight is supposed to be down in the 30s again. Brrrrr. Is it winter already?