Shopping in Amish Country

After some crazy backroad detours, courtesy of our GPS, we finally arrived at Eby’s Pines Campground in Bristol, IN, around 1pm yesterday.  It was pretty hot, so after setting up and having some lunch, we took a dip in the pool.  The pool area is really nice, but I didn’t have my camera with me . . . I’ll get some pictures of it later. 

Later in the afternoon, the skies turned dark, and we got some thunder and rain . . . but no major storms, and no wind.  We were even able to keep the awning up all evening.  Our neighbors were having a fire, so we joined them and were introduced to a new campfire snack – toasted banana splits!  You take a banana, cut it open lengthwise, keeping it in the peel, sprinkle mini marshmallows and chocolate chips in it, close it back up, then wrap it in foil and set it in the hot coals.  After a few minutes, they’re ready to eat – with a spoon!  Tom and the boys thought they were an interesting new treat!

This morning it was still raining lightly, on & off, so after a leisurely breakfast, we decided to take a drive.  Tom needed to get some miscellaneous parts and screws for the RV, so we first went into White Pigeon, MI to Bontrager’s RV Surplus.

This is the main building, where we found all the hardware we were looking for – they also have furniture and appliances in here

This is a really big RV Surplus, and we had fun just wandering around the buildings, just looking at all the parts you could buy.  Tom found some nuts and bolts he can use in building his mounting rig for the motorcycle, and a new plastic clip for our sliding wardrobe doors.  I want to find something that will hold open my cabinet doors over the couch, so we spent quite a bit of time looking through all the available hinges and latches.  In the end, we bought a couple, but back at the RV, it doesn’t look like either are going to do the trick.  Oh well, still looking . . .

In here we found lots of fabric, and wood trim pieces

 

We saw this building as we were driving out – and didn’t even get in there!

After lunch, Tom was reading the Amish Country book, and found the Guggisberg Cheese Factory in Middlebury.  There is also one in Millersburg, OH, and the founder came from Switzerland and invented baby swiss cheese.  It says on their website that he was looking to create a cheese that would appeal the the less-refined American palate! 

I just had to get a picture of the “cheesey” bag!

We enjoyed lots of samples, and brought home some Original Baby Swiss and some Amish Creamery Cheese, along with some beefstick and homemade peanut brittle – snacks!

As we were driving to the cheese factory we past an interesting little amish market, and we just had to stop on our way back.

Lots of beautiful plants in front of the Dutch Country Market

The amish proprietor was very welcoming, and encouraged us to sample man of the treats he had to offer, including giant jelly beans, homemade peanut butter, and homemade candies.  We found ourselves taking home some of his wife’s special-recipe peanut butter spread, her homemade noodles, and his specialty – Happy Salt!  It’s a mixture of onion, garlic, salt and other spices that smelled really good.  I also bought a quart of home-grown tomatoes (in early July – I couldn’t believe it!), and they were delicious!

Before we left, I had to get Bryce to stand on the tailgate of the truck to get a picture of his Quilt Square Garden – the first I’ve seen this year!

Quilt Square Garden at the Dutch Country Market

Back at the camper, we had some ribs for dinner with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.  I must tell you, these were the best ribs I have ever made – I had read a recipe somewhere that said to cook them in Dr. Pepper, so I tried it.  I’m not sure what it did, but they were SO tender and tasty!

The rain has finally moved on now, so we’re going to have a campfire tonight.   Tomorrow we’re meeting my Mom and my sisters and brothers-in-law in Shipshewana, where we’ll “shop ‘til we drop” and then go to dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus.  YUM!

Internet is $5/day here, so I probably won’t be back online again until Monday/Tuesday.  Speaking of the $5 internet, my current subscription is going to expire in about 15 minutes, so I had better get this post published!