Amish Country . . . horses, and more horses!

We left western Michigan last week, and headed south into Indiana for a few days.  Nicolas has been waiting all year to get back to the Albanese Confectionary – to get his gummi bears!

We had thought we would stay near Indiana Dunes for a few days, but the weather wasn’t looking too good for the week ahead, and we weren’t very impressed with the campground we had picked out, either.

 

We decided to move on down the road to the “Last Resort” and just stay one night – then continue on to Shipshewana for the next 2 nights. Even if it rained, there would be plenty to do in Shipshewana!

This campground wasn’t a whole lot better than the other one (and just as expensive – $43!), but at least we were parked on gravel if it rained . . . and it did!

 

 

After getting set up, we headed out to Albanese . . . Nicolas needed to get his “fix” and we had orders to fill, too!  As we traveled west, we suddenly found ourselves in a downpour!

This was our view out the windshield for the next 10 minutes!

I think I would have stopped and pulled over, but Tom kept moving, with Nicolas and I spotting the side of the road for him . . . thankfully, we were moving towards the weather, so the more we drove, the sooner we got through it!

We finally drove out of the rain, and there were flooded roads all over!  The ditches were full, the median was flooded, and lots of the cross streets, too!  Luckily, we were on a main highway, and the water drained off pretty well.

We had arrived!

We found everything we had come for, and headed back to the campground for dinner.  After the storms passed, we had a beautiful sunset, and I took a walk around the park to get some pictures.

Our site --

Sunset over the lake --

After the storms had passed, it turned into a beautiful evening!

The next morning, we packed up and headed east again.  Our destination was Shipshewana, but we stopped in Nappanee, at Camp Newmar, so Tom could talk to some folks about motorhomes.  I spent the day working while he and Nick shopped motorhomes and went on the factory tour . . . again . . . for about the 5th time!  How much can it change??

When they were done, we continued on to the Shipshewana South Campground.  We’ve stayed here every year for about the last 4 or 5 years, so we quickly got parked and set up after we arrived.

We had some dinner and took a drive into town to see what was open – according to the magazine we picked up in the office, many of the shops were open until 8pm, including Jo-Jo’s Pretzels and the Hawaiian Ice Shop.  Unfortunately, the magazine didn’t have its facts straight (come to think of it, this same magazine made us 30 minutes late for mass last year!!), and everything was closed!  Oh well, pretzels and Hawaiian ice will have to wait until tomorrow!

Back at the campground, we took a walk and met some of the neighhhh-bors!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were more horses on the other side of the campground, too.

Tom joined a group at the community firepit for the evening, and I got some laundry done.

When I was done with work on Thursday, we did our normal shopping (E&S Bulk Store, Yoder Meat Store, Yoder Popcorn Store, Guggisburg Cheese Factory) and finally got our snacks – pretzels and Hawaiian ice, and we even managed to tour another motorhome factory!

One of the manufacturers that we are interested in is Travel Supreme.  They went out of business during the downturn, but were purchased by Jayco and are now being manufactured under the Entegra nameplate (since about 2010).  We probably won’t buy anything that new, but it was nice to see how they are made, anyway.  Nice coaches!

After dinner, we took a drive to Middlebury, where every Thursday night there is a “Cruise-in” at the Essenhaus. 

We weren’t expecting much in this Amish community, but we were surprised when we arrive and saw the lawn and parking lots filled with hot rods and muscle cars!

It ended at 8pm, and there were already a few cars leaving when we arrived at 7:00, so we had to move pretty quickly through the cars!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There always seems to be a row of Mustangs to entice Nicolas . . .

and a VW Bug for Bryce!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this little camper was adorable!!

There were some really old cars, too . . .

 

and they looked great!

As we walked through the displays, we could hear many of the cars starting up and heading out, and every once in a while, somebody would do a burnout as they left the driveway. 

 

Tom and the boys headed out to the edge of the road to watch . . . and encourage the drivers to show off a little!

 

 

 

Some of them did – mostly younger guys!

But most of them were just out to enjoy a cruise on this beautiful evening!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We weren’t the only ones out enjoying the evening!

It was another great visit to Shipshewana . . . and we didn’t even get any rain these 2 days!!