Happy 4th of July!!

 

 

After 2 busy days of shopping and playing, we decided to spend the 4th just hanging out at the campground pool. 

Nicolas is working on evening out his “farmer tan”!

It was a hot one, and the pool was pretty packed early in the day!  As the 2pm check-out time got closer, though, the crowd started thinning out.  We enjoyed our day at the pool, and didn’t even go out anywhere in the evening to watch fireworks.

On Tuesday, rejuvenated from our relaxing day at home, we headed back into Shipshewana in the morning to check out the famous Flea Market.

People come from all over to visit the Shipshewana Flea Market, but I’m not sure I understand the appeal . . . most items could just as easily be found at a dollar store!

The sun and the heat were brutal, and we made quick work of the rows and rows of vendors offering anything you could possibly imagine.  Tom found some new sunglasses and a grill brush, and a fluorescent yellow T-shirt to wear when he rides his motorcycle.  Bryce found a leather wallet that he liked, and Nicolas had a nametag made up for Casey, with our cell phone number engraved on it.  No major purchases, just a few odds & ends that we couldn’t live without – LOL!

The Wana-Cup is well-known for their shakes and malts

After a quick lunch, we visited a few of the shops we missed on Saturday.  We checked out the recliners at Lambright’s Comfort Chairs, and enjoyed cookies with Mr. Lambright.  I really like the chairs at Lambright, but still need to convince Tom . . .

After cooling off at Lambright’s, we continued on to stock up on bulk food supplies at E & S Market.  This is one of my favorite stores, and I needed to re-stock on many things that I get here . . . oatmeal, brown sugar, dried fruit, spices, candy sprinkles, and many more.  The boys picked up some candy with the money Grandma had given them, so they were happy.

E & S is a popular store for both the tourists and the locals!

By the time we were finished shopping, we were ready to go back to the campground and cool off in the pool.  After a cooling swim, we relaxed in the shade of the camper and enjoyed a late dinner. 

Casey relaxes under Nicolas’ chair . . . and doesn’t want to move, even when he tries to get up!

We were surrounded by an Outbackers Rally (owners of Keystone Outback RVs), so we joined them for their campfire, where we learned all about the complicated toll freeways systems of Illinois and New York.  I’m sure glad Michigan hasn’t gone that route to raise money yet!

The weather this week sure has been picture-perfect!  hot and sunny during the day, but cool enough at night to turn off the A/C and open the windows!  Love it!

4th of July Fun with Family

Amish buggies parked on the streets of Shipshewana

We had a couple of reasons why we wanted to come here to Amish country this week – one was to get back to some of our favorite shops, and the other was to be close to the campground where 2 of my sisters have seasonal sites, so we could spend some time with them.

On Saturday, we made plans to meet up with them in Shipshewana, and Tom and the boys and I got an early start so we could make a couple of stops first.  1st stop was for breakfast – rather than eating in the RV, we decided we we check out the ‘Rise ‘n’ Roll’.  We’ve driven by numerous times, and never stopped . . . now I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to drive by without stopping again!  YUM! They have the BEST donuts!!

MMMMM . . . breakfast of champions!

Completely stuffed, our next stop was going to be at Lambright Comfort Chairs so Tom could see their recliners, but they aren’t open on Saturday, so we’ll have to come back during the week.  Next was Yoder Popcorn, where we stocked up on both microwave and air-popper popcorn.  They have the BEST popcorn!  There were 2 couples in there, visiting from Wisconsin, and they were taking home a 50 lb. bag of popcorn, along with several other smaller bags!

Yoder Popcorn has several varieties of kernels, and they are all really good!

We made a couple of other quick stops to look for some trailer parts Tom needs, and then it was time to meet up with my family.  We had planned to meet at Jo-Jo’s Pretzels in the Davis Mercantile . . . too bad we were still full from those donuts!  Oh well, another place we’ll have to visit during the week!

My sister, Diane, and brother-in-law, Danny, with Nick & Bryce

Another sister, Deby, and brother-in-law, Charlie

Another sister, Sandi, and my Mom with Tom

(Are you sensing a food theme??!!  It’s one of our favorite reasons to visit Shipshewana!)

After everybody finished their pretzels, we split up – the guys to check out “guy stuff”, and the girls to hit the quilt shops and other crafty shops!  I forgot to get any pictures in the shops, but Diane did, so you can hop over to Quiltin’ Dreams and check them out.  It was well into the 90s on Saturday, so after a few hours of walking through shops, we were ready to check out one of Shipshewana’s newest merchants, featuring shaved ice.  YUM!

Shaved ice really hits the spot on a 95 degree day!

We needed to get to the meat store before they closed at 5pm, so it was time to meet back up with the guys.  The Yoder Meat & Cheese Shoppe has the best grain-fed meat, and we stocked up meat to take homes, as well as some beef snack sticks that Tom and the boys love.  After the meat store, they all were headed to the Yoder Department Store, but we needed to run back to the campground to feed Casey and let her out for a bit, before meeting back up for dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus (Are you wondering how we could possibly eat dinner after all the snacking we did all day!?!).  Since nobody was starving, we opted to eat on the Menu side of the restaurant, rather than the Family Style side, where we could have smaller meals and still have room for pie!

After dinner, Deb and Charlie headed back to their campground, because they needed to stop at the grocery store on the way back.  Diane , Danny, Sandi &  my Mom stopped at our campground for a little bit, and checked out the modifications that we made to the RV last year, before heading back to their campground.  My Mom and Sandi were spending the night, and we were heading over there on Sunday to spend the day.

On Sunday, after mass at St. Joseph in White Pigeon, MI, we headed over to Manapogo Park to spend the day.  My niece, Kelly and her fiance, Josh came up for the day, also.  It was a relaxing day – just sitting around and visiting – except for Charlie, who was puttering around all day, planting flowers and putting together whirligigs that he bought in Shipshewana!  Danny took Tom, the boys, Grandma, Kelly and Josh out on his boat, where they went for a swim (intentionally), and almost sent Grandma into the water (unintentionally) when they hit a big wave!

After their swim, they gathered back at Diane’s trailer to play cards – “Sh__ on your Neighbor” – Bryce’s favorite game!

The card sharks were having a blast!

It was another day of food, with a big BBQ for dinner and s’mores and pudgy pies on the fire later.

Diane’s giant marshmallows were a big hit – so were the blueberry pies!

Casey even got to go with us today, and even though we had to keep her separated from Lola & Roxie (Kelly’s Yorkies), they had fun “talking” back and forth at each other.

Casey relaxing in the shade of the tree

We had a great day, but by evening we were getting tired and it was time to head back to our “home”.  Deby & Charlie were taking Mom home, too, so they were getting packed up and ready to leave.  We said our good-byes until we see everybody again at Kelly & Josh’s wedding in early August, and Nicolas took the wheel for the drive back to Eby Pines (getting in some of his ‘night driving’ requirement!).  We arrived safely back at our campground, watching all the fireworks in the distance, with only a few hundred bugs splattered on the truck’s windshield!

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!