No pictures were allowed at the Jayco tour, but we enjoyed the humorous tour guide who has worked there for twenty years and could answer almost any question. For example, he told us that the work day starts at 5 a.m. in the summer, in order to beat the heat in the non-air-conditioned buildings. (Having good heaters is more important than air-conditioning in northern Indiana.) So most of the workers were just finishing their eight-hour shift as we started our tour. He told us that half of their workers were Amish, and turnover was very low. He was proud that all three of his sons were also working for Jayco.
Since we couldn't go on any other factory tours this week, we did some sight-seeing. We are in the heart of Indiana's Amish country, and Denisa was excited when we had our first buggy sighting on the highway. We love it here!
When in Amish country, we enjoy driving up and down the narrow country lanes to see the neat farmhouses. All of them will be white, and all will have laundry hanging outside on a beautiful afternoon.
We love the sturdy muscled horses used for heavy farm chores,
as well as the quick-footed horses we see pulling the buggies. Can you tell that Denisa loves these horse and buggies?
In our drives in the country we also find some uniquely Amish things--like a road-side lot selling new buggies.
We also saw interesting little houses outside those plain Amish houses. We found out that these are phone shacks. They won't have a telephone inside the house, but sometimes they have to have access to a phone for their business.
We passed an Amish school, and the grassy area around it was filled with the bikes and buggies that the students rode to get to class. These schools are scattered around the countryside, as it is important that they don't have to ride too far from home to get to school. It's not like there is a big yellow school bus to take them to school.
It was fun to see Amish families outside, playing ball in their bare feet. We really like the fact that these children won't be inside playing electronic video games on a beautiful day like today.
We had been given advice on best places to eat, so the first day we had dinner (followed by chocolate-raspberry pie) at the famous Das Dutchman Essenhaus Amish Country Kitchen in Middlebury.
On another day, we ate the combination dinner (with meatloaf, roast beef, AND fried chicken) at the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewana.
Both served up good comfort food with amazing service, and they both had great home-made bread with the meal. Interestingly, both Amish restaurants set the table with squeeze bottles of apple butter and Amish peanut butter. We can report that both are delicious. When we read the fine print on the peanut butter bottle, we saw that one of the ingredients was marshmallow cream. No wonder it was so tasty!?!
Both restaurants were decorated with pretty fall decorations inside and outside. They purposefully left an open spot among the pumpkins for picture-taking.
Right after we took the picture above, another horse and buggy came down the street in front of us. Have we mentioned that Denisa really likes these pictures?
With all this eating, we needed some exercise. So we took a bike ride on the Pumpkinvine nature trail. It runs for 38 miles, but we were content to just ride the five mile section between Middlebury and Shipshewana. Most of the trail was shaded, and that was nice on a day that got up into the 70's. The fallen leaves that are covering the trail remind us that it is autumn here in Northern Indiana. It feels like we are wandering His wonders today!
We really enjoyed riding in the country with those neatly groomed Amish farms right beside us.
It was an aromatic bicycle ride, as we passed close by several dairies, with their large herds of milk cows. We affectionately call this fragrance "dairy-air."
When we got to the end of the trail in Shipshewana, we struck up a conversation with a local couple. They live in the house right by the trail, and they offered to take our picture together. We seldom turn down an offer like that.
As we turned to head back down the trail, an Amish buggy rolled right past us on the street. Have we mentioned that Denisa loves these buggies?
The Pumpkinvine would be a perfect buggy trail, but horses aren't allowed. We realized that we had seen many Amish on bicycles, but not one riding horse-back.
On our way back home, we made the detour by the Chief Shipshewana Memorial. The memorial was just a rock with a plaque, explaining that this little Amish town was named after a Native American. We also rolled down to Lake Shipshewana. After all the clear water lakes of Minnesota and Michigan, our first Indiana lake looked mighty green.
We've been blessed with another blue-sky day in the 70s--perfect weather for a bike ride through the country side.
We loved our ride along the Pumpkinvine nature trail, with these close-up glimpses of the simpler life that fascinates us. We shared the trail with several Amish families, all enjoying a beautiful day on the trail as well.
As we neared Middlebury, the Pumpkinvine trail took us to the back side of the Winnebago Towable Manufacturing Plant.
The RV industry, with its fancy luxury all-electric trailers towed by heavy-duty pick-ups, is quite opposite from the simple non-electric horse-drawn buggy lifestyle of the Amish that share this area. But the two together make a very interesting place to visit!
This is absolutely one of my favorite places. At one point there was a strong possibility of us moving to the Elkhart- Southbend area. It is beautiful there. We have eaten at Essenhaus. Everything was so tasty. Matt LOVED the Amish peanut butter.
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