Thursday, November 3, 2016

Chaos Surrounds the Simple

October 29 - 31, 2016
Bernville, Pennsylvania


I am a big fan of the artist Nancy Noel, and for many years a collection of her Amish pieces hung in my home. Now, my BFF has one, and the others have all been sold. So of course I have routed us to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to visit Amish country. 


Colors of Summer
Daughters
It is Saturday, this is a popular place to visit. Still, I'm unprepared for the level of chaos we encounter. There are beautiful handmade quilts hanging at a small shop before the little town of Bird in Hand, but there is no place to park. We find a space near the bakery and cafe and stop for a mediocre lunch. The Farmer's Market across the street is packed. Let's keep going.


I have no space for a quilt, but usually love looking at their artistry. Unfortunately at this shop I only find these that look like they're off a conveyor belt.
Our next stop is supposed to be the Intercourse Pretzel Factory where we can do a tour of the process. Amazingly we find a parking place again and walk a couple blocks, to find a candy store. No pretzels. No tour. Geeez. The traffic here is increasing so we head for the country. I'm all too aware that we are contributing to the crowd - everyone else is here for the same reason.


I'm not feeling the simple life.
Once away from the town there are only a few cars on the roads. Men are working the fields, women weed their gardens and hang clothes, children ride bicycles and scooters or help their parents, and shiny, healthy livestock graze. There are no electrical wires to the large farms, well-maintained wagons take the place of trucks, all the equipment is pulled by large horses. A few gas lawn mowers are the only noise here. This is the simple world I fell in love with in Noel's paintings. 











On our way home we stop for a soft pretzel at a brightly colored store. I've been told we must have one :-) From there Bill finds a couple covered bridges to enjoy. These are very different from each other, both delightful.



Produce lines the pretzel store
This sign cracked me up although it also sadly sums up how I feel about the little towns.


Built in 1844, the Herr's Mill Bridge is showing signs of age and is no longer a working bridge. 
The burr truss structure is still beautiful.


The Herr family fled Germany in 1710 to practice their Mennonite faith. In 1730 the grandson built this grist mill and a small village grew around it. It is still a beautifully maintained building. And there is a small RV park in the back :-)
Business lunch.
No place to pull over near this small, 1862 bridge.
Very pretty inside, even through a dirty windshield.
We get home as the sun is setting, giving us a lovely final evening in Pennsylvania. 




Monday we get a late start, pulling out of the nearby gas station at noon. It's a lovely drive into Maryland, our 21st state. 

We're here to visit Washington, DC, and everyone says Cherry Hill RV Park is the only place to stay. Although the rates are very high for dirt and grass sites, I can't disagree that the location is perfect and the park very nice. Our site is level, FHUs with 50 amp, and strong, free WiFi. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

In April, 2014 I wrote about making reservations for August 2017 to be in the shadow of the solar eclipse. At the time few people knew about it, including the rv park in Rexburg, Idaho.

A few weeks ago I checked in with the park to re-confirm our reservations only to learn that the park was sold in 2015 and none of the reservations were kept. Now, of course, the eclipse is a huge deal, and every park in the area is booked. Arrggh! 

I spent hours looking at locations in the shadow and did finally find a place in Albany, Oregon. There were a few other openings, but at highly inflated prices. So now we'll be at the Blue Ox just off Interstate 5 - and still in the shadow's path. Soooo glad I checked with the park!! 


  

15 comments:

  1. You have to be carefully in the Lancaster area. There are SO many places taking advantage of the Amish idea. Riding into the country is best, as you saw:) Lititz has the best pretzel factory and tour. Sorry I didn't know you were going to that area.

    Cherry Hill is expensive but since there isn't anything else but tick infested Green Belt, they can charge whatever. It's not too bad for the area. Glad you saw a little of DC:)

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    1. The commercialism was pretty awful, but the area is still so beautiful. We'll have to find that pretzel factory next time :-) Cherry Hill has been a good stop, and we sure don't want anywhere with ticks!!

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  2. We visited Lancaster many years ago. I'd love to go back and see the Amish area again. I'm sure I'd find all new and wonderful things to explore. Congrats on the April 2017 accommodations. I'm not sure I can plan that far ahead.

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    1. Thought I was so "on it" to make that reservation years in advance - clearly that's not always the best idea :-)

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  3. You've just discovered why we stopped going to the Amish area of PA years ago. Somebody is making a lot of money on the gawkers and I wonder if it's the Amish. Nice pictures of the countryside and "simple" life. Having lived a very simple life on a farm for nearly 30 years I can tell you it isn't simple and it is solid work. Great caption "business lunch". LOL funny! Lovely sunset pictures as well. I cannot believe they cancelled reservations without telling the folks who made them. I don't routinely call and make sure I still have reservations I made months ago. Glad you did.

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    1. Yep, I had a small ranch as a single mom of two with a full time job and it was definitely a lot of work. I only called to confirm because I had made them so long ago, it would have been a nightmare getting there and there being zero place to stay!

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  4. I have a totally different view of the Amish since I read how cruel they are to animals...especially dogs and horses. I have to say that the first time we visited there, we did the tour of a small farming community on a horse driven cart by the owner of the farm. It was interesting to talk with him about their lifestyle. I loved the children and clothes.

    Can you still catch the tram from Cherry Hill that goes to DC? It was a life saver for us!

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    1. Yes, the puppy mills were a big turn off for me, but I've learned they have closed them down (hopefully all). Yes, a bus comes to the park then to the metro 2 miles away. We drove to the metro to save 20 minutes in each direction, and having to make a specific connection. So convenient!!

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  5. Ha, ha, I bet I know who told you to have a pretzel...must be Pam!

    Lovely country, but it sure is a shame it is so overrun.

    Boy it is amazing how far in advance the eclipse sites are booking up! Very good thing you checked. I remember by parents stayed at Blue Ox when Chantal graduated from OSU. Lucky that you found a site!

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    1. Both she and my BFF who used to live near Lancaster - it's like they're in the same gang! I was very relieved to find a site, and Oregon actually made our route much easier.

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  6. We (my ex- and I) went to Lancaster when we started looking at RVs. I remember the craaaazy traffic (and the bad RV dealership).

    Is it still a "thing" that Amish don't want their faces photographed?

    I live a "simple" life, and it's ... well, okay, it's pretty darn simple.

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    1. And their rag dolls don't have facial features. That "graven image" thing, you know.

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    2. I imagine they want to avoid photos of their faces, I made sure none of my photos captured them just out of courtesy. So no cars circling your place??

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  7. Hmm...Amish country looked really disappointing until I came to your photos of the countryside. It looks so idyllic—your photos of farms and the horse drawn plows remind me of Lopez Island and the simpler lifestyle there. "Amish Stuff"—really? Funny but sad.

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    1. I often think that places should be required to post "tourist crap" signs :-) Knew I'd love the island, simple is delightful.

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