Amish Country

 Excuses, excuses, excuses!   We went, we played, we came home and we got back to “work” again.    Now it’s 2 weeks later and H has fussed that there is no blog – yet.

H invited 2 of our grandsons, Calvin and Levi to camp and kayak with us down at Wally World in Loudonville Ohio.   Grandpa H took them there last year and I forgot to pack the most important ingredient for their morning pancakes but they enjoyed the trip to McDonalds better anyway! This trip was our last chance to use up our “FREE Camping” coupon.   The guys slept in a tent again, but Grandpa H had it easier this time– instead of sleeping in the back of the truck like a German Shephard, he slept on his comfy bed, next to me in the “condo”!    “Wally World Camping Resort” has a very nice swimming pool and a fun little miniature golf course which we all used more than once because with all the rain the week before, the Mohican River was high on its banks and way too raging to let the guys kayak.  The rangers had actually closed the river to everyone.   C&L are excellent at keeping themselves occupied and they each had a big thick book to enjoy reading.  We all slept pretty good that night except for the occasional walnut that fell from the towering tree above us and crashed like a bowling ball on the top of the tent or crash landed on the fiberglass roof above our bed.  KABOOM!  Wednesday afternoon Grandpa H finally managed to wiggle one kayak down a rock embankment and Calvin settled in for a fast ride around the curve and past the campground.   As he approached us, we cheered him on, just like he was in a patriotic parade!   He reversed the little orange craft and attempted to go back upstream but his arms couldn’t take much of that!     I took his picture a bunch of times and then waved him on as he sped by!   H’s daughter Jean drove down to retrieve her sons and joined us for chicken n’ dumplings before they all climbed into their car for the long drive home.   Our dear friends, B&C had come down to spend the rest of the week with us for their first free camping.  They’ve known Jean since she was a little girl!  

Wednesday night was not a good night in either RV.   H and I ended up in Mansfield at the emergency room to make sure his swollen ankle and foot was not another blood clot.  B&C ended up in Berlin at a vet’s office to attend to their ailing kitty, Abby.    I would like to report that both patients are doing well and are feeling much better!

Time to move on.   Our little caravan endured the bumper-to-bumper weekend traffic in Amish Country and we parked them in the teeny tiny little PA campground, behind the IGA store in Sugar Creek Ohio.  We walked the 2 blocks to downtown, thru the tiny pedestrian covered bridge that crossed the small river and carefully stepped over the double set of railroad tracks.   Luckily for us, this small Swiss town had just finished remodeling the town square.   As its clock chimed the hour, we stopped and watched the mechanical Swiss figures came to life!   Saturday morning we meandered thru more Amish neighborhoods and parked for a little side excursion in Kidron to see if Lehman’s Hardware was still as neat as it used to be.  NO, its not!  The quaint little store with its many cubbyholes and non-electric wares has turned commercial and grown in size.   The vast maze of nooks and crannies are now crammed full of all kinds of gadgets and tourist items.   And since it was the weekend, the Amish families were all in town doing their shopping and errands.   Their dark horses and black buggies were tied to various rails and posts around town.  The prime spots under the shade trees were taken first and the curious, big brown-eyed horses all watched H as he strolled up to get a good photo of them.   The caravan was heading towards home and our last night out was at a well-kept campground that in its past life must have been a wooded pasture for dairy cows.  The grass was green, the 2 ponds were really pretty and H even got to play with his remote control boat!   The owners were very nice.   The view of the adjacent dairy farm was so picturque with the stream of black and white cows coming and going from the milking barn!  The place has potential  -  however -  the shower facility was a Haulmark trailer sectioned into 2 shower rooms each having a pay shower.   The rest of the “facilities” were 2 outhouses, set back in a grove of trees.  Oh well, the company was good and the burgers tasted great!   It’s time to go home.