Spent most of the weekend catching up on all the stuff that runs amuck when you dare to go on vacation. Makes me wonder if we really should go on vacation. Or maybe the question should be whether or not to come back!Can't figure out if it's really the three-hour time difference that goofs me up or if it's just that my heart is still back in Oregon with the rest of my family.I started school in Grand Rapids this week on Thursday, so the second year of my masters program is officially in process. I finally got enough input to decide to hop onto the Obama bandwagon wholeheartedly after being so disappointed that Hilliary didn't make it.I'm letting go of that.I still think she's awesome~ John McCain did make an interesting choice of running mate but I'm afraid I've seen and heard too much negative from that direction and just can't go there 4 more years worth!I'm really happy to see the ladies getting in on the top spots in politics these days-about time! I will still watch the Republican convention.
I've been hearing about Shipshewana ever since I moved here over 12 years ago. That's one thing I've had on my list of things to do for quite some time so I set out for Shipsi this morning with a couple friends, Patricia and Rachel.
We were up with the birds~ Here are some squirrel-proof bird feeders the likes of which I have never seen before!
Of course, I'm ga-ga for horses so the most impressive part of the trip to me were all the horse-drawn buggies going down the road with the rest of the traffic and the Amish parking lots where the buggies and horses were lined up like cars.
We were right in the middle of town when this carriage pulled out in the lane next to us going the opposite way. I just loved the look of this spotty horse!
Here's another horse that I made friends with while Rach and Patricia were parking the car.
At first he was camera-shy...but then he let me get a close-up
Once I won him over, he let me pet his nose and scratch behind his ears.
Meanwhile, Rach and Patricia were getting down to the serious business of shopping!
Yeah, looks pretty serious to me!
We all bought popcorn tops. You know, those puckery tops that look like you couldn't squeeze your big toe into it but miraculously somehow it expands to fit whatever it is you have going on...
This place had over a thousand vendors! There was one of every kind of a thing. If you couldn't find it here, it doesn't exist~There were socks and sunglasses, clothing, purses galore, antiques, paper products like wrapping paper, party supplies, books, tools, every sort of brik-a-brak you can imagine for your yard and home. There were games. There were shoes. You could find all manner of items equal to anything on HSN or QVC. There was a racket going on: selling old timey looking furniture-real beat up looking stuff-that was actually brand new. There were collectibles of every size, nature and description. This colorful kite, banner, flag and whirleygig store caught my eye.
We had a fabulous lunch at an Amish restaurant, The Blue Gate, which featured delicious meats and the best fried chicken. There were lots of fresh vegetable dishes and a nice salad along with Raspberry ice tea and fresh peach pie for dessert. Lovely! After shopping all we could at the flea market, we went to Yoder's Meat and Cheese Market and bought fresh gourmet cheeses and some of the best smoked meats. I got a swiss cheese laced with rye and some buffalo summer sausage and polish sausage.
There were a lot of stores in town that we didn't get around to this trip. This gives us another reason to return!
4 comments:
Hey Lana - Nice job on the day trip. However, I noticed that no mention was made of the lovely (hot), sunny (hot), blue sky (hot), acres and acres of (hot) open spaces (or did you want to forget the "hot" part?) AND - I still owe you $10.00
Yes, Patricia, that's what you call one of those repressed memories! About the $-I know you're good for it! It was a very fun day other than the fact that it was so bloody Gawdawful HOT!!! The horses were magnificent...
We'll have to do that again-hopefully on a cooler day!
It was bloody hot , but it was fun. Jim wanted to know if I wanted to go in the hot tub that night. Let me think about that for a half a second , No !!!! I did not cool down until tues. evening as it was.
I agree that it was HOT but I think I still would have gotten into the hot tub, Rach :) We'll have to do that when Carol comes in October! Meanwhile, let's plan the next fun excursion-Kal-Haven trail and Frankenmuth sounds are some options. Don't they have a fun Oktoberfest in Frankenmuth? I could go for some beer and a little kielbasa...
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