Shipshewana and so much more

We went several places today, but we saw lots!

To start with, Mitch and Kim took us to the Moser Farm that his dad, 80 years young, and brother, Doug, still operate very effectively.  This is the house that Mitch lived in for his first 31 years.  When he and Kim got married, his mom and dad built a house down the road and moved out of this house so Mitch and Kim could live there.

We saw every kind of farm equipment you could imagine.  It’s cost $40K to replace all the tires on this tractor.

This is only a portion of the hog buildings.

This little fellow is less than 24 hours old.  How do we know?  Because it’s umbilical cord has not fallen off yet.  He needs his mama.

That’s him on the end closest to the back legs of it’s mama sow.  Look how clean it is in this building.  I was only allow just inside the door and only for a few seconds to keep the animals disease free.

A hydraulic lift for working on farm equipment.

The Moser Farm consists of +/- 2,000 acres.  All the property outlined in yellow.

On down the road, I can’t taken enough pictures of the beautiful farms.

Another picture of an Amish phone shanty.

An Amish farmer baling hay.

Right by the road, next to the fence.  Stop the Suburban, Mitch!!

Mitch stopped so he and Don could fill their water bottles at the spring fresh water fountain.From this location, I took some more pictures of the countryside.

And then suddenly we were on this shady lane.  I will just mention here that the weather has been perfect with pleasant temperatures.

Again, Mitch stopped the car for me.

Another phone shanty under the shade of a big tree.  These little buildings fascinate me. Most are built using salvaged RV material… notice the RV door.  The RV industry here in the Goshen, Indiana, area hire as many Amish as want to work for them.

Typical Amish transportation.  Now we are in Shipshewana, Indiana.

Wait a minute.  Is this a rebel?  RED wagon with RV seating and rubber tires?  Evidently, they live in a district that allows such frivolity.

For lunch, we ate at the Blue Gate in Shipshewana.  The restrooms were quite impressive with fresh cut flower bouquets.

When we left the Blue Lake, we walked around in one shop and then headed to Casper and Wilma’s, an Amish couple who are friends of Mitch.  They were delightful and so nice, inviting us in their beautiful home and visiting with us.  I wish I could share some of the conversation with you, but out of respect for them I won’t and, of course, there are no pictures of Casper and Wilma.

Happy, tired and on visual overload (is that a correct explanation of we’ve seen all we can process today), we headed back to Ben’s house where we’re both parked.

We rested for awhile in our perspective RV’s before supper.

Ben, cheesin’ for the lens.  America needs more young men like Ben.

Tonight, Mitch installed a Winegard TV antennae booster on the Q.  Thanks Mitch!!

After the delicious, light supper prepared by Kim, we watched the movie, Perfect Stranger, which was very good.  We recommend it.

I wish you could see all the pictures I took today, but they are just too numerous.  So I hope you have enjoyed this brief glimpse into this part of Indiana.  We certainly have enjoyed it and the Moser’s hospitality. They have been just the best “tour guides.”