We decided to make it a morning out. We would first go grab a bite to eat and then head on over to a local cheese shop.
This restaurant was just minutes from our new digs and had excellent ratings. Honestly, I believe most if not all of the restaurants in this area have 5 star ratings.
I’ve had a hankering for a Western Omelet for some time now and so that is what I ordered. I added a side of Home Fries and toast with a cup of coffee and I was good to go. It was oh so good and by the time I finished it all I had doubts about getting out the door! I’ll come back here any day.
With breakfast under our belts it was on to Heini’s Cheese Chalet. A little history: Established in 1935, Bunker Hill Cheese, or Heini’s, is a third-generation, family owned company. John (Hans) Dauwaulder trained as a master cheese-maker in Switzerland and came to the States in the 1920’s to display his Artisan talents in a growing cheese market.
Now about that name, Heini’s: Heini’s is a short version of Heinrich, a typical Swiss name that shows our Heritage.
The Cheese Chalet is the factory retail store for Bunker Hill Cheese. The family has been making cheese since 1935 using milk, most of it pasture based from local Amish farms. This means that cows are sent to pasture between milking times when the weather allows. At milking time the farmer may feed the cows small amounts of grain and hay to balance the cow’s needed nutritional balance. All of this make for a happy cow which in turn assures a stable milk production.
They offer over 25 different varieties of cheese and usually make something like 50,000 pounds of cheese per week. They used to offer tours but no more. All you can do now is peer in through the window at the vats were the cheese is made.
Ms. Barbara is already on the prowl for, well I’m not sure.
Maybe some Butter?
Cheese Ends?
Perhaps some Peanut Butter Cheese Fudge?
Could be she was after several varieties of cheese?
While she was shopping I of course was taking pictures. For instance, I found these murals.
In the end, we did find some products to purchase
Have you ever had Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheese Fudge? Or Root Beer Float Cheese Fudge? Neither have I but I’m looking forward to tasting both.
Ah well, soon enough it was time to head home. The morning was so enjoyable. We had time out but even more important it was time together just enjoying the day that God had given us. What more can one ask for.
Oh, and the fudge with cheese – both of them – are delicious!
Thanks again for spending some time with us. It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.
Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.
Temperature 78 Degrees, Sunshine and Partly Cloudy
Here we were surrounded by Amish and we had absolutely no idea of how they lived. Therefore, we decided that if a guided tour was offered of an Amish farm we would take advantage of it.
Well, we found one and today we decided to take the tour.
The tour is offered by Yoder’s Amish Home.
What a beautiful garden, it just explodes with color.
As we began our tour we were told that there are two houses on the farm. We were also told that though the farm is a working farm no one currently lives in either house. We were also told that the house on the right – which we would visit first – was set up in the Amish Simple style and the house to the left was set up in the Amish Old Order style. We were also told that currently in this area there are 12 Orders of Amish. It seems that if a disagreement arises between members of existing Orders and a resolution cannot be found, those that disagree simply split off and form a new Order. They may stay in the immediate area or as is happening now some are moving to other parts of Ohio, some to New York, some to Virginia, and others to Colorado.
Before we even arrived at the first house we stopped at this. Want to take a guess as to what it is? None of us knew. It is the Church Wagon. Sunday worship services are held in a different house each week. This wagon contains the pews – or in this case benches – hymnals and everything else needed for worship. At worship the benches are arranged in such a way that the men sit on one side and the women on the other. The worshippers enter with the oldest coming in first and the youngest last. A typical worship service will last about 3 hours. At the end of the service the host family is responsible for feeding everyone who attends. Everyone usually means 12 to 40 families. However, if for instance it is a special service – say a wedding – there can be as many as 700 in attendance! The service then might be held in a barn or they might rent a tent. But think about feeding all those people.
This is the typical small vegetable garden that would usually be found right outside the house. It would contain a small selection of common vegetables used in daily meals. A larger garden with a more extensive selection of vegetables would be located a bit further out in a field adjacent to the house.
This is how they sterilize the jars they use for canning. They clean them, then place them outside, upside down on a fence picket. The sun and its heat does the rest.
Time to tour the first house.
We are in the kitchen of the first house – Order Simple. The stove was fueled by either coal or wood. There was no running water in this house. However, what some did was to first find and plumb a well then build the kitchen around the pump for the well.
This is the living room. No electricity in here nor in the entire house. One pot belly stove for heat and a kerosene lamp would provide illumination.
This is the bedroom. There is no mattress on the bed. Instead, it is a sack of sorts stuffed with hay. We were encouraged to push down on it and what we found was that it was as hard as a board.
We moved from this house to the next – Old Order Amish.
This is the living room of the second house. It has a much more modern look. Notice the lamp between the big easy chair and the stove. The lamp is connected to a 12volt battery in the stand it is attached to. That’s one way the room could be illuminated. We learned though that homes that do have electricity, none are connected to the electric grid. Rather, they use solar to recharge their batteries.
Here are two other ways. The lamp in the front is attached to a propane cylinder and has a wick on top. It provided both illumination and some heat. The lamp in the back was powered by a disposal battery.
This is the kitchen, and it is used to make baked goods. Everything baked or made here is available for purchase in the bakery store. This kitchen as with the rest of the house does have running water. The stove and oven are fueled by propane.
That’s a real mattress as are the others in the house and they are oh so much more comfortable.
This would have been a typical teenagers bedroom as evidenced by the colorful dress. When questioned about how many young adults today are leaving the Amish way of life, the answer was rather amazing – 85% today chose to stay. Now how about that.
In another bedroom there was a display of typical Amish clothing. On the right is a vest that a man would wear over a white shirt when attending worship. The vest would usually use hook and eyes but no zippers to close it in the front. Zippers and belt buckles are considered too flashy and are therefore banned. The two dresses in the middle are examples of common everyday wear for women. The dress on the left is what a woman would wear to worship. The white frock was pinned to the underlying dress using straight pins, and yes, our guide said you often ended up getting stuck by the pins. It was just the way it was.
This is a man’s dress hat worn at worship. It is made of pure wool and quite expensive. During the week they will wear a straw hat during the day.
Woman’s head coverings. An Amish bonnet or head covering is called kapp or prayer covering. Amish woman are required to wear one at all times. In most cases you will only see a woman wearing a white bonnet after she is married. Black bonnets are worn by those who are not yet married.
Well, there is so much more that we learned that I just can’t remember. However, I’m now on a quest to learn as much as I can about the Amish and their way of life.
After the tour of the two houses we took a tour of a typical school house.
It is one huge room in which grades 1 through 8 are taught. After the 8th grade their formal education is finished. They believe that for their way of life there is no need to go further with formal education. However, what they are taught is far different than what you would find in public schools. They learn the basics but they also learn life skills. They learn how to balance a check book, how to run a business, how to plan meals and so much more. When they graduate they are ready for the Amish way of life.
The school year runs from August to April. Class is in session from 8:30 am to 3 pm. During the school session each grade is called forward to a table like this where they are given subjects to work on. The other students would remain at their desks and work on assigned subjects.
It was interesting to see what they typically have on the walls of the school house. For instance,
How nice it would be to see these on school room walls everywhere.
We had one more must to do before we left.
We were going to take a buggy ride!
We’re onboard and on our way. That’s Fred leading the way. Let me just say this, this would not be my preferred way of everyday transportation. Once is enough for us. It was fun to do but I can’t see doing it day in and day out. Especially in the heat of summer nor the freezing cold of winter.
Bottom line it was an interesting and informative day. We’re glad we had the chance to learn a bit about the Amish way of life and to even experience it in some small way. However, it is definitely not the way of life for us.
Thanks again for spending some time with us. It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.
Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.
The big question of course was would the slide come in.? The night before I decided to try and bring it in. Go figure, the first click of the switch and it came in without an issue. Ah, but the drama with the slides was not finished. More about that in a minute.
Ms. Barbara and I put our heads together a few days ago and decided we were not going to take the Ohio Turnpike but rather local back roads. It was a four hour trip and all but the last thirty minutes was as easy as good be. But that last thirty minutes, we were twisting and turning, and going up one small hill and then swooping down the backside. It was rural America at its best and had I been on my motorcycle as in days gone by I would have loved it. However, driving Elvira on such a road proved to be a bit of a challenge. A fun challenge I will say that.
In due time we saw the sign for our new home. The buggy on the sign should give you a clue that we are in the heart of Amish country.
In and up the hill and we were at the office. We received a very pleasant surprise when we registered, we were given a $10 dollar a night discount for each of the 10 night’s we will be here. Unexpected, but we’ll definitely take it.
So here we are at our new home. This is a wonderful RV Park that is well taken care of and well maintained. It is also empty. No campground crowding in these parts. Our site is a pull-thru, gravel base, and reasonably level. We got on site and I made all the hookups. It took longer to find a spot for Albert then anything else. But he is now working just fine. As you can see in the above picture spacing between sites to the right is spacious. However, on the left side we are almost on top of our neighbor. Overall, this park is peaceful and quiet and a great place to be.
Now about those slides. So, all slides went out without an issue. About 30 minutes later just as we were about to sit down to supper all four slides started coming in on their own! Yup, no switch had been pushed. What in the world? Had Harvey our resident ghost decided to make an appearance?
Well, I later discovered that this has, indeed, happened to others with older Newmar motorhomes. One gentleman shared with me that his one slide used to just go out and come in at random times. He never knew when it was going to happen. Thankfully, we’ve not had a repeat so we’ll count ourselves fortunate.
OK, we’re settled in and making a list of places we’re want to visit. On the list so far, an Amish farm and buggy ride, a tour of a working steam engine roundhouse, and a visit to a recreated canal boat village and maybe a ride on a canal boat. Plus, I have some projects I need to tend to around the rig.
Hey, I just checked where we have been so far this Tour. How about this:
thirty different RV Parks
16 different states
and we’ve traveled a total of 5,848 miles to date
Not too shabby a summer. We’re on the homeward leg now and soon enough Elvira will be given a much needed rest.
Thanks again for spending some time with us. It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.
Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.
I believe if the rain keeps up we’re going to need an ark. It has been raining steady since yesterday morning. We’re OK, inside, dry and warm, and snug as a bug in a rug. I do feel sorry, though, for all those who came for the weekend. This past week was super with abundant sunshine and clear blue skies. And the week ahead promises more of the same. However, this weekend is a total wash out. Many who came on Friday already left yesterday and many more left early today. Sure can’t blame them.
Are you ready for one more automobile museum? I promise to be brief and just include some of the more interesting vehicles that were in this collection.
This museum was just down the street from the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum so you just had to know I wasn’t going to pass it up.
There were two floors with automobiles on the first and trucks on the lower.
A few of the more interesting automobiles on exhibit on the first floor.
An interesting concept but the war was now over and people were looking for cars that were extravagant and fast. Gasoline was cheap and no one was interested in compact cars.
Here’s something a bit different.
It definitely makes a statement and I’m sure it would have turned heads wherever it would go. Therefore, I have to wonder how many would have been sold if they brought it to production?
Contrary to what was said above, this one actually make it to production. It was introduced as the Chrysler Crossfire. It sold in the range of $35,000 and was well accepted at first. But the promised performance and handling was not there and sales quickly began to lag so by 2007 Chrysler announced it would be dropped from production.
This one is neither a car nor a truck but it sure turns heads!
General Motors developed 12 of these massive machines, known as Futureliners, that toured the country coast-to-coast during the late 1940’s and 50’s as part of the firm’s Parade of Progress. Designed to display modern marvels of the time, such as a microwave oven and jet engines they provided a glimpse into the future.
This example, number 10 in the line of production, used to tour Michigan in 1953. It then sat unused for many years until undergoing a complete restoration from 1999 to 2004. The result of that restoration is what you see here.
This display caught by eye and captivated my interest.
These are not models, but rather pedal cars!
How cool would it be to have one of these as a kid growing up! You would definitely be the envy of all the other kids I’m sure.
Ok, down to the lower level.
From this came the trucks we see today whizzing down the highways.
Talking about whizzing – this time across the Bonneville Slat Flats.
That is one massive engine in that truck! I wonder if I could stuff that chunk of steel in Elvira? If I could I bet I’d have absolutely no problem climbing any grade no matter how steep!
Something a bit more practical.
Just think of the statement you would make towing your trailer with this pickup. This truck has class written all over it – inside to outside.
So there you have it, a snapshot of another captivating museum. There was so much more here but I’m sure some already have that glazed over look in their eyes. However, if you are a gear head or just enjoying wandering among automobiles and trucks of all kinds I would highly recommend this museum to you. Go – visit – see – you’ll not be disappointed.
Thanks again for spending some time with us. It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.
Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before.
"On The Road of Retirement" 