Shipshewana: We met a caravan of 30 other coaches, led by Marty Lown, the owner of Coachlight RV, in Carthage MO. The caravan was on the way to the Newmar International Rally. Shipshewana is the home of the third largest group of Amish in the US. The area is some of the prettiest country we have traveled in. Most of the farmhouses and buildings are white, surrounded by white vinyl fence and are very well kept. We learned the white fence provides what are considered boundaries between the family's and the outside world. We visited Menno-Hof, it gives a history of the Mennonite-Amish. The story takes you from the early 1500's to present day. Mennonites were established before the Amish, something we didn't know. Other places to visit are Yoder's Hardware store, Eash Sales and E & S Bulk Store. I purchased almost a half pound of cinnamon for $1.74, packaged in a plastic tub like you would purchase potato salad from a deli. All spices and many other items are available in the store. Next stop, Fern's for lunch, where you can watch them make noodles. Homemade fresh noodles over real mashed potatoes and a piece of home-made pie for dessert, you can't do much better than that. The pie crust is made from lark and the rhubarb pie Laurel had was so good. The only place to compare for pie is Reetz's Pie Shop in Custer, South Dakota. At Deutsch Kase Haus we watched them make cheese, got lots of samples, then sampled Yoder Popcorn. Needless to say, we purchased both.

Meals were planned for us every day, Monday we went to the home of Edward Yoder. They converted their barn into a restaurant and moved their livestock to new quarters. They only serve large groups by reservation. They are not open daily as we think of a restaurant. The meal is cooked and served by the family and the lighting is from gaslights. The meal was fried chicken, Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, noodles, gravy, dressing, green beans, salad , homemade bread, homemade ice cream and three kinds of pie. The family told us a bit about themselves and then sang for us. The daughters 14 & 9 had beautiful voices and the 5 year old sang a solo. Wonderful entertainment. The next meal was at the home of Davon Culp. Davon, his wife LaWanda, their children and two other family's cooked for us. They brought in the church benches, set them up in the yard and cooked a "haystack" dinner, sort of like a taco salad with different ingredients. You start with crushed cracker's, add rice, hamburger (cooked with sauce, onion, green pepper etc.) Add all kinds of toppings, including crushed walnuts, sunflower seeds, more crushed crackers, lettuce, tomatoes, then topped with cheese sauce. Of course, more home made pie. The Culp family is true "Black Buggy Amish" , their home sits back in the trees and they presently live in what will be the barn, and it is beautiful, new, and very large. They have a walk-in freezer that has 2.5" thick walls and they run a generator for about an hour every three days to keep it cool. The heat, cooking and lights (suspended from the ceiling) are all propane. We visited with the family and their friends at legnth, asked about customs, education and the Amish faith. Most of the women we have seen only use straight pins to hold their dresses together, and the men have home made jeans, no zippers (the jeans have front flaps not unlike a sailor uniform.) The boys and young men wear woolen caps like our winter snowcaps. Girls and women wear the white bonnets. The Culp women had snaps on their dresses and Davon had on a button down store bought shirt. They said their beliefs are somewhat liberal. The children have the same toys that most children have and the interior of the house, while simple, did have some wall hangings etc. The one thing we didn't realize was the children are only educated through eighth grade. Some go to public school and some are home schooled. When they turn 16 they are allowed to live a non-Amish life if they chose. Some wear non-traditional clothing and even drive cars. Somewhere around age 21 they must decide if they want to join the church and live Amish. Telephones are not allowed in the house, however there are little buildings at the end of some drives that have phones and some people carry cell phones. After the meal we were treated to a buggy ride, the buggies are very plush, have two seats, the back which lies down to make a bed, a heater (they carry a propane tank) turn signals and windshield wipers. The horse doesn't much like the windshield wipers, which are hand operated. Church is held every two weeks and is in a different home each time. The service lasts about 2.5 hours, then the rest of the day is food and fellowship.Please note, the above are from our observations and some may not be entirely correct.

The reason we got to eat, spend time and take buggy rides with the family's is that Marty Lown is close with many of the Amish people. The Newmar factory is close by, in Napanee, and Marty and his family have spent lots of time in the area. We all had a wonderful time and what a learning experience.

Oh June 3rd, the Midwest's largest flea market opens in Shipshawana. There are over 1,000 vendors. We walked around for most of the afternoon, the only thing we purchased were 8 small Norwegian Pine trees. At 8 for $20., we thought they were a good buy. (Note: March 2005, 7 of them are still alive and growing like weeds). We expected to see many local items, however that's not the case, just like most large flea markets, the vendors are mostly from out of state. Dean went to the auction, which is held on the second day of the market. There is building for selling antiques, he said there were 18 auctions going on at once, some loud and some louder. Then he headed for the cattle sale.