My trip with the Amish

Every now and then I am asked by my Amish friends to drive them places.  I do this as a friend.  They pay the gasoline.  One time I drove them to a funeral.  This time it was more of a pleasure trip.  They wanted to attend a wedding and make a few stops along the way.

          We started off on a Tuesday morning and traveled about 12 hours the first day to a place in Oklahoma.  The man was an historian so my friends were interested in what he had to say.  They ended up finding out that they were related distantly.  I like to experience new things so I go along whenever I can.  He took us all around his area pointing out important things and telling us facts.  We also went to a nearby grave yard or cemetery.  My friend asked me the difference in a grave yard and a cemetery and I don’t know.

          We stayed at these peoples home and they provided supper for us.  It was very good.  All the ladies helped clean up.  I washed the dishes.  We left early the next morning before our hosts woke up.

          The second day we traveled to Kansas to look for a cemetery that was near my mother’s farm.  We stopped by my mom’s house and introduced everyone.  We were unable to find the cemetery.  I will find it next time I go.  I have been there before but for some reason I couldn’t find it.  My friend then treated us to a buffet breakfast at a local restaurant.

          Next we traveled to Phillipsburg Kansas where we toured a fiber factory.  The Shepherds Mill was an interesting place.  They take in raw fibers and through a process it is made into yarn.

          After the fiber mill tour we traveled to Bethany Missouri where we stayed the night.  Breakfast was at 5:30 the next morning with 27 people at the table.  17 being children.  I was seated smack dab in the middle and was able to learn what is expected at meal times by observing those around me and doing what they did.  We had biscuits and gravy, friend eggs, cold cereal, milk and water.  We left right after breakfast.  I hope to go back someday and have the time to visit with these people.

          That was a Thursday morning, Wedding day.  We traveled to Carrolton Missouri and arrived there by 8 am.  In plenty of time for the wedding since they used standard time.  My friend told me I was free until 3 pm so I took off and went to the nearest town where I had already arranged to meet a facebook friend.  We enjoyed each other’s company until she had to return home.  It was sure good to finally meet her in person.  I arrived back at the wedding site in time to watch all the Amish leave the big barn where the wedding had been held.  It was interesting watching all the children come out and then older children and finally the adults.

          I was offered a tray of food by some Amish young men but I had already eaten.  Later some Amish ladies brought around pie which I of course accepted.

          After the wedding was over we left one of our passengers there who had plans to head to Wisconsin to her grandmothers wedding.  I knew that the empty place would be filled with something as Amish want to make the most of all opportunities and sure enough, the next day the van was filled to capacity again.  This time with boxes of potatoes and 50 pound bags of flour.

          Anyway, after the wedding we headed south to southern Missouri where we surprised one of the girls with us by taking her to stay at her parents house.  She didn’t recognize where she was because her parents had just moved to a new place two weeks previous so she was quite surprised.  We then drove a couple of miles to another Amish farm where we asked if they had any beds.  They said yes and quickly made them up for us.  It was already dark when we arrived so we went to bed soon after arriving.  In the Amish culture hospitality is part of their religion so it is very common to have company stay the night on their travels.  Apparently not many divers like to stay in Amish homes so they were pleased that I was staying with them.  I wanted to learn all I could so I went everywhere I was allowed and was able to eat and sleep in their homes.  I really enjoyed that.

          The next morning breakfast was again at 5:30 am.  Oh and sleeping with the windows open makes for a wonderful night of sleep.  BUT, the roosters all crow beginning at 4:15 am.  It was fun and easy to get up early for some reason.  I do miss sleeping with a nice breeze coming through the windows.  Here in south Texas I don’t think there would be a nice breeze.  Maybe a hot one.

          I forgot to mention that each place we stayed they asked us all to sign their guest book.  I am going to bring along a notebook if I ever do this again so I can write down the people’s names so I can send thank you cards.  As it is I have to wait for my friend to get the names and addresses to me.

          Friday we headed out after breakfast and went to an Amish bulk food store, this was the second one we went to.  I forgot to mention that we went to one a couple of miles from the wedding site after the wedding.  This time is where we loaded up on the potatoes and flour.  Next we picked up the girl we had dropped off at her parents.

          We then traveled home.  This was the longest day of driving.  I arrived home at 11:30 pm on Friday.  It was a great trip but as with any trip I go on its always good to get home.  As Dorothy says in the Wizzard of Oz, there’s no place like home.

          There were three ladies at the end of the trip including me and we had ended up meeting each others mothers.  We found that a fun fact of our trip.


          Edited to add a couple of pictures.
The first one is an Amish lawn mower.  The Amish man stands atop the platform above the mower and drives the horse.  They go round and round and it works quite nicely.
         The second picture is of the bed I slept in the last night on the road.  I found it interesting that in two of the places I slept they only used a fitted sheet and blankets, no top sheet.  I slept very well every night with them.