08/13 - 08/23 Country Acres Campground - Final

WELCOME BACK 

And so, a full, rich and rewarding week is coming to an end. My, how fast time flies when you're having fun. A reminder for clicking on any links in my blogs; be sure to click on the left arrow of the site to return to the blog. I am fortunate and thankful for being able to capture so many memories in my diary/journal....or, as they're known these day, blogs. For many in our group, it's back home for the break to clean out, restock and tend to business on the home front. Most, including me and those who didn't make this trip, will meet again in Greenfield Park, NY at the Jellystone Park at Birchwood Acres, the subject of my next blog. I, on the other hand, will return to Croton Point Park (CPP) for the six day stay before leaving for Jellystone Park. I'll have my Caddy so I'll 'commute' and take care of my business at home, 13 miles and 25 minutes away.

POT LUCK DINNER

The beauty of belonging to a 'group', especially for RVing, becomes quite evident when "Meet & Greet" and "Pot Luck Dinners" are planned. I've only been a member of this group for four or five years but it's their tradition and history that allows such events to be honed to perfection. The members of this group including those not in attendance have always stepped up with their delicious go-to meals for these events. In addition to the traditional good food, look at the pots, pans, crock pots, trays, dishes and service utensils that RVs can store no matter the destination. Small, medium or large, there's always someone who's got just the right item for the task at hand. Keep that thought in mind as I share more with you at the end of this blog.

I was eager to capture the "before" layout so lots of covered dishes don't do justice to the contents within.

Even Johnny's portable service area was put to use...

...as was this neat little portable "cabinet."

Fresh and hot. To the rear left, Sue's pulled chicken in BBQ sauce; to the right,
pulled chicken in a mustard sauce. Both outstanding.

John and Carol's hot dogs with.....

,,,baked beans and sauerkraut

Doreen's sauce to go with her...

...Baked ziti

Charlie's fresh sweet corn picked up the day
before from a roadside farm stand.

Dawn's tomato mozzarella salad 

Roberta's Sheppard's Pie

Chrissy's mozzarella sticks with salsa dipping sauce...

...and fresh fruit salad

Needless to say, it was a delicious and well coordinated event with enough left over for future meals and snacks. For our last get-together Saturday night, these goodies will disappear thus making our loads traveling home lighter...oh wait, but the people will be heavier. Hmm.

ANIMAL VISITORS

In addition to all there was to see and enjoy in this very quiet campground adjacent to a farm and cornfields, we were visited by this friendly, meowing creature, one of two neighbors.

This visitor, we assume, from the neighboring farm, stopped by a few
nights in a row. She was not adverse to accepting some of
Jack's food. (Roberta's cat)

There was a second black cat that was more skittish but
didn't hang around meowing like this one.

Thank you, Roberta for sharing some of Jack's food.

As you know, 99.9% of RVers have at least one or
two pets as traveling companions. This magnificent
boxer is from down the street.

When asked if it was "friendly", his answer of
"No," was appreciated. LOL

Down in my neck of the woods, I had a more
hare-raising encounter with this ferocious creature.

I had no problem keeping it fed. It seemed to enjoy what I provided.
It was a young one, I didn't see any gray hares..

We do have a motel next door but I knew it wasn't raised there; else
it would've been an inn-grown hare.  Seems she built a new
house cause she was fed up with the hole thing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

And how could any trip be complete if you weren't fortunate enough to catch a
gift from Mother Nature...a sunset.

Jason & Sara

And speaking of Mother Nature, all of her wonders are a very personal part of my makeup and experiences. I would love to share with you the very talented work of Jason Heid. Jason, a very good friend of granddaughter, Sara, is currently in New Hampshire and his work and talent incorporates the use of drones for breathtaking and outstanding footage and stills. Jason has captured the wonders of Mother Nature in an impressive gallery. Check it out on his website HERE. I'll be visiting them on my way back home from Maine in September and staying at nearby Ames Brook Campground.

I mentioned above that when it came to improvising and having something at hand, there is always someone who has what's needed for that problem or task. With that thought in mind, I wanted to share with you how it all ties together in the RV world, especially mine. Yesterday it was coming up on wine o'clock and I went to prepare my chilled glass of Chardonnay. After I removed the bottle, I noticed the fridge light didn't come on. I tapped the switch on the door to see if it was stuck, it was not. I checked the power light on the thermostat, it was not lit; checked the fuse and circuit breakers, all okay. Texted Tony and when he returned home from a shopping run with Doreen, he appeared at my door with his tool bag. Long story short, an in-line fuse had to be replaced. Located on top of the refrigerator, we had to slide the fridge out of its alcove (not an easy task) to replace that section of wire including the fuse. Tony left and returned with the necessary piece which he obtained from fellow RVer, Mike. No trip to Lowes or Home Depot necessary. So, after cutting, splicing and connecting the "new" in-line fuse unit, we pushed back the fridge, re-screwed the six screws to keep it in place and replaced the molding around the door (the most time consuming and difficult part of the repair). I was spared the loss of food, a trip and the associated expense of traveling to a repair shop.

For any problem I could not take care of myself on either of my two RVs, camping buddies like Tony, Mike, Ray, George and Craig had the knowledge, tools, parts and experience to get the job done. Very comforting to know there are selfless, intelligent people out there who have no qualms about helping others. Thank you.

To conclude, I hope you've enjoyed the trip as much as I've enjoyed trying to capture memories and putting them into a blog form for my future. One thought or experience triggered a desire to do further research and that led to more fascinating information that I'll never remember. Someday I hope to master what friend, Vicki, does with her blogs: incorporate a "search" feature that will allow me to simply enter a term, location or topic  (key words) from past blogs and go right to it and enjoy it over again. Someday.

I leave for CPP tomorrow and I'll try to capture even more experiences. We shall see. Till whenever, take care. Continue to practice safe distancing, wear masks and don't...never mind. Oh, and don't forget to share a comment. Besides the gratification I get knowing someone has read it, I also enjoy hearing the experiences of those who've shared similar adventures. For my last two blogs, I've had 160 views and 20 comments. I love it. Thank you. Makes for a nice incentive to continue.
Bye.

Our last sunset at Country Acres

08/13 - 08/23 Country Acres Campground - Part 2

Hail, hail, the gang's all here. Here's your 15 second introduction to the Hudson Islanders who were able to make this outing. From left panning right: John Sr., Carol, Mike, Chrissy, Roberta, Johnny Jr., Dawn, John, Sue, Ray, Tony and Doreen.

And, with everyone in attendance, plans were put into motion. As usual, my transportation was provided by Tony (thank you). First there was a trip to the Tanger Outlet Center Lancaster. Yippeee! I get to spend time in the equivalent of Woodbury Commons back home. I did wind up with a couple of pairs of sandals/shoes and a few shots at the candy story.

A very long and plentiful....

...selection of candy

Do you like gelato?

 

My adventure continues with:

THE AMISH FARMLAND TOUR

We picked up the tour bus at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn

All smiling as directed for photo taken by tour director from the Inn.
All agreed we look better with masks on.

Myrna, our tour driver, is one of nine children who left the Amish community but
was not excommunicated nor shunned. She did volunteer work in a nursing home
before teaching Amish children for 14 years.

What I present here are from notes I took during the tour as Myrna related a ton of useful and little known facts about the Amish, the Mennonites and her own life growing up in the area. Hopefully, I will be corrected in the comments below by any of those on the tour who read this blog and heard something different. The Bird in Hand Inn is in its 8th generation of ownership by the Smucker Family. They're fifth cousins to the jam and jelly Smuckers in Orville, Ohio. Bird-in-Hand, legend has it that, in 1734, the two men who were surveying the Colonial highway between Philadelphia and Lancaster found themselves at a tavern/inn by a Conestoga wagon stop. After a discussion as to whether or not they should spend the night there or go on to Lancaster, one of the men said, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" and when the other surveyor agreed with his advice, they remained at the Inn. 

The popularly discussed town of Intercourse has an interesting history. Called Cross Keys in 1754 after the tavern the was established there, the name change occurred in 1814. Two theories include: The old racetrack was once located east of the village along Old Philadelphia Pike and its entrance was referred to as "Entercourse," which could have gradually become Intercourse with the help of some poor spelling. OR, the town could have been named after its location at the intersection...or "intercourse"...of roads know today as routes 340 and 772.

Lancaster, PA was the capital of our country for one day because President George Washington lived there. Further research on my part found Lancaster to be an important munitions center during the Revolutionary war. It was the National Capital of the American colonies on September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress was fleeing British forces (who had captured Philadelphia). From 1799 to 1812, Lancaster was the capital of Pennsylvania.

Every day but Sunday is wash day. Long clotheslines are a common site
along our tour route. Note the solid colors of all garments.
Mennonites are allowed print fabrics, Amish are not.

15 camels (Dromedaries) are presently being raised on this camel farm.
According to owner, Amos Miller, their milk is said to have "a little bit of salt in it,
not quite as sweet as cow’s milk,” with higher fat content and creamier.  Lacking
two allergens, it is easily digested by the lactose intolerant.

We passed Miller's Organic Farm on Mill Creek School Road on our way to the first stop. I found more information from an article by Julie Matthews, CNC:

Camel milk can be easily digested by lactose-intolerant individuals. The lactoferrin in camel's milk has antibacterial and antiviral properties. It also has anti-tumor properties (Ueda et al., 1957). Some other benefits include:

• Positive effect on helping breast cancer patients (Eiseler et al., 1998).
• Three times the amount of vitamin C than cow's milk.
• Used for centuries to treat liver disease (studies performed for hepatitis and liver cancer with promising results).
• Rich in B vitamins and iron.
• The immunoglobulins in camel milk protect against certain types of cancer (Fage et al., 2005).

Camel milk has been helpful for the following illnesses:

•  Milk allergies or intolerance (Shabo et al., 2005)
• Autism (Shabo and Yagil et al., 2005)
• Tuberculosis (Agarwal et al., 2005)
• Crohn's Disease (Shabo et al., 2005, 2006; Donechenko, 1975)
• Female Infertility

A duck and turkey farm

In addition to having green shades, the Amish can be distinguished
from Mennonites by their grey buggies with rounded corners.
Mennonite buggies are black with squared corners.

No white cap; she's a tourist

Huge pumpkins now coming into season

Beside horse and buggy, bicycles with foot power only are common sights.

As Amish do use bikes, these youngsters are Mennonites. Mennonites are more 

progressive and are in greater number here in Lancaster County. 

Amish population is about 34,000; the Mennonites number about 79,000.

The rubber tires would be a no-no for the Amish

Our first 20-minutes stop was at the Country Roadside Stand and the second 20-minute stop at nearby Riehl's Quilts & Crafts on Eby Road.

At the Country Roadside Stand.

A soft pretzel with spicy yellow mustard drizzled along its entire shape
was an outstanding treat that served as my lunch

Handmade crafts in abundance

A group of tourists traveling by other means.

Entering the Riehl's Farm

The home of Sam and Susie Riehl, owners of
Riehl's Quilts & Crafts

Gourd bird houses. All products are handmade by over 100 local family
craft businesses boasting superior workmanship..

The following is a screenshot from Google showing the inside of store of quilts and crafts. Mrs. Riehl gave a demonstration on how to unfold, use and refold a Quillo. Have you ever heard of one? I didn't want to take photos or a video but the making and folding of it is quite interesting. I found a video where the person asked permission of an Amish girl to demonstrate and I'm sharing it HERE

This is an example of a Log Cabin quilt square that had a message for the
"fugitives" of the Underground Railroad. If hanging in a window and had a black center for the chimney hole, it indicated a safe house. There is no evidence that quilts ever played
a part in the Abolitionist movement. For more information, CLICK HERE.

As the Amish do not own phones for personal
use, they do have access for business. This is
a phone shanty that is shared by three families.

As we continued our journey we saw farm after farm growing one of their main cash crops: corn, tobacco or pumpkin. Here, leaves of harvested tobacco are tied to 3' stakes drying in the sun before being hung in ventilated barns. The main view, however, for miles and miles was corn, 99% of it for cow feed. 

The community cemetery at the Meyer home dating back to 1759.

SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD

L.to R. Johnny, Doreen, Charlie, Ray, Sue, Carol, John, Dawn, Ray. Thank you Tony.

Literally, "as far as the eye can see."

Shady Maple is a huge, efficiently run operation. I've never seen one as large. It's Lancaster County's largest smorgasbord and has expanded over the years to seat over 1,200 customers,  employ over 750 people and features 200 feet of deliciously authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. I'm sparing my readers a video walk-through (which I should have done) showing every kind of food imaginable. Our hostess escorted our party of ten to socially distanced tables and directed us to wear face masks and gloves each time we left the table and ventured into the land of food. Upon returning, gloves were discarded in labeled containers and new ones used for the next trip.

Enter, pay and be escorted. A very good value. Seniors 10% off and
the birthday boy pictured above, free.

 Their Vision: "For more than 40 years Shady Maple has been a company based on faith in God, commitment to community and value to our customer." 

A 3-D Diorama depicting the beginning of Shady Maple.
Here, the original building is between the twin maples.

The fascinating 40-year history of Shady Maple is presented in this 14-minute video.
The 40,000 square foot gift shop downstairs was a great place to walk off a meal.

Hummels

Candle products featuring Yankee Candles, WoodWick Candles,

1803 Candles, Our Own Candle Co., Crossroads Candles...

...Candle Warmers and Battery Operated Candles

And so, to end the full day, we celebrated the retirements of Sue and John, Sr., the anniversary of Tony/Doreen's and xxth birthday of Ray. And to Kathy in absentia, a birthday toast to you as well.

Well, that's enough reading for today. There's more coming. The pot luck supper and some random photos and final thoughts that will wind down another great Hudson Islander's get-together. Stay tuned.