Pumpkinvine

No, we didn't try to harvest pumpkins in a field. We rode our bikes 17 miles on the Pumpkinvine trail from Shipshewana to Middlebury and back. The Pumpkinvine railroad corridor between Shipshewana and Goshen began when the Canada and St. Louis Railroad Company set out to build a railroad from St. Louis, MO, to Bay City, MI. The first passenger train pulled into Middlebury from Goshen on Nov. 5, 1888. The line was operated by numerous rail companies until 1980. Today the trail is managed by several local park systems.

Shipshewana and other nearby communities are very bicycle friendly. The Amish population rides bikes and uses horse and buggy for transportation, so there are wide shoulders in many places. Drivers are used to watching out for slow traffic. We rode from our campground into the center of town to pick up the trail.

Much of the trail passes through a tunnel of massive trees.



We had wondered what the name Shipshewana meant. The trail includes a monument to Chief Shipshewana, so we learned a lot.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it so you can read it.



We saw these colorful flowers in many locations. Are they Indian blanket, coreopsis, black-eyed susans, sunflowers, or what? Who knows?



When we came out of the trees, we passed through farmland, with many attractive farms.



Many Amish and Mennonites have large families and doing the laundry must be a daily chore because we almost always see clothes hanging out.





In several yards, we saw this structure. Does anyone know what it is? Perhaps an above-ground root cellar?



In Middlebury, we stopped to see the Krider Garden.





Krider Nurseries was established in 1896 and published its first seed catalog in 1906. They constructed and exhibited Krider's Diversified Garden at the International Exposition in Chicago, 1933-34.









The garden was a nice place to rest before the ride back to Shipshewana.

We saw this horse and buggy during the ride. We really enjoyed hearing the clip-clop of the horses and watching their hoofs fly as they went along the roads in and around Shipshewana.

Wait and See

Sight see, that is. But first, what are we waiting for? We are in northern Indiana to have some work done on our home. The first stop was Tiara RV in Elkhart. They are a dealer that sells DRV Mobile Suites and we came here so they could replace the valve on our black tank (read sewer). For the past couple of weeks, that valve has been leaking. If you understand RV plumbing, you will know what a mess that can be. If you don't understand, I'm not going to explain. Thursday we took our RV to them and they replaced the valve and the cable that opens and shuts the valve. We are happy to have that repair done.



Beginning Monday, we will spend a couple of days having repairs done at the Mobile Suites factory in Howe. Our one-year warranty will be up in October and we wanted to have these repairs done under warranty. So, we waited on Thursday while they worked on the black tank valve, we wait for the appointment on Monday, and we will wait while the factory does its work. We are parked in the Elkhart RV Campground and enjoying the sights in Amish Country.

Thursday, we visited the deli at Martin's Supermarket here in Elkhart, using their wifi to spend time on the internet. We also had lunch there. Martin's is a local chain and a great store. We love exploring new grocery stores. When we felt we had taken up enough time and space in the deli, we browsed at an RV surplus store and Menards. Wow, that is some store! A lot more than the big box hardware store we thought it was.





This part of Indiana has a large Amish population. The Amish don't have electricity or phones in their homes. They do have phone booths in places. See this one out in a field.



We saw a number of men and women traveling by bicycle. Riding in this kind of traffic doesn't appeal to me.



We visited the nearby community of Shipshewana today. There is plenty of parking, even for big dually trucks like we drive. There are also hitching rails for the horse and buggies many Amish use.



We had a great lunch at The Blue Gate Restaurant. I had Monterey chicken with baked apples and hush puppies. John had meatloaf with a baked potato and green beans. Both meals were delicious and way more than we usually eat at lunchtime.





Shipshewana is a city with lots of beautiful flower baskets and gardens in the downtown area. They provide a real feast for the eyes.











We also checked out Yoder's Meet and Cheese Market. Their products are interesting. We even bought fried pies home for dessert this weekend. I don't intend to try pickled asparagus, either plain for zesty, though.











I'll be sharing more sights from this area in the next few days. Waiting isn't bad when there is all this to explore.