lancaster

This morning I joined Pam and Steve, two new friends I had met on the trail in Blackwater NWR in MD. Steve lives in the Lancaster area and knows it well; Pam drove in from upstate MD. We met for breakfast at Bird-in-hand Family restaurant . This eatery is in a small town called - wait for it - Bird-in-Hand. The adjacent towns are named Blue Balls, Intercourse and Paradise. Don’t ask because I don’t know. We all agreed that the food at this particular restaurant was not up to par. But, regardless, we had a good time catching up before continuing on with our day.

Steve’s friend Dawn, who also lives in this area and is, among many other things (including a primatologist), Executive Director of the Historic Poole Forge site. This includes an historic a historic Ironmaster’s mansion, children’s playground, picnic pavilion, ball field, Nature Trail, Riparian Buffers, wildflower meadows, many beautiful gardens and a covered bridge along the Conestoga River in Eastern Lancaster County. We could have spent all day exploring just this one property. But Dawn had a full day planned for us.

We first drove over to visit an Amish Family with whom Dawn is friends. Daniel and Barbie, along with their children Jane, Laura, Luke and James run a dairy farm and also breed dogs. As I have never had the chance to interact with any Amish before, this was a new experience for me. Like all faiths, the Amish people encompass a wide variety of practices, some adhering strictly to the old ways, others allowing some modern conveniences. As far as I could tell, none drove cars; we saw many traditional horse and buggy conveyances on the roads, as well as bicycles and scooters. I learned that no physical church exists, but small groups gather on a bi-weekly basis at one of their homes to worship. The children learn in a one-room schoolhouse, which can be located many miles away. The kids often use bikes or scooters to make the distance more manageable. Traditionally, schooling ends at age 13, at which point the children begin to help on the farm. Jane, the eldest, was already, at 15, shouldering a full schedule of farm work and housework.

This family preferred that we not take photos, at least not of their faces, so we were obviously respectful of that. They did allow photos from the back, and allowed us full access to their property. We spent time in the house talking to Barbie and her children, and then met Daniel out in the barn, where the cows were housed, and also the two dog-breeding operations, English bulldog and Golden Doodle. We did spend a lot of time playing with the puppies. I was very impressed with the family dynamics, and they were so kind and welcoming to us.

We then went for lunch to at September Farm Cheese , a very popular place that also had a store where one could purchase Amish foodstuffs.

After lunch, Dawn took us to visit another family. Susan, and her children (the ones who still lived at home) Twila, Rachel and Amy welcomed us to their property. Here, they did not mind us taking photos of them. Susan runs a successful florist business and she showed us around her greenhouse and beds. Her husband works out of the home at another job helping other farmers. Susan was very interested in my journey and asked lots of question, both about the trip, and about how things worked in CA, especially agriculture and gardening.

Both of these interactions were very special and would not have been possible without Steve and his connection with Dawn. As always, it is eye-opening to contemplate living a simpler life. Both families appeared to be content and successful, and able to successfully negotiate the modern world surrounding them. Different families and communities have made personal concessions to this reality, for example allowing computer and internet access for businesses that depend on selling both locally and nationally.

After thanking them for a wonderful day, I said goodbye to Dawn, Steve and Pam and headed back to my hotel. Tomorrow I continue East to Philadelphia. The freeway collapse is North of Philadelphia, so it should not impact my drive from Lancaster to Philly. However, my next state is NY, so that will require some careful planning to avoid the continuing congestion due to the detours around the I-95 collapse .