September 26, 2011: Goshen IN to Montpelier, Ohio:

The forecast for today was not good – rainy! However this morning after breakfast the sun was shining enough so we could see our shadows.  It was the beginning of another beautiful day.  No kidding, there was no rain, the sun was shining and at points Cal had a tailwind. Lovely fall day!  We understand it was a miserable day in Iowa – cold and rainy.

I mentioned ‘quilt murals’ yesterday.  Here is a photo of one in Goshen, Indiana.    

We left Goshen, IN riding/driving east through Amish country until after lunch.  Later in the afternoon very near the Ohio border there was another Amish settlement (very small in comparison to the Goshen area).

It was Monday, wash day!  I have always enjoyed driving through Amish country (in Kalona, Iowa or Lancaster, PA) on wash day to see the laundry on the wash lines. Today was no exception.  By the time we were on the road most wash was already on the line. However I did see a Grandpa outside hanging up laundry.

The usually beautiful veggie gardens are in fall mode – not very pretty, but I did take a few photos of flowers. 

Horses are everywhere – you see more horses in this area than you do in Kentucky horse country. There are work horses of course, but there are lots of other horses.  I chatted with someone regarding this. Their comment was that every Amish family has 5-6 horses trained to hitch to the buggies, of course the work horses, and most likely a horse or two is retired, plus young colts. They may also have a horse or two in training. We did drive by a farm with an oval track for training trotters.  A guy was running a horse with a cart. 

Cal Meeting a Buggy

As we showed you yesterday, there are the phone booths at the end of driveways. They are not allowed phones in their homes, as they fear the women will talk and gossip too much, but they are allowed to have them at the end of the driveway for business calls. Today I saw a double phone booth, plus one built in log cabin style!

Schools were in session today. Some school children came by bicycle while other came by horse and buggy. While the students were in class all you would see the bikes or buggies near the school, with the horses in a nearby pasture or in a shed.  At recess time the kids would be outside – playing volleyball or a game of softball, or there were other games for the younger children.

Amish School with Bicycles

Buggies at an Amish School



Volleyball Game During Recess



Softball Game

Younger Girls during Recess

Pre-School Boy Watching From Mail Box

At one school, when the children were outside playing at noon, across the road there was a little preschool aged boy trying to get a ‘full view’ or ‘impress’ the school kids!  After I took his photo he waved at me.  Cal said when he rode by the little boy seemed very impressed with his bike.  The school kids would wave at Cal.

Most of the farmsteads are lovely.  I hope you do not get bored with all our photos from today.

We saw people at work today.   

Washing the Buggy

Working at a Saw Mill

Picking Pumpkins

On two occasions today we rode/drove on gravel - a total of 5 miles.  Due to the rain yesterday and last night, it was at least not dusty, but it was slightly muddy at a few spots.  So you know we were on the ‘back roads’ of Indiana.   

OHIO! We made it to Ohio, but we were on a ‘back’ road where there was no “Welcome to Ohio’ sign!  We are approximately 7 miles into Ohio.