As usual we got an early start heading East on US Hwy 30 to get to Lancaster, PA.  What a ride it was!  Travis is was like three hours of the Cherhala Parkway.  For others it was like going over Waldon’s Ridge on 111 for Hwy 27.  Only it was over 10 Ridges in the three hours!  Bob and Andy met the Allegheny Mountain Range for the first time.  Andy got tired of it early; Bob loved every minute.  Could it be because Andy lives in the flat lands of Indiana and Bob lives in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains?  Maybe.

The weather was cool in the mornings with a slight fog on the mountain tops and sunshine in the valleys.  Up and down all morning it was.

As usual Andy found us a good lunch at a diner somewhere in there.  We just ate simple, delicious sandwiches and went on our way East.  Great stop.  Great ride.  Then it got long, hot, crowded, four lane, and boring–all the way to Lancaster.  We had located an Amish Village with tours.  The best was an hour and a half in a small bus with a very knowledgeable guide pointing out the Amish and ‘English’ living side by side in country farms.  Cool trip.  Now we can spot an Amish farm knowing the differences.  They live closely as neighbors and interact freely all the time.

Here is a shot back at the Village:

And another with our ‘House Tour’ guide:

Sorry she was behind the portable propane lamp.  Amish here are allowed to use propane for cooking, refrigerators, and other stuff in the houses.

Here are a couple of pics on the farm:

Horses are for the carriages; mules are used for farm work.  The horses are purchased at auctions of harness-racing trotters.

We scooted back to Harrisburg for our motel for the night.  Watching the U.S.Open tennis tonight and talking with Lil about it.  Tomorrow a little bit of heaven–Hershey.