SOCCER

Saturday we went to Jordan's soccer game. When we left the campground the sun was shinning and the temp was in the low 50s. It didn't feel too bad. The game was about 45 minutes away and did the weather change. The sun was gone and the wind was blowing and we were sitting on a hill. I guess we were actually sitting on top of a land fill. We were able to sit with the wind at out backs, but we were still cold. I had a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, and a wind breaker with a hood, and a blanket around my legs. Or I forgot I also had gloves on. I was still cold. Jordan's team played the best game I had seen them play, but unfortunately they lost. 3 - 2.



After the game Jordan gave us Halloween cupcakes that she had made and decorated. Oh so good!!!!!!! She loves to bake and wants to be a pastry chef. Great job Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOOD DOOR TO DOOR

I had told you about all the road side stands in an earlier post. We also have door to door food service. The Amish bring baked goods right into the campground. We see boys pulling wagons and selling out of the back of it. We also will get a father and son selling, or two ladies, and sometimes a couple. They have white, wheat, or cinnamon swirl breads; quick breads; all kinds of pies, but right now pumpkin is big; they have jams and jelly's; and whoopee pies and cinnamon sticks and soft pretzels. I like the cinnamon sticks and we like the soft pretzels. I think the cinnamon sticks are made with pie dough. They roll out a piece that is about 4 or 5 inches wide and 5 or 6 inches long; they spread a filling of cream cheese and then roll it up and then roll it in a cinnamon and sugar mix and bake. I really liked them, but Vern didn't care for the cream cheese filling. You could change the filling to jams or fruit. Easy to change.

MYSTERY HUNTERS

We found out the story about the mystery hunters. Vern was outside the other morning talking to one of the campground workers. While they were talking Vern told him about the hunters and the guy said that was him and his sons. He takes his boys out into the field for target practice. You'll never guess what they use for targets. Pumpkins!! He told Vern if the weather was OK they would be back out there that evening. They did go out again, but it was around 4:00 so we could see them. I'm not sure how much practice they get, because they were out there less than 10:00 minutes. Around 5:30 they went out again, but we were leaving, so we don't know how long they stayed. They must have a good source of pumpkins somewhere.

HUNTERS

Next to the campground is a one lane road that goes to an an Amish farm. We see horse and buggies, farm equipment, and 2 young Amish boys walking to and from school. There is no drive in the campground connecting to the road, but there are a few cars that cut across the grass to the road and use it as a short cut. Friday night we're sitting here and a black pickup truck cut across the grass to the lane and then stopped. Five guys piled out and reached back in and pulled out rifles. They walked into the hay field and started hunting. The field was between the campground and an Amish farm. Then the gun shots started. I don't know what they were hunting, but there were a few shots fired. All this was going on as the sun was going down. It was dark and we could still here gun shots. We were surprised that they were hunting that close to so many people. They finally loaded back up and left. YEA!!!! They were about 75 to 100 yards from us.

BALLOONS

The last couple of weekends we have had a lot of wind. Saturday night the wind had died down so Sunday morning was nice. Vern was just leaving for a walk and he stuck his head back inside and said there were two hot air balloons out there. I opened the blinds so I could watch them. It wasn't long before I saw another one and then another one. Before long there were 5 hot air balloons sailing by. We see them all the time. At least once or twice a week, in the evenings we would see a couple of balloons. This area is a great place to fly hot air balloons.

ROAD SIDE STANDS

There are road side stands every couple of miles around the country side. Some are at the end of Amish drives set up in the grass or wagons. Others may have small buildings and then there are the ones that are small markets. I wanted some pumpkins and mums, so we went to one a couple of days ago to see what I could find. This one had a small building and was a stopping spot for some of the buggy tours. They had mums, pumpkins, gourds, and all kinds of baked goods. They also had homemade root beer.



They had mums 3 for $10 and they were huge plants and in full bloom. They had pumpkins for anywhere from $1 to $3. I picked out a couple of pumpkins about the size of soccer balls for $1 each. We set the mums and pumpkins behind the car so I could check out the backed goods. While I was doing that the owners little boy (maybe 2 years old) started setting mini guards with our things. His mother said we didn't have to buy them, but Vern told her it was OK. They were 4 for $1, but he had only put 3 with our things, so Vern told him we needed 1 more and he went and got it for us. He was so cute. We also got a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread and a small peach pie. That bread and pie was so good.

PENNSYLVANIA

Travis and Lynn had us over for supper the other night and fixed some great pork chops. They baked them in the oven with cream of asparagus soup poured over them. They were so tender and oh so good. Jordan (10) made a delicious apple crisp with apples from a nearby orchard.



When we left Iowa most of the leaves had turned colors and fallen off the trees. The farther east we drove the less color we saw in the trees. By the time we got to PA everything was still green. In the last week the leaves have started to change colors and a few are dropping off the trees. In another week or two it should be in peak color season.



It was windy yesterday and today. I don't think I've ever felt the motor home rock like it did. I had some mums setting in in front of the motor home and wind kept blowing them over, so I moved them under the picnic table and so far they are staying up right.

TRIP EAST

We arrived in Pennsylvania Sunday, October 3. Our first stop was in Morton, ILL at freightliner to have a problem fixed. After telling the service manager what the problem was he said he thought he could fix it in the parking lot. He did with a $12 part. We drove another hour or so and found the Tin Cup Campground and spent a couple of nights of there. We drove another 5 or 6 hours and found the Spring Valley Campground where we spent 2 nights and then drove the last leg of our trip. We are staying at Roamers Retreat Campground in Kinzers, Pa. We are about a ten to 15 minute drive to Travis and Lynn's. It all depends on the traffic and how many horse and buggies we see.



Our last few miles of the trip were a little interesting. We developed a problem with the air suspension on the motor home, it didn't want to hold the air pressure. When we got to the camp ground Vern didn't even shut off the motor home when we went inside to check in, because he didn't think it would be able to build up enough air pressure again. If that happens we can't move the motor home. Once we got set up Vern called our road side assistance with Winnebago and told them about the problem and they said they would send someone to check out the problem. In less than an hour someone was at our door. Unfortunately he couldn't fix the problem. He was able to put a part on that bypassed the air dryer, but would still give us air pressure until we could have freightliner fix it. Vern called freightliner and told them about the problem and they said others have had the same problem, but the problem wasn't the air dryer, but a valve. Freightliner said they would fix the problem. We have an appointment with them in November at their headquarters in South Carolina. We lucked out, because it is on the route we take to Georgia. They also have a campground there we can use while we're waiting for them to work on the motor home. While Vern was talking to them they told him about some classes they offer on the freighterliner system. It is a 2 day class and Vern is thinking about taking it.