Indiana and Michigan

We have been camped in a remote area, air wave wise, and have limited connection. So will try to post some past write ups.

18 July 2007

Last Saturday we went back to the Amish Acres to see the Broadway play written by Joseph Stein about the Amish –Plain and Fancy. This production is now in its 21st year at the Red Barn Theater at the Amish Acres. It is all about the differences and similarities between the Amish and the “English”. It was well done, and for those who really like musicals, I am sure it was very well done.
Since Sundays in Amish country means nearly everything is closed, we enjoyed a day of motorhome clean up including the first outside coach wash in quite some time. After the chores were done, we also took a drive in the country to see more of the Amish homesteads and enjoyed seeing the horse and carriages heading this way and that with the occupants dressed in their Sunday best. Other of the changes that have occurred to meet the demands of the modern world is the telephone. While the telephone is still not allowed in the Amish home, the growing need to have this communication available has resulted in an interesting compromise in their standards. While having a phone in the house would still represent too much of an intrusion and the luxury of calling from the house is to convenient and violates the standard of being “plain”, it apparently is okay to place a phone in a phone booth at a sufficiently inconvenient distance from the house. Now you can see these boxes all over the country side. It also appears that this standard varies quite a bit as the distance from the house seems to vary a lot.
Monday was a travel day, as we headed North in Michigan, making our way into the Saginaw Valley, just north of Saginaw Bay. I continue to have some problems with the parking brake on the coach. Seems like there is never less than a few items on the “needs work” list. It is worse than a sailboat. The good news is that Michigan seems to be working on their infamously bad roads. The bad news is that I had to drive thru 150 miles of construction.
Tuesday, we visited Bay City, MI and toured the waterfront area that many years ago bustled with the lumber trade, but since has become an antique and dining district.