Travel Log Part 5: Lancaster County, PA

Lancaster county is the home of many Amish and Mennonite people. We traveled all throughout the countryside visiting Amish shops and seeing how they live. They all travel with horse and buggy and use no electricity to generate power. Most are dairy farmers and they work the ground in the same manner that their forefathers have for centuries.

We visited Nickel Mines, PA. This was the location of that awful tragedy where 5 Amish school girls were shot and killed. I was impressed with Pres. Faust's talk on forgiveness and he spoke on their innate quality that the Amish have in their ability to forgive others so willingly as part of their faith. What an admirable quality! One I don't think I possess. I am sure they have been hurting after experiencing such a horrific tragedy, but they have not let it derail them in their unwavering beliefs on being a Christ centered people. We happened along the site of the new schoolhouse that has been built. The old one was bulldozed away you couldn't tell where it stood.

Amish buggy

You come across many buggy's as this is their primary means of transportation. You just slowly pass them on the left...

Plowing the fields

 

Amish countryside

 

Today was such a sunny day and it seemed everyone was taking advantage to wash and dry their clothes. How would you like to have this "automatic clothes dryer"?

 

Amish children playing at the schoolyard.

 

We stopped for some homemade root beer and potato chips. We drove up to this Amish farm and they had these items for sale right outside their house. We wish we would have gotten pictures of their kids. They were so cute in their little black dresses etc... but felt that would have been too much of an invasion of their privacy.

 

This is E.J. our buggy driver. He took us on a 4 mile tour around several Amish farms.

 

We had a good time on the buggy ride.