Veterans of the Road - Day 6

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Maya and I woke up yesterday morning and got on the road as soon as possible, after trying to dry all of our things from the night before, of course. Continuing on the S Bicycle Route of Pennsylvannia into Amish country. We passed French creek and soon pulled over to ask someone for water. We found an old woman at home who invited us inside. Soon her son had come back, bringing with him dunkin' donuts. Maya already mentioned this in our last posting. But we had a free breakfast with them and after chatting for a while, we got back on our bikes and kept riding.

Up and over the hills we rolled through extensive farm land and deeper into Amish territory. There were lots of cows, horses, chickens, goats, and silo's. Lots of people were riding in horse drawn buggies and wearing the traditional dress. Most of the hills were just fine, but we hit a few bigger ones that were a nightmare to get to the top of. However, expansive views of the farms and hilly surroundings made the work worth it.

This hill doesn't look big, but coming up on it, it looked like a wall. Terrifying.

Maya and I were set on getting another 50 miles in, so we had another long day - but as soon as we hit our marker, we started stopping at people's houses to see if we could camp in their yard. The second house we visited was owned by a large Amish family who were very friendly and agreed to have us stay on the lawn. While sorting out the tent, we made friends with the younger kids: Rebecca, Mary, Amos, Katie, Anna, and Sadie. They had baby guinea pigs and a day old calf. We went into the cow house, I mean, the barn - to see the calf. We got to feed it with a HUGE baby bottle and squeeze milk out of the teets of the milking cows. There were also several horses. The King family allowed us to try many things for the first time, such as feeding a calf, drinking raw cow's milk, going on a buggy ride, and eating bachelor hats (ritz cracker, peanut butter, and a marshmellow, toasted in the oven!)

The buggy ride that we took with the mother, Barbie, was to visit two of her seven daughters: Barbie and Salone. Barbie the daughter is a painter and recently got married- she made us some delicious peppermint ice tea. We got to answer a lot of questions about our journey, as well as pose many of our own about the Amish way of life. No skis allowed, who knew?!

Overall, it was an incredible experience that I feel would be hard to come by again. Everyone in their family was warm and welcoming. They were really willing to share the few things that they had and are genuine people. That night there was a thunder storm, we were offered Anna's bed, but stayed out in the tent where we were dry and slept easily throughout the entire night. We got up at 5 (when in Rome...) and packed up our things. Barbie had made us a bacon and egg sandwich !!! Ultra Supphrrr! So we were well-fed and ready to go. We said goodbye to everyone and road off into the hills.

We made it the remaining 30 miles to Sam's house!!! Wooop! Entering East York, we almost passed Maple's Donut shop, but I insisted that I had to eat a donut now. The decor inside resembles a 50's diner and they had quite a variety of donuts: peanut butter cup, toasted coconut, double chocolate, kreme cheese, vanilla, almond, etc. After sampling the best donuts we had ever tasted in the whole wide world ever, we took a box to go. We missed a few turnoff's and had to go back over a giant hill we had just come down, but our legs held out, the donut fuel - no doubt, until we got to the house. We are now showered, stuffed with sugary goodness, and still excited for dinner! Plus, we have a huge, leapord print bed waiting for us this evening !!!!

No Flats Today!!!!

Great times USA,

Maya and I are now Veterans of The Road.

Signing off, yours truely,

Lara Buelow

with commentary by Maya Buelow