Working Our Way Towards Home

We left Intercourse on Sunday morning. When checking out of one campground and checking in to another, we have to schedule so that we don't arrive at the next one until check in time. At Cherry Hill, the check-in time was 1PM and we only had 165 miles to drive. The roads around Lancaster were horrible and it sounded like the motorhome was going to fall apart. It was nice to finally get into Virginia on I-81 where the roads were in much better shape.

As we were driving along, we were passed by a huge RV bus that was painted in camouflage with a sign on the back that said OPERATION DEFEND AND DELIVER. We weren't sure what that was all about, but that bus was striking. When I looked online, I saw that it was Winsome Sears campaign bus. Since she was a Marine, that explained the camouflage. And we were in Virginia after all

Candy Hill campground was very nice. The people in the office were also very nice, a gentlemen took us to our site, and we settled in. I wanted to take the kitties out for a walk, but we were right next to a major highway, and it sounded like a drag strip. Just too much noise for them to enjoy.

We ended up ordering food from an Italian restaurant instead of cooking. The food was pretty good. We were tired, so we went to bed early.

The next day we had reservations at the KOA campground in Wyethville, VA. So, we had a drive of about 225 miles. We have stayed at this campground before, and it is always nice, spacious and quiet. The next morning, we fixed a bigger breakfast as we had some little red potatoes to eat before they could go bad. Lots of food to eat.

                                We still had those farm fresh eggs that we bought in PA.

As we were leaving, we saw these covered wagons on the other side of the campground. David said, "Gee, I wonder how long they have been here?"

The drive through Virginia is always so beautiful. There is the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. 

As we were driving down I-81 we heard a loud BANG. There was an 18-wheeler in the next lane, and it seems he had a tire blow out. It scared us both as we didn't know if it was him or us. But he did put on his emergency lights and slow down. That was scary.

                                                                 Welcome home to Tennessee.

Out last stop before home was Dumplin Vallery Farm and Campground. We have never stayed here before. Several years ago, we had reservations to stay here for a balloon festival, but we had to cancel for some reason. It's not really a campground or farm as far as I can tell. I know they have special events here from time to time. We drove in, office was closed, no information or even where to go. I called the office, and he told me the parking number of our site and that was it. Hum, it wasn't fancy, but it served the purpose. They had full hook ups and that's all we really needed.

The only thing this CG had going for it (other than cheap), is they were 2 miles from the second largest Buccees in the country, 74,000 sq ft and it is 90 miles from home. So, of course we had to go to Buccees for something for dinner.

                                             And this is what we came home with. YUMMMM.

Two sandwiches, Buccee Chips, Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and glazed pecans for snacking. My diet starts Friday.

                                                    My brisket sandwich was delicious.

                                                                         Home tomorrow.

Our Last Day in Intercourse

 We had a very relaxing day on our last day here. We sat outside with Riley, watching the horse & buggies go by. Since it was Saturday, the Amish were out in full force, running to town, back and forth, getting all their task finished before Sunday. On Sunday, most everything is closed, and the Amish members go to another member's house for church service and a get together afterwards. They drive their best buggy in their best clothes to meeting on the Sabbath.

If I can't fit all these videos on my blog, I'll post them on my you tube channel.

Well, I can't get any of them to work, so here is the link to my short videos.

Channel content - YouTube Studio

We went to eat lunch at The New Holland Family Restaurant and on the way home I stopped by another quilt shop I had never been to before, Cedar Lane Dry Goods and Quilts. I was looking for a 1/2" bias binding tool and they didn't have it. I don't think they even knew what I was talking about. I did find 2 Amish quilt patterns that were really nice. They were $5, and a bargain.

After that we went to Lapps for fresh ice cream. It was delicious as always. When we pulled into the campground, there were 2 Amish girls pulling a wagon full of their baked good for sale. They have been doing this for years at this campground. They used to come through with a horse and wagon, carrying the baked goods in the wagon, but the campground has gotten so crowded, it's hard to maneuver the horse and wagon, so now they just use a small wagon that they can pull. I saw some apple dumplings that I just had to have.

We'll save them for breakfast. YUMMMM.

No dinner for us after all that.

It was sad to be leaving Intercourse. It is one of very favorite places to be. The people are so nice and the food and shops are wonderful.

Our stop the next day is at Candy Hill Campground in Winchester, VA, First, we have to get gas and hook up the car to the motorhome. Even there, there were great views.

                                   Molly and Riley say, they are ready to hit the road.

More Time in Intercourse.

 There are so many quilt shops in this area, and we have many favorite places to visit. Our first visit was to Shady Maple. They have a huge, all you can eat buffet with lots of delicious foods and a huge gift shop in the basement. We went there many years ago, but they have just too much food for us. So, we skipped the buffets.

On the same property they have the Shady Maple grocery, which is an Amish grocery the size of Walmart. We love the variety of Whoopie Pies and their deli chicken pot pies, their vegetables and their section of meats. They have regular packaged meats, and about a 60' long butcher counter of fresh meat. We noticed about 12-15 varieties of potatoes in the produce section. We are amazed every time we go there.

When we walked in the door the first thing we saw was that they were having a Whoopie Pie celebration with about 200-300 Whoopie Pies of all favors and varieties.

We always buy plenty to freeze and take home with us. Thank goodness we have a French door full size refrigerator. 

Their vegetables are incredible. I have never seen such vibrant and plumb food. They almost look fake, they are so perfect.

                                 Cauliflower!!! The cauliflower in my store does not look like that.

                                                               Cabbage. 

                                                                   Varieties of peppers.

                            In the hot dog section, we found foot long hot dogs and buns. Oh my.

In the bakery section, an employee was cutting up a 10" Whoopie Pie for free samples. This store is overwhelming.

We also went next door to Goods Store, which is a Walmart type store, but without food. They have a huge fabric area, selling quilt fabric and dress fabric for the Amish and Mennonites.  I asked the girl working there if they had any canvas fabric as I need to replace the leaders on my 2 longarm machines. Not only did they have it, but it was $3.50 a yard. I bought the whole bolt of 13+ yards. Unbelievable.

I was also able to visit several quilt shops in the area. Family Farm Quilts was next door to the campground. It is a small shop and like all the shops in this area they sell premade quilts and handmade items on consignment from the Amish and Mennonites. I saw this one upstairs and it and the one on the wall were quite striking.

I also visited Log Cabin Quilts, I haven't visited there in many years and I was so impressed with what I found. Tons of fabric, quilt kits, patterns and quilting items. I would definitely come back here,

Next was Bird In Hand Quilts, right down the road. I used to go their because they had a nice selection at good prices, but the Amish or Mennonite man that worked there was so rude, He didn't speak to you and acted like you were an imposition in being there. After a couple of times visiting there, I stopped going. Well, they have completely updated the store. Nice ladies work there now. They have painted, new flooring and rearranged everything. The have lots of dress fabrics and quilting fabric and I found bolts of microfiber fabric in many colors. That was a great find.

The main quilt store now in Intercourse is The Old Country Store. They have a huge selection of fabric and sewing notions. Too bad I don't have a project in mind to look for fabric. There are so many great places to shop.

After quilt shop shopping, I walked across the street to one of my favorite places, The Immergut Hand Rolled Pretzel Shop. Warm delicious pretzels right out of the oven. I bought 2 cinnamon and sugar ones and headed back to the motorhome. We really enjoyed them.

On Thursday, we had to go back to shade Maple for a couple of things and more whoopie pies. Glynda had put in a special request for chocolate with peanut butter. We were surprised to see that that had a lot of new flavors that weren't there the day before. More WHOOPIES.

We also went to Zincks fabric outlet. They used to have every type of fabric you could think of. They had quilting fabric, dress fabric, Minky, fleece, lace, sequin fabric, upholstery fabric. I saw the perfect mocha colored upholstery fabric to recover our dinning seats in the motorhome, so I bought the bolt. They have closed off about half of the store, so they don't have as much as before.

David found a good place for local IPA beer to try. It's been a good couple of days all around.

No visit to Intercourse would be the same without a visit to Stoltzfus Meats. Their selection is   incredible. The first time we ever visited this area, Ryan was about 8 or 10 years old. One of the things we did was take a ride on the Steam engine train and go to an Amish farm for a meal. The food was so good, and we sat at long tables with everyone else and we were served family style. We couldn't get over how fresh and delicious the food was. I believe it was the Stoltzfus Farm where we ate.

 Here is their story.

Stoltzfus Meats - Our Story - YouTube

We leave on Sunday, to make our way back home.

Intercourse, PA. In One of Our Favorite Campgrounds

 I have really been deficient in posting about our trip. We moved on Monday to Beacon Hill Campground in Intercourse Campground. This one and the KOA Campground in New Holland, PA are our favorites. The KOA is a much nicer one, and even though I made reservation back in March, I couldn't get into that one. They have really expanded it since it has become a KOA, but our dates of arrival just didn't work with their availability. They are out in the country in a much quieter setting, with more spacious RV sites. 

So, we made reservations at Beacon Hill and moved over to on Monday. We went the back roads to avoid the small-town traffic and see the beautiful countryside. Lots of corn along the way and lovely Amish farms.

                                               

Beacon Hill is within a mile of the touristy area in Intercourse, but closer to several quilt shops and other shops. It's on a little corner, right across from Sam's Farm, an Amish farmer, with quite a large farm. We like to stay here and watch the goings on at the farm. He has quite a few children that all work the farm and depending on the time of year you can watch him tending to the corn fields, his tobacco barn, bringing in the cows, feeding the chickens and horses, etc. Most of the time our site is right across from his farm where it is nice and quiet and you can watch the Amish buggies going up and down the hill next to us. This time our site was right on the corner of the campground on Beacon Hill Rd and Newport Rd. Newport RD is a major road for everything, including large noisy trucks and cars, as well as the clippity clop of the Amish horses and buggies. So, it's very noisy and the kitties can't go out with all of this activity.

We arrived on Monday afternoon and on Tuesday our friends, Madonna and Jim were driving up from Rockville, MD (a 2.5 hr drive) to visit. They do this every time we come up. They have so much going on right now. They are moving to Denton, TX next month into a new house they are having built. Moving is not fun with all of the packing, getting your house on the market and trying to time everything just right. It's very stressful. We're so grateful they could come up.

When they arrived, we had a long chat in the motorhome and then went for lunch at Lapps Valley Farm and Creamery. We used to go to their farm for fresh ice cream, but since we were here last, they have built a big new building just down the road where they also have a cafe. Well, it wasn't what we expected at all. They had a small menu, where you ordered at the counter. At least they had a seating area where we could have our lunch and talk. We had a great time catching up. Since they are moving soon, we have no idea if we will ever see them again.

Madonna also brought us some delicious peanut butter cookies and a special candy rose that she made. There's no end to her talents.

There is a one room Amish school right across the way. In mid-morning the kids all have recess and go outside and play ball. I took this picture when school was out, and the boys were walking home.

We love this area. Right in front of us is Kings Homestead Furniture. They have so many beautiful things, not just furniture. We bought a really unique lamp there several years ago.

More on our visit here, later. Got to go feed the kitties

A Little Time to Relax

 Now that the quilt show is over, we have no schedule or plans other than enjoying our time here. The campground is very nice. During the week, it is not busy, but on the weekend, it is full. There was a group of 3 RVs that were together, behind us and they cooked together and partied together. One of the was cooking in an aluminum pan over their campfire. Never seen that before.

Saturday morning, we had a nice breakfast in the MH. We just got an air fryer, before the trip and were anxious to see what we could cook in it. We're still learning.

The kitties love looking out the door and windows at the leaves blowing, people walking by, kids swinging in the playground, and staring up at the leaves on the trees. They aren't that close to trees at home, so these really amaze them.

Today and Sunday, I actually had time to take the sewing machine out and work on a project I bought with me. We had a folding table that worked perfectly for my sewing, ironing and cutting. I put it in the bedroom and sat on the bed, so it worked out fine.

We sat outside with the kitties and Mollie, and I went for a little walk. Riley is happier outside than Mollie, but she does OK with it. 

Next stop, Intercourse, PA.

The AQS QUILT SHOW

 On Thursday, we went out for breakfast at The Kountry Kitchen Diner. Again, we had homemade corned beef hash and eggs. The food and service were great.

David dropped me off at the quilt show and went back to the campground to spend time with the kitties. 

The show was very nice and there were some incredible quilts. Many, I have seen before. Many were from Japanese quilters. They had a display of Pat Holly's quilts which had so much intricate design and small appliqued pieces. True works of art.

I'll share as many pictures as I can.

There weren't as many vendors participating this year. I did see a few new items but didn't really buy much. 

After David picked me up, we went to Burkholder's Fabrics. They are way out in the country on this side of town and always have a great selection of fabrics. I even came home with a dozen farm fresh eggs from their farms.

Riley and Molly were enjoying the window and dashboard.