Another month down and on our way to Shipshewana, Indiana by way of Missouri, Illinois and eventually the Open Range factory way up north. We decided to leave Northwest Arkansas on Thursday April 21st because the sun was shinning and we don't like to travel with the weekend traffic. Not unbeknownst to Richard, storms were a brewin', and he wanted to get the heck out of there. Because he is such a great amateur meteorologist, we thankfully missed all of the awful weather they had. So we headed up through Missouri and managed to hit St. Louis' it's 5:00 somewhere traffic. With me behind the wheel and being notorious for not being the most calm driver, I give myself an A +! Not only did we make it through without hitting anyone, we made it through with all of my hair still intacked, Success! We stayed the night in Mulberry Grove, Illinois at what is sure to be some type of hillbilly permanent lodging as they all had porches on the travel trailers. It was only a quiet night of sleep because, SURPRISE, it rained again. We continued our journey north and decided to stay in Joliet, Illinois because we wanted to see Chicago.
We took a train in, which I was certain Oprah would be on it but when she was not, I was certain that we would in fact see her in the pizza place that we ate at. But she was not there either. I thought that she might be taking a stroll by the pier at Lake Michigan, watching this lone fisherman catch a fish with one of his many utensils, but alas, she must have been out of town.
So we sat in the garden to take in some sun and watch the uncoordinated people that were on the Segway Tours then headed back to the train station.
I was so enamored by the city and how beautiful everything was that I completely forgot to walk 2 blocks over from where we were to see Harpo Studios!! So here is a picture that I found on the internet.
Even though I didn't get to see Oprah, there is something to be said about being married to a man that is willing to go to a taping of one of her shows. Although I didn't plan enough in advance (it seems 2 years in advance to get tickets) it is the thought that counts. We stopped at a hotdog shop to try the famous Chicago style dog. Bummer that Sonic got it right and Chicago did not. Cheers to you Sonic for using 100% beef (supposedly) and not vienna…yuck! Who doesn't finish a hotdog?!!? That is how unimpressive it was and Richard and I were sharing!! Oh well, back on the train and a what was suppose to be a 30 minute scooter ride home turned into an hour and 15 minutes because Gina got lost. GRRRRR, technology. Humans-One (for finding our way home on our own), GPS-still winning (for how many times she has saved us before this one incident!). We stayed one more night in Joliet to recover from our sight-seeing-to-hopefully-spot-Oprah day and headed to our destination the next morning in the rain. When we slowly pulled into Shipshewana, we automatically noticed something different about our surroundings. The town looked clean and full of modern farmhouses that were big and beautiful but no $50,000 dollar vehicle in the driveway. Nope, only a buggy attached to a horse on the side of the road.
I knew we were in Amish country, I just didn't expect to be in the center of its birthplace. In all seriousness, the Amish people are SOOOOOO nice! We had such an amazing experience at the factory and at the shops and restaurants. I really did feel sorry for the horses though, they were working really hard in the rain. On an ironic note, here is a horse and buggy tied up right next to the gas pump...
Cheers to you for not having to worry about rising gas prices! We left the factory after 3 days of having everything done on our checklist and 100% satisfied. Thanks Open Range!! We are headed south to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Watch out spelunkers, even though it is still raining, here we come!!
So we sat in the garden to take in some sun and watch the uncoordinated people that were on the Segway Tours then headed back to the train station.
