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Published: June 11th 2013
TODAY WE DISCOVERED INTERCOURSE AND IT IS AS CLOSE TO PARADISE AS YOU CAN GET !!!!
Now that I have your attention I am talking about Intercourse, Pennsylvania and Paradise, Pennsylvania. We are in the centre of Amish country. We have tried to find out the origin of the name for the town of Intercourse, nobody seems to know for sure. I like the idea that it was named by a mid-wife to help promote business (that was for you, Joan).
We rode all the way here today in a downpour. A 25 degree downpour. What a difference riding in the rain when you are warm. We spent the day laughing with each other and enjoying the ride rather than just complaining how cold we are. It also helped that we were leaving the filthy RV and campground behind us. It was a short ride heading southwest. Very different again. The population is so dense here that even the secondary roads are well travelled. There are as many people living in a 200 mile radius here as in all of Canada. The plan had been to been to come to the county of Lancaster, a strong Amish community. When
we were only 4-5 miles from our destination we were still in the middle of strip malls, many other large buildings and freeways. It just didn't seem to fit. The two lane highway that runs through Amish country is very busy. We decided to take a detour to ride through farmland for half an hour or so. It was well worth it. It allowed us to see some beautiful farms and livestock.
As soon as we arrived in town and checked into our hotel there was a tornado warning issued for the area. The skies were so dark and the temperature was so warm, almost 30. We did experience thunderstorms and severe rain (see the picture of Helli).
The town is very small, a few hotels and inns, a few restaurants and dozens of shops. The disappointing part is that most of the shops are not run by the Amish. It has a cruise ship port feel to it. The Amish people are exploited and used to bring he people to town and then the commercialism takes over.
It is fun to see all the horse drawn buggies running through the main street. I do mean running,
they don't waste any time. The buggies are equipped with lights, full hard covers over the top and enclosed windshields. One of the funniest things I have seen in awhile was a horse and buggy sitting right outside a coin operated car wash, go figure.
The Amish do work in the local shops and are so pleasant to deal with. It was quite funny to be sitting in a local coffee shop this morning being served by an Amish waitress, sitting beside several older Amish gentlemen having their breakfast and seeing all their hats hanging by the doorway. While we were sitting having coffee someone came in to declare there had been an accident just outside the front door. I don't know what happened but it was not serious and it made me laugh to myself. I was trying to imagine what kind of accident it could have been. Tailgating.....seeing a horse outside with a sore nose! Maybe it was a simple hitch and run!
Today we will continue west through Pennsylvania. Without a destination in mind maybe I will just plug a "Gettysburg Address" into the gps.
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Jo and Bill
non-member comment
Perhaps your next cross country tour will be on horse and buggy. Knowing Heli, I'm sure she could get a good deal on a used one! Have fun, be safe and please continue to entertain us!