The Heritage Trail

We woke this morning to a misty rain.  However, it was not enough to keep us from getting out for our morning walk.  Once that was behind us, we started working on a plan for the day.

Jim, Ellie, Mark, and I decided to take the second half of the Heritage Trail Drive.

Keith and Donna had a few things they needed to take care of today, so they stayed behind.

However, before we could get away, Mark received a phone call from Pearle Vision.  It seems that the sun glass frames he chose won't work with his prescription.  So, at that point, our plan needed to include a trip through Goshen.

After, Goshen, we started the drive and made a suggested stop at

The Old Bag Factory.

This old factory has a story that goes like this...

Once upon a time...there was a boy who lived in the mid-west. He loved to whittle sticks and make things.  When he grew up he taught other boys how to make things out of wood.

One day he found an old abandoned factory where feed bags had been made.  He said,..."This is a good place where a lot of other people could make things!"  And that is how the Old Bag Factory came to be.

The End.

The factory

has several shops, a bagel shop, and the Trolley Cafe.

This was also where we saw our first

quilt garden.

These are flower gardens that are planted all along the Heritage Trail.  The flowers are planted to match a

quilt pattern.

After a little shopping and lots of looking, we were back on track and once again following the directions from the CD for the Heritage Trail.

Our drive took us in the direction of Nappanee.  We traveled through

the country admiring all the farm houses along the way.

Next stop was

at Amish Acres.  This looked like a great place for lunch.  It was.

After lunch, we checked out the

Meat and Cheese Shop and the

candy store.  Thank goodness we were all full from lunch!  Time to get out of the candy store and back to our drive.

The CD noted that Nappanee has the largest population of

Amish families in the area.  I just love seeing them out and about on the country roads.

From the town of Nappanee, we went through

Wakarusa.  Here we found another

quilt garden.  Here is the

pattern.

We only made one other stop on the way back to Elkhart, and that was by a local produce stand.  We purchased some squash, a few peaches, and a watermelon.  Ellie also picked up a few items.

Once we were back at the campground, we joined Keith and Donna for a late afternoon visit.  Bob and Molly drove over from Goshen to join us.  The mosquitoes finally won out and sent us all home for the night.

We are looking forward to the arrival of Mac and Lynette and Kevin and Arlene tomorrow.  Drive safe...and see you when you get here.