Amish in Lancaster County, PA

Today, Monday, we drove to Bird-in-hand, PA near Lancaster.  There are approximately 31,000 Amish in this county. We decided to take a 60 min ride that went to a farm.  We got into a horse drawn buggy to start a tour.  At the driver's farm, we got out and walked around and learned how they work their farm.  We were surprised to learn that they use solar panels, and batteries with LEDs to light their way at night.

As we got out of the Jeep, this farmer was cultivating his field with a 6 horse team.  He moved that team amazingly quick.

This is the carriage we rode in.  Tic and I sat in the front with the driver.  The carriage is parked at the farm we went to.  Our driver was a retired farmer.  Driving this carriage is his retirement job.  We actually went to his farm that one of his son's now runs.  He has 2 sons and 3 daughters.  One of his sons left the Amish lifestyle.  Our driver told us that about 20% of all Amish children leave the Amish lifestyle.  We asked our driver if his son leaving the Amish lifestyle bothered him.  He told us yes it did at first, but his son lives just down the road and he and his family come over frequently.

These are tubes the large round hay bales are pushed into and totally sealed.  We were told this kept the hay fresh for 6-9 months which preserves the moisture content without rotting.

We saw lots of pulley system clothes lines.  The carriage near the white building is their daily personal carriage.  The horses that pull these carriages are usually thoroughbred trotters.  They move along quickly.

This is another touring carriage.  Our driver told us their privately owned carriages are not this large. 

This tree is where the touring carriages are parked. The leaves look sort of like a maple, but the flowers are very different.  See the close-up picture below.

Next we drove around the county side just looking at the different shops and farms.  We saw private carriages all around.

Someone else is driving this cart.  We were not sure why this girl was hanging out the side.  We were told that all the carriages in Lancaster county are gray in color.

This carriage had a little room behind the cab to carry more stuff.

You can see a girl driving and a couple of others inside.  In this area of PA the roads have wide shoulders for the carriages to go without obstructing the automobiles. 

The horse turned its head just as Tic took the picture.  However you can see this "carriage" is like a sports model in that there is only a seat and front area for your feet.
As we were driving around we stopped at one farm that was selling chicken pot pies and bought an 8" pie.  We had it for dinner and it was delicious.  Tomorrow will be another adventure!