GATEWAY TO AMISH COUNTRY…NAPPANEE

Saturday, September 17 – We went over to Nappanee today for the Apple Festival.

Our first hint that we were going to have an enjoyable day was the four WWII fighter planes buzzing over head in formation. We first saw them when we were about half way to town and enjoyed their antics for the remainder of our drive.

We arrived in town to take in much of the parade. An official “Small Town USA” parade. There were fire trucks, tractors, bands, politicians, queens, and tons of candy being thrown to the kids. We even enjoyed a few Tootsie Rolls tossed our way.

They even had a float honoring the Elk.

We couldn't attend an Apple Festival without sampling some Apple Fritters, Apple Turnovers, and of course an Apple Pie to take home.

There were numerous food venders selling everything from fries, hotdogs, sausage sandwiches, elephant ears, and just about any festival/carnival food you could imagine.

This place was PACKED!

This was a very interesting sign…Music and Fencing?

Of course there were tents full of crafters selling adorable things for the ladies to purchase. Marsha loves strolling through these areas searching for unique gifts. Dare I say she found a few things for the upcoming holidays.

She wanted to share how cute these candle tops are. This gal had 100s of them.

How's this for small town honesty? The “self-serve” apple vender. Take your pick and leave a quarter!

It was fun to see the Amish/Mennonite families enjoying the parade, candy, junk food, and the rides. A pretty festive occasion for these conservative families.

This is one ride Paul said he would NEVER go on!

We had a wonderful time. If your in the area around this time next year, don't miss this festival. You'll have a great time!

Driving home we saw this sign…

We looked at each other and had to turn around and go back for a picture. We had no idea what this meant so we consulted our trusty friend Google. Here is what we found…The Eastern Continental Divide runs along the high ridges and peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, and it separates land draining east to the Atlantic Ocean from that draining west and southwest to the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico.

It begins in Key West FL, goes up through the center of FL into GA through Atlanta, on up into NC and into VA creating much of the border of VA and WV, through western MD, into western PA, into western NY, then looping west close to Lake Erie, through Portage County OH and Akron OH in "Summit" county, into Indiana and on into Chicago [less than a mile form Lake Michigan], on up into Wisconsin, and into Minnesota where it eventually becomes the Northern Continental Divide.

Now you know the rest of the story!

With sadden hearts we must change our plans again. We are leaving on Sunday and heading back to Canton. On Thursday, a cousin and aunt of Marsha's passed away. Jim, 74, had a stoke and her Aunt Johanne, 72, passed from kidney failure. We will arrive in Canton early to attend calling hours on Sunday, a funeral on Monday and calling hours and a funeral on Tuesday. We are so happy that we are only five hours down the road. We hope to fit a quick visit in with our daughter, Kelly. Please keep our families in your prayers.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!