Nappanee, Indiana and Springfield, IL

5/2/09
We just slept in for the first time in three days! Every day for the last three days, we have been waking up ridiculously early so that the folks that work at Newmar can take it away to fix it. The big population around here is the third biggest Mennonite and Amish population in the United States. About a third of them work in the R.V. industry. So because the Amish wake up really early and take away the R.V. we had to wake up really early every day for three days. We would go to a café in this little Amish town and eat Amish food for a really great price. Then we would go to the public library and do school for about 5 hours and play on the computers and read books on our breaks. We had a lot of fun. We got a lot of stuff fixed on the R.V. and dad is really happy.

Yesterday we went to an Amish Family’s farm after my mom met and got invited by a very nice Amish woman named Sara. We did chores at the farm and ate Amish homemade cupcakes. We had a lot of fun with their boys too. They took us on an Amish buggy ride because the Amish are a very religious people and they believe that modern conveniences like cars take away from the simple, humble life that God wants us to have. We saw their horse get new horseshoes, and we saw an a chicken lay an egg in the street in ten seconds. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot about the Amish.

We also went to an old fashioned soda fountain and met a guy who is Mennonite and owns a farm with all the cows and huge farm equipment and stuff like that. Like the Amish, Mennonites are also a very religious people and although they believe many things that the Amish do, they use the modern conveniences. As long as they think of God, they think that modern conveniences don’t take away from their religious life. We got to take a nice ride in a 30 ft high monster farm vehicle at 25 miles per hour, which was its top speed. We had a great time there at Mr. Ron’s and Mrs. Colleen’s farm.

Now we’re leaving to Chicago to go to a wind convention. My dad wants to get a contact so he can get a job in the wind energy field. We’re all hoping he’ll get what he wants, the perfect job, and be happy and settle down in Colorado. That’s all for now. I have to go put stuff away. Bye!

4/28/09 - Springfield, IL

Alright, we haven’t done much but I’m bored stiff. So, two days ago we left the Piatak’s house in St. Louis, MO after many goodbyes and fixing stuff on the R.V. We left and drove to Double-J Campground in Springfield, Illinois. In the morning we went to an amazing museum that was all about President Lincoln. We saw his tomb and what he went through when he was young. There was so much about President Lincoln that he is the fourth most written about human being in the World! The first is Jesus.

Anyway, we saw three amazing movies about Lincoln’s eyes, artifacts relating to Lincoln and the presidential election of 1860. All were amazing and we got in to the museum for a very reasonable price. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it much moreso than my brothers. Then we got back in the R.V. and are now driving to Indiana. I’m done with my school day and am still bored. Well, that’s all, bye.