The Calm Before the Storm
Work is about to get crazy! I work at a printing company and like many manufacturers we are coming out of a slow summer and gearing up for an insanely busy fall which will continue at break neck speed through to Christmas. It’s like that every year. Sometimes the busy season carries right through to New Years. This week started busy but my department got caught up, so I took the opportunity to take today off.
As I enjoy the calm before the storm at work, today is literally the calm before the storm. Hurricane Hanna, or what’s left of it, is going to hit the mid atlantic states tomorrow. That means the Saturday pre-ride with Diana for my Sunday Amish Loop ride is going to get rained out. Hmm… what should I do on this beautiful Friday with temperatures in the high 80’s?
I left a little after 9:00am and got home after 7:00pm and covered close to 300 miles of farm country between Newark, Delaware and York, Pennsylvania. It was an incredible day and I wish you could have come riding with me. I found some roads that I’m sure you would love. These are the kinda roads that make me ask “why do I bother going on trips when these awesome roads are just hiding in my backyard waiting to be discovered?”.
I took Route 896 out of Newark into Amish farm country. Shortly after leaving the University of Delaware campus Route 896 becomes a twisty country road which travels through hilly farmland and enters Pennsylvania. Amish farms line the road and the smell of manure is in the air. Some of the Amish houses don’t have power lines running from the road to the house; they don’t use electricity. You can see their clothes drying on the clothes lines flapping in the breeze as you cruise by. The farmers are tending their crops on horse drawn plows and wagons. The big green John Deer tractors that are plentiful in Maryland are few and far between here in Lancaster County. The little Amish boys and girls are playing baseball, no video games for these kids. I see more goats, horses, cows and chickens than cars or people… or even buggies for that matter. I know that the buggy brigade will be out in full force on Sunday though, that’s visiting day for the Amish.
