Alaska 2008

This is one of the easiest driving days we had, at least in terms of mileage and time on the road. So why make such a short run when we could be home in two longer runs? Because Susie told me so! Our campground is 8 miles from Shipshewana, IN, the largest Amish community in the U.S. We stopped here on the way back from west coast in 2006 and went into the town only to find out we missed one of the major attraction, the Flea Market/Farmers Market that is held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our travels this time took us into the area on the right days, so here we are.

Getting here was relatively easy. We got on the road later than usual so that we would only hit the back end of the Chicago rush hour. We got into some traffic almost as soon as we hit the Interstate, but it was moving at the speed limit. Rather than stay on I-94 and go through the expressway in town, we took the I-290/I-294 bypass through the western suburbs and picked up I-80 southwest of Chicago. We had a couple of major construction projects to negotiate but, once again, they didn't really slow us down much. Bypassing Chicago was a good call judging by the traffic we saw going into town.

After getting set up in the campground, we went into Shipshewana to go to Davis Mercantile, an interesting multi-store "mall." One of the merchants, Lolly's Fabrics, has one of the biggest collection of fabrics for quilters we have seen. Susie is working on a quilt for Ben's big boy bed. She had selected the three fabrics that she wanted to use in the quilt before we left in June. It was decided by Carrie that the main color would not work in Ben's new room so we went to Lolly's to find a replacement. It was the fastest selection Susie ever made... we walked in and it was practically in front of her. Of course, Susie being who she is, needed to walk through every aisle in the store to make sure she made the right selection. She also asked several of the staff and a few other customers what they thought of the combination... all approved. I told her she made the right selection when she first picked it, but what do I know?

Tomorrow we will go to the Market and see what that is all about.