Saturday October 9, 2021
So… to catch up since our last post. We made a quick road trip Sept 29-Oct 1 just for fun. We spent our first night in Ethridge, TN at Ike’s Amish Depot and General Store. This was a bit of a disappointment because when we checked, we understood everything would be open except for the produce stands across the highway from Ikes. On our arrival, most of the little shops and places to eat were closed. They are now open on Saturdays only. We never were given a definitive answer on if that is a permanent change or seasonal. Oh well, guess we will have to go back on a Saturday. We did see some beautiful Tennessee countryside, some interesting Amish farm equipment in use putting up hay, and an Amish produce auction house with some of the largest pumpkins we have ever seen. The owner of Ike’s came by when we were in his parking lot and opened his store. Many interesting antiques, and farm equipment. He also had some of the candy brands from the 1950s and 60s. For our NOMADS friends that were at annual meeting, he even sold Moxie and yes, we bought a bottle. We haven’t yet opened it for a taste. Ike’s is a Harvest Host location so we stayed overnight in his parking lot. It was neat to hear the sound of the Amish buggies with the clopping of the horses late into the night. The next day we returned to Alabama stopping overnight at Monte Sano State Park on the mountain above Huntsville. We are working to overnight at all the Alabama State Parks so this made one more marked off the list. Monte Sano has some nice hiking trails and we had a site on the ridge overlooking the city. Nice. It was a nice quiet night and the next day we returned to Pine Mountain.
We quickly did laundry and cleaning so that we could go to Camp Sumatanga on Sunday afternoon. NOMADS were working a three week project there and were a little short on workers so we decided to spend the week helping out. It was great to see some old friends and make some new NOMADS friends. Gary and Sharon as usual were great leaders. We were only there for the middle week of the project so we just tried to jump in and help out with what was already in progress. Anne worked with some of the ladies completing the window cleaning at Pool Camp cabins on Monday morning while Max worked with Gary replacing one of the signs at Pool Camp. The rest of the week we worked making repairs on the exterior of the Retreat Center buildings. It was great to be able to help the staff get some of their projects completed. We are hoping to return to camp for the closing devotion and communion Thursday. We always enjoy our time at Camp Sumatanga. Friday morning we returned to the mountain for a few days. We have some appointments next week and aren’t sure what we will do next. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
RVing With a Purpose 