Amishland Bike Tour

 Last summer I was driving through an Amish area of Indiana, near Michigan.  Locals call this area between the states Michiana.  I just happened to be there during a yearly bike ride named, Amishland.  I wanted to drive slowly through Amish farmlands, so I followed the path for bike riders.  I was happy to go very slowly!

I would rather have been on a bike but didn't know about this yearly event until that day.  My biggest surprise, was how many Amish/Mennonite bike riders were on the road along with the tourists. These girls in the picture above seemed to be having a lot of fun and gave a friendly waive right after I took this shot.

 There are so many beautiful scenes along the way!  This is a "must do" bike ride for anyone who enjoys lovely views, Amish gardens, horses and good food.  The Amishland event is near Shipshewanna, a fantastic place to visit if you have an interest in Amish at all.  I highly recommend the Blue Gate Restaurant while your in town.  The waitresses are dressed Amish (some are Amish) and the food is fantastic!  I'm a really huge pie fan, as you know already if you read my novel, Under the Heavens. The pie I had at Blue Gate was fantastic.

One of my most memorable pieces of pie was in an Amish home.  My wife and I stopped in at the home of our close Amish friends (can't call ahead) we were dropping something off and only planned to stay for a moment.  There was this apple pie sitting on the table that caught my attention; piled twice as thick with apples than any pie I had ever seen.  They must have seen my expression, because they asked us to sit down and have some.  I answered, "We don't need to eat up your pie."  Our friend's elderly mother, who lived in the grandpa house and had made the pie, answered, "Well, I made it to eat."

I honestly was thinking that the apples would not be cooked all the way through, because of how thick it was. I was wrong. It was cooked perfectly and logged in my memory as one of the best pieces of pie I ever had!

 These pictures were all taken during the Amishland bike ride.  This ought to give you some idea of what a good time your in for, if you take the tour.  I have no connection with the organizers of this event but I shared a link to their homepage at the bottom of this blog. The event is scheduled for August 1-3, 2014.

Here is the Amishland bike ride link:

http://www.amishlandlakes.com/ride2014.html