ELMER SAVES THE DAY !!!

As Jean and Martha's have the flu in their homes, I am, again, doing the post this Monday, which leads to our young folks think we were born yesterday.  My son John told me that the flu was in Martha's house and she couldn't do the post after speaking with her son Erin.  I asked him how he knew seeing we are in Pennsylvania at Anna's sister, Hannah's house.  Being Amish, she does not have a telephone.  Erin, Martha's son,  is in New York State.  John's face turned red.  Anna told him, he must have a cell phone.  He him and hawed.  I was behind him and could see the bulge in his pocket where the phone was and pulled it out.  I said you must mean this phone.  John is going through his rumspringa.  Anna and I both decided long before that if he had a cell phone, we wouldn't get upset about it.  With so many things in the world like drinking liquor, drugs, driving cars and more - if John has a cell phone - that's the least of our worries.  In fact, I have a cell phone because I am with the fire department back home.  Of course, I left my cell phone home.  I told John if he wanted to hide his cell phone, his back pocket was not the best place.  He didn't know what to say.  After he left the room, Anna and laughed about it.  Parents chalk up one point.  But, the other thought is that if he is doing this without our knowledge, what else is he doing we don't know about? Really, John , going through his rumspringa, is the least problem of his other brothers and sisters when they went through.  After a while I borrowed John's cell phone to call Martha and Jean to find out they are both sick.  So I called Marilyn and here I am doing the post.

In my last post, someone guessed that Anna and I were going to have a Guest House.  Well, we are seriously thinking of turning our house into a Bed and Breakfast.  While we are here in Pennsylvania, we are visiting a couple of Amish Bed and Breakfast's to get information, see how it is set up, what services they offer and more.  Also, we are looking for advice, along with the good news and the bad. 

On Monday, we leave, on the bus, for Florida.  The bus leaves at 10:30 AM Monday and arrives at about 9:00 AM on Tuesday. We are allowed one large suitcase (under 50 pounds) and one small carry on per person.  Well that was fine for John and myself, but Anna being a woman, has to have to have two suitcases - so we are paying extra for one of her suitcases. 

Just thought I would let you know how much it costs to go on the bus.  The price is $256.00, a piece, for round trip for each of us.  (It would cost me more than that in gas, alone, for me  to drive my car   down there-Marilyn).  They do have discount for Senior Citizens and little children.

Our seats are assigned at boarding time based on order in which reservations were made.  They do keep family together as much as they can.  There is a toilet and sink on the bus.  Bus stops every 2 to 3 hours as well as a dinner stop and breakfast stop.  These buses are not like the old school buses that they had when I was a child.  They are individual seats, very soft,  comfortable, and they recline. They do have a place they can show movies (DVD), but we don't have that on.

What do we do on the bus?  Many times, us men get together to sit and chat while the ladies are together knitting, chatting, crocheting, etc.  A lot of times we talk of what we are going to do when we get there.  Most of us are Amish or Mennonite, but there are Englishers on there sometimes.  When the bus gets to Florida, there are several places it will stop like: Jacksonville, Tampa before it gets to Sarasota.

The cottage we are going to stay at belongs to our Bishop who I grew up with.  I guess we became friends because he was the tallest in school and I the shortest.  He has two cottages at Pinecraft.  One his Father and Step-Mother stay in and the other he rents. 

A little side story is that his Father married his wife's Mother.  His Mother had passed on and his Father came to live with them.  His wife's Father passed on and she came to live with them.  Without my Bishop or his wife's knowledge his Father was courting his wife's Mother.  Finally, one day, his Father asked if he could speak with his Son and Daughter-in-law.  They couldn't believe it when asked for his Daughter-in-law's Mother in marriage.  After the Father and Mother-in-law married, they had their own small place for a while and then went to Sarasota for the winter, but they usually came back from Thanksgiving through Christmas.  Bishop and his wife would also go down to Sarasota for a month or so each winter.  Finally, they decided to buy one, and looked as they didn't come up for sale very often. 

Now here comes Amish thinking.  They found one on a corner and the one next door came up for sale.  Originally Bishop bought them to take those two down and build one cottage all on one floor.  Now here really comes the Amish thinking.  I am Amish and don't understand it, but would have done the same thing he did.  He thought and decided tearing them both down and building one cottage on two lots would show pride.  It is against our beliefs to show pride.  So he built a new two story one on a lot and rents the other.  After the new cottage was built, His Father and now, Step-Mother moved down there all year round and said if you want to see us, you come to us.  So Bishop, his wife and some of his children go down for Thanksgiving through Christmas and come home.  We took care of their farm while they were there so they will take care of ours while we are there.  The cottage we are staying in is the one they didn't tear down.

This cottage is a two bedroom.  Most if not all the cottages in Pinecraft have electric and if they are new have central heat and air or if like the one we are staying in, has central heat and a window air conditioner.  Refrigerators are electric, stoves are usually gas or electric and there are electric lights in the cottages. Some of the cottages have telephones in them. The old adage is: "What goes on in Florida, stays in Florida."   So we are not "roughing it" in Florida.

We also have reserved two three wheel bicycles and one two wheel bicycle.  There are no horse and buggies in Pinecraft.  Most people use bicycles.  So Anna and I are using a three wheel while John gets around on a two wheel.   Already the three of us are planning on going fishing on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico when we get there. 

Well, I hope you enjoy hearing about Pinecraft and the trip.  If another post is needed, I will tell of what is going on and what we do when we get there.  Seems we will be getting there just before a snow storm hits this area.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer

Thank you Elmer, for saving the day.

Marilyn