One Last Camping Trip

     My wife and I wanted to make one more trip with the Puma Ultralight camper we bought this year, one last road trip before we winterize our new trailer and put it in mothballs for the winter.

    Our choice this time was not to go to a state park or some other back-to-nature setting, but instead to venture to Shipshewana, Indiana. This is Amish country with horse-drawn buggies clip-clopping down roads and streets, clothes hanging outside on the line, and stores that sell electrical appliances are non-existent.

    That's not the main reason I wanted to travel here. I got us tickets to see Tommy James and the Shondells which was playing at a local theatre. We haven't been to a rock concert in ages. Why not?

    Of course, while we're there we'll do some shopping: soup mixes, jams and perhaps a shoofly pie if we can find one. At many Amish stores, they only accept cash. No credit or debit cards. That's fine with me as I can get rid of some of the pennies I've collected over many months.

    At one store, I was charged $2.49 for something I bought. I didn't have 49 cents in change, but I give him $3 and four pennies. At least I can get a nickel along with two quarters. I would rather have one nickel than four pennies.

    But the clerk gave me back my pennies, telling me petulantly, “It's $2.49.” Then he gave me two quarters in change. So not only did I not get my nickel, he short-changed me a penny. I let it go. I didn't really want another penny anyway.

    This wasn't an Amish-run store though. We did go to a variety store that actually catered to the locals. There were racks and racks of broad-brimmed black hats worn by men. There also was a large collection of dark-colored stocking hats. Another aisle displayed shoes and boots, almost all of them black. My wife was tempted by their kitchenware. I noticed a few pressure-cookers on the shelves.

    Anyway, there was one display that puzzled me. It was a collection of various computer printer ink cartridges, the kind where you spend about $25 to print a hundred or so pages on your HP printer. If the Amish avoid electrical appliances generally, why would they need printer ink? I didn't see any printers for sale, nor any other electrical gadgets on display.

    Perhaps if Amish do use computers and printers, maybe there's an Amish blogger out there who could clue me in.

    By the way, there were no Amish buggies in the parking lot of the concert we attended. I guess that makes sense since they're not likely to have ever heard Tommy James and the Shondells over radio, TV or stereo. And at this concert believe me when I say the band and singers used every volt of electricity in town for their amplifiers. I'm sure the Amish didn't miss it.