Amishway Homesteaders

GREAT! Now I have to deside........ drive our wagon or come over and play LEGOS? We have a 3 gal. pail filled with all kinds (got most of them at yeard sales) but had to leave them behind so we had room for other things. But I have to stay here and drive. Wait I can tell Lori what is going on in your Wagon? Maybe she will drive for a bit? Sure Honey, just give me a minute to check on someing in the back of the wagon and then I will take over for you. Lori crawls into the back of the wagon as Michael drives. Lori is moving this and that in back of the wagon as Michael drives. Lori opens the back flap and runs over to PLAY legos! while Michael drives #$&$#*! HEY not fare! Michael forgot, LORI likes to play with them JUST as much as he does!

SIDEBAR - . . . . . WE QUIT! Lori and Michael are leaving the Wagon Train! . . . . . You see we HAVE too - Michael can't take it any longer. The other day onthe Wagon Train someone got kicked by a cow and the next day in real life the neighbor called. She had fallen and hurt her ankle. Well it turned out to be a compound fracture - blood everywhere as she crawled from one room to another to get to the phone (which we cleaned up after Ambeulance came and took her to the Hospital). Michael had to help them as they were short handed and seeing he was first on the scene. Then someone posted about the sheep / goats? getting loose and today when we went to visit an Amish friend as we pull in the driveway here come a bunch of sheep running down the road passed the van. HELP! they call out to us we need help getting them back into the pen. SO we get out (in the rain) and help get them back where they belong. Not a easy thing to do when they are wet and DON'T want to go back. SO we are quiting before anything real bad happens on the trail and then to poor Michael in real life. . . . . . No we will never quit! It just seems so funny how things are happening here that follows what we are doing on the Wagon Train.

Michael goes from Wagon to Wagon with the news: Hey………. Hey, it’s Michael You have to get up quickly and quietly! Yes, I know it is 5 O'clock in the morning but we have a situation. We just got word that at about 8 am there is going to be a gang of men going all around town looking for trouble – seems they are going to be trying to keep people out of their town so they can control what is left of the food and gas supplies. The person that came out to warn us said he heard one of them say he knew where we were camped. Luckily for us they are waiting until morning to come out this way. Some of our men will be bring over your animals, you need to hitch up your wagon (s) as fast as you can and drive over to the other side of the warehouse. Once everyone is there we will be moving out. No need to wake everybody up in your group just the drives and helpers for now. Sorry no time for making breakfast or potty runs. We will deal with that after we are on the road for a few hours. And no fires! If some of them are in the area we don’t want to show them our location. I did get a small fire going in one corner of the warehouse to make coffee and some hot water for tea or cocoa for those that want / need some, I will be right back with that as soon as I tell the rest what is going on. Keep your voices down but if you need help send someone over to one of the other wagons and if they can’t help you out then come get one of us over by the warehouse. This is what it is all about people, and this is why we are a team – let prove to everyone (and ourselves) that we can do this. With a handshake Michael moves off to the next wagon to alert them.

Amen.

Funny as I thought I was typing that list? Oh and about the wish this were a "reality" instead of "un-reality"! Have I got a story for you! I did LIVE a bit of the trail life today - don't want to scare people so I will not post it. but I did PM you.

well it is good to see that members are 'role playing' real well on this trip. Also good to see and hear that people are 'making do' and also as you post others can learn how to 'get by'. So Why not take it one more step? Try and eat what we all are 'saying' we are cooking/eating for a few meals (or like us all the time we are 'on the trail' (we hope). That means no eating at McD's or ordering pizza (sorry). Cook at home -try making something from scratch - NOW you don't have to build a fire in your back yard but eat together maybe by candle / lantern light. Wash the dishs by hand (it will be easy as you should be using very few plates for these meals. How about 1 night sleep on the floor (not on a work day for some) using blankets and quilts for 'pading'. Go for a walk and 'talk' about what would have happened today if you were on the trail. DARE I SAY IT ............................ No TV or Video games - play a board game, READ a book, or just talk and sing songs -anything that you would be doing if you really were out there on the wagon train. Now somehow (I don't get it ) but even without power here the compute still works so I can post and also see what others are doing? Watchout because You may just have a bit of fun and also learn a thing or two.

day 3 and we are up and ready to go- Lori woke up early so she made breakfast whilt michael cleaned up the wagon a bit and ckecked everything over. Greased all the wheels and filled our water jugs from the well. speaking of songs we have a tradition whenever we are on the road going somewhere. As we start out we play 'On the road again' by Willie Nelson ( and we have to start it within 1 mile or else). If we are traveling at night when we first see daylight its 'Here comes the sun' by the beatles. Any time very early in the morning if you listen you may hear Michael sing ' OH what a beautiful morning' from the play Oklahoma, and that was what you heard if you were up early today. Dishes washed and put away, fire out, Farmer thanked and we are set to go. ~US~

I go believe the cow Kicked somebody when a shot went off! Scared the *&%#&% out of most of us. THAT will go over big with us tring to let people know we are NOT hostel. See the dogs were able to keep the outsider under control I think THAT was a bit much - seeing there was a crowd all around plus the kids and animals.

Michael hands off the reigns to Lori and jumps down to go over and help Mother. "I watch your Horses go check on your family" , we are OK as our horse and ox are used to being around people and cars seeing they all came form Amish Farms. Michael talks softly to the horse and hums a old tune to settle them down. When we got to 'camp' we checked everything over and things are all OK. Annarchy want to borrow my ax for the wood? Or just leave it and I'll do it in a minute - Love chopping wood ( it warms you twice ya know). Gather the kids over by the fire after Supper as Lori and Michael will be having story hour ( need to calm a few after today) using books form the Library wagon and Michael has a real good story to tell as well. Then it is off to bed for most of us.

1) Lori says - wait a minute a 6 year old wanting to leave? Michael was doing that at 6 am and he's 59 (well most of the time - so maybe you WERE right about that 6 year old - LOL) 2) YES - I got it all redone so it is much easier to repack after each stop. Now the Colman Kitchen is in the back on top of 2 barrels so now we don't have to take it out each time to use. Just drop the front lid (makes a shelve) and pull things out (like everyday dishes, spoons & folks. drinking glasses, coffe cups, etc. When we are ready to go all Ihave to do is drop the lid, put stuff away and close it back up - Cool!

cock-a-doodle-doo! (somehow my triangle got missplaced) so I have to use what I wake Lori up with - 1 stuffed chicken that crows when you squeeze its belly. Time to get up everyone! I know you just want to sleep in this morning but..... *some have milking to do before we leave. *some have to feed and water the animals so we can leave on time this morning. *those who need to eat or feed the kids better get a fire going. *I see someone walking over to the bathrooms (see a flashlight) - so a line should be forming there soon. *some need to pack away the things they left out last night. ***And you ladies MIGHT want to get dressed before our friendly cops show up to lead us though/out of town. and THEN we can get on the road - long ways to go today and the sooner we start the better in case we have a problem with any of the wagons. I Milked the cow last night and let the cream rise to the top overnight. So this morning I got the cream out and put it into a small pail we have with a tight fitting lid. Plan is to hang it from the wagon so it swings. That way come Suppertime we will have fresh butter to go with the meal.

Yes - someone said that the chat would be saved?

Some people had to stop on the road today but some of us went on to set up camp. We are in the meeting room now (shoutbox) come on in - Coffees on!

well after all the planning and packng, and packing, and planning we still managed to mess things up. I thought I packed well so things would not bang around a lot on the trip but what I forgot to do is pack things that we would need every day / night near the back so we could get at them when we stopped and we could pack them back in fast. So tonight when we stop I will be doing a bit of moving things around. So tonight if our wagon is a rockin' - don't come a knockin' because I am in there moving things around. (and just WHAT did you think I meant!)

Funny thing is I was going to ask you about that wagon. After I rang the 'wake up call' around camp I went from wagon to wagon with a big ol' pot of coffee for all who wanted it (I need coffee first thing when I get up too.). Anyway NOBODY answered my call so I thought maybe they were up before ME!. now we know - so next time I will use my stick to rattle the side of that wagon before heading over to check on the animals. I bet a lot of people are finding it a bit hard to move this morning after the ride yesterday and sleeping under the stars on beds that are not the best. We slept like babies- The night sounds making the best music to go to sleep by. Now don't forget to water your animals and lets all check them seeing for most it was the first day pulling wagons or having to walk/work all day. 'Bubbles' (our horse) had no trouble finding the carrot I had in my pocket as a treat. Lori said she might drive for a bit today so I can walk and ckeck on things as they go by so we know all is well on the first days out. Missed a hold back clip yesterday on the right side of the buggy and I've done it a hundred times before? Must be all the excitment of going and trying to remember all the last minutes things that need to get done?

Lori here - BOY did you peg michael right! He is always waking me up early in the morning (when we need to be on the road)with everything from a stuffed chicken that crows to bells going off to a wet hand on my back. and Yes he is always up early and always wide awake and ready to go. "Come on are you ready yet? Lets get going. Are we going or not seeing you said we are out of here at 5:30 am and it is now 5:32?" Been like that for years - when it is time to sleep he is out in under 3 minutes most times. And when it is time to get up he's out of bede and ready to go in less time then that. Gotta Love him -he keeps me young and on the go- ~Lori~

SORRY to say but that buggy is LOADED up with some of our supplies and there is no more room. But Yes the ride would have been a whole lot smoother as a buggys has 'real springs' in them. We have an extra set on board just in case. Is Michael ready?????????????? Well DUH! been waiting for this trip for a lONG TIME!

Michael is in there right now..........................

we found a few more items to load before we left like hoemmade candles, a small roll of candle wicking (for after we butcher we can make more candles for light in case the fuel runs out). A wet stone for shapening the knifes and axes (duh, can't believe I forgot THAT), a few more bars of Fels-napa soap so we can make LOTS of Laundry soap and cleaner when we get there. Rope, rope and more rope - everything from clothesline to tow rope to heavy duty rope. Like another wagon member said I forgot to pack ladders so we are now putting 2 long wooden ones onto the sides of our wagon. It is amazing what you think of at the last minute - we are getting close to the weight limit so I better stop packing in things. Spend this last day with our Amish Friends and went for a ride with David. He sat in the back and let me drive with Lori sitting next to me - it was almost like we were on the road already. :-) Well that is all as we are now stopping for the night and sleeping in the wagon under a almost full moon, which is good as we can see a bit better in the dark (ya never know who may be out there) Good night- see ya in the morning. ~US~ the Amishway Homesteaders

Seeing this would be the last day we could visit our Amish Friends we decided to ride over and say our goodbyes (they would NEVER tell on us). Well they had a surprise for US when we got there for they knew that we were heading out soon and they wanted to help. They gave us: *David’s old buggy (all fixed up) – which we will harness to our horse and tether him to the wagon. So now we have more room. Moved some of the lighter stuff into it (blankets, mattress, food, etc). Plus the other thing they gave us like: *Davy gave us some extra harness parts for his shop *Freeman gave us 2 extra wheels (I for buggy and 1 for the wagon) and more wagon parts. *Rachel gave us $50.00 coupon to her bulk food store (and we spent it well- dry grains, burn shave, canning lids and rings, brooms, candy (oops), and a little bit of this and that. *Ben gave Michael a bunch of scrape iron and a few more tools. *Tina and Ruth gave us more seeds to help us start out in the new place and they baked us a few pie and bread for the first few nights (to share with you all) *Kate gave us a large milk can – she filled it with grain for our horse but said it still will hold milk when we get there. *And all the girls got together and made us a Quilt! It is a Homesteaders Quilt made just for our trip. So NOW we are really ready to head out. Everything is packed and just as we were heading out to meet everyone Michael opens the van up to grab the BOB bags – had them in there just in case we needed to go by van at the last minute.

OK so we are all packed and ready to go. Found we are still under the limit (I guess old stuff weighs less?) so I was thinking................ I Still have some Magic from before I retired (why do you keeps things like that - THIS is why!) and I thought it might come in handy if we ever run into any "Injuns". Ya know show them a bit of hocus- pocus and we can spook them enough to get away? Thinks like the 'cut and restore rope trick', the 'rising ball trick', 'magic fire', stuff like that. So it is packed - if nothing else Michael will keep the kids entertained.

OOPS! did I forget to put that on my list? Yes we have one block and tackle (and it still works) and also got from Freeman(Amish) a buggy jack (for lifting the wheels to change them) It is a big wooden thing but I thought we would need it so it too is packed.

We are ready can we go now? can we ? can we? CIRCLE the Wagans Michael Happy!

WOW! Just like in the old days - if you waited until the last minute to prep for the trip you forgot things or didn't have the time to pack right. Things got broken as they were just piled in as time ran out. SO for some this will be a 'real' test as to WHY we need to be ready all the time. Good Job!

Michael has both kinds of plows (2 1-horse plow and 3 hand push/pull plows)and is taking 1 of each plus all the old time garden tools. Hey if you pack in totes.................... they float! something they didn't have back in the day so 'if' you get dumped in the river you may be able to save some things.