While in Amish country, we went on a "buggy" tour of the Amish farmland. It was a very fascinating tour where we learned all about the way of life and got to see how things work. There were two things that made the tour even better than just finding out interesting facts:
1) Our tour guide was telling us how the Amish don't have telephones in their homes but they are allowed to have them in their barns and one of the reasons is to prevent gossiping. She then told a joke about gossiping still happens. She paused. Then she told us the EXACT same thing (verbatim), including the joke. We all laughed, but not at the joke. She realized she had done it and was laughing too, but we found it pretty funny that she tells the exact same joke word for word every time.
2) There was a couple from New Jersey that sat across from us in the buggy (which was really more like a wagon) that were hilarious. The guy kept making wise cracks about the Amish and other things on the tour that kept us laughing. The best part was when we were driving through a farm, we stopped for a second and three little Amish girls appeared to sell us baked goods and little horseshoes with flowers glued on them. The Jersey couple bought a bag with three cookies in it for $2.00. As we were driving away, he realized that he had just been ripped off by a little Amish girl, he was not pleased.
After our tour, we explored a little bit more of the town and I discovered that my husband really likes boutiques...who knew?? We went into one and then he wanted to go in another, and another, and another. It was hilarious!! I had no clue he liked shopping so much ;). Ryan saw the sign that he is holding in the picture and thought I should get it but instead, I chose the sign that says the words of some advice his friend gave him at our wedding... "Happy Wife, Happy Life", I thought that one was better :)
After Amish country, we went to our second stop of the day...Hershey! I have always wanted to go to Hershey and see if it really does smell like chocolate. My conclusion, no. The whole town didn't smell like chocolate. We went on the "Chocolate Tour" that showed us how they make Hershey's chocolate and it was pretty cool. After we went through the chocolate tour, we went to explore Hotel Hershey which is amazing. It made me want to go back and stay there, mainly to spend some time in the Hershey Spa. If you have not heard of this place, now is the time to check it out. All of the spa treatments involve chocolate...cocoa baths, massages with cocoa oil, chocolate wraps, and more. I am hoping for a return trip!
The best part of the Hershey trip was that we just so happened to be there on a night that they were having a fireworks show! We picked our spot on the hill overlooking Hershey park and cuddled up with a bunch of blankets. Our luck continued as we realized that the fireworks were shot off at the bottom of the hill we were on so we had a front seat to the show! It was loud and amazing.
After the firework show, we drove to our last stop on our exploration...Gettysburg. We found a hotel about 30 minutes out of Gettysburg and went to sleep. After going to part of church at a nearby chapel, we drove the rest of the way to Gettysburg and spent the rest of the day at this amazing site. There is so much history in the miles of the Civil War battleground and it is amazing! When we got to the visitor's center, we decided to first take a tour of the Eisenhower Farm that is nearby. President Eisenhower owned a farm really close by that he dedicated to the Park Service to be used as a museum and it was really cool to go and see it! He spent a lot of time there when he was president and we found out that Camp David is only about 15 miles away from Gettysburg. Crazy! We went on a tour of their farmhouse and they have kept everything in there and it is fun to see all of the gifts they received from foreign dignitaries.
After we finished at the Eisenhower farm, we went through the new museum at the Gettysburg visitor center and saw all the cool stuff there. Then we bought an audio tour of the battleground that you just stick in your cd player in your car and it tells you where to drive and all about each of the spots where the battle was fought. There are so many amazing stories there! The country is so beautiful and there is so much to take in at once! I had been there a couple of times before but it was Ryan's first time, but I think we both learned a lot from our tour.
After we finished the audio tour, Ryan wanted to go back and hike up one of the little mountains that we skipped over for time reasons. It was dark by then but Ryan said he had a flashlight in his car so he pulled it out and it was just a little keychain one that wasn't very bright. But, we went anyway and it was really fun in the end. I am just glad I had Ryan there to protect me from the scary dark woods, which always seem nosier in the dark! This picture explains our little hike...Ryan is showing fear and I am showing tiredness...
That was our trip to Pennsylvania and we loved it! Pennsylvania is a beautiful state and has a lot more to see that we ever thought! Everyone should definitely go and check it out...
I am such a good husband hand picking two baskets of fresh flowers for my gorgeous Lover!
and thus get the pleasure of watching the little 13 year old boy, Sidharth Chand, with a solid Mexi Stash take 2nd place... he misspelled PROSOPOPOEIA forgetting the "I" at the end... who'd of known that was there? A Shame indeed.
The next day we went down to St. George for another reception (Mike is from St. George). I think that everyone looked super sharp in the colors that Chelsi chose. For those of the families that are married, we matched perfectly with our spouses. It was just like we were going to prom with our matching colors and flowers, I loved it! :) If I do say so myself, Ryan and I looked great! I mean, you can judge for yourselves but I am just saying...
I think the kids stole the show (outside of Chelsi and Mike of course). Case and point, Jordan and Zachary in their tuxedos:
It worked out fabulously because Scott & Andrea were able to drive to St. George to see us. It was great! The only thing that was a bit of a downer was when I held my arms out to my adorable niece Allie as we were walking up to meet them and she ran straight past my open arms and went right to Ryan! I got my hug after but I learned I will just have to accept that Ryan is a new favorite... But it was so great to see Scott, Andrea, Allie & Elena. The only family members we didn't get to see while we were in Utah were the Mark Peterson family. But we will get to see them in August and we are excited for that!