Category General

Apr 23 2017

Time with our Amish friends

It is 2.5 degrees celcius (36 Fahrenheit) with clear blue skies, early Sunday morning and we are heading to the outskirts of Bremen on Streak and Storm. Slow moving shapes on the side of the road come to life through the cold morning mist as we approach them – people walking in their Sunday best, ladies’ capes blowing in the wind, a few horse and buggies clip-clopping gently along the lane, all waiving at us as we ride by. As we approach our destination, the road is nearly blocked with people: some pulling beautiful woodden open low carts with several children in each, others getting out of buggies. We see several men standing in a line in the front garden, all dressed in black with wide brimmed black hats. Streak and Storm very slowly ride past and turn up the gravel path to the shed awaiting them for the day. Brian and Neil are already there, awaiting our arrival. It is just after 8am and Sunday service starts at 9am. By the time we walk out of the barn, there is a long procession of horse and buggies arriving. Everyone is in their Sunday best. What a sight… We nod to the people arriving and parking their buggies as we walk by in our goretex trousers and motorcycle boots. The day that ensued was simply magical…

Start of a magical day

Start of a magical day

Going back a few days in time…..

What are we doing here? Some of you may recall that the highlight of our 3 months in the US back in 2015 was meeting David in Nappanee, as described in “An insight into Amish life” https://2slowspeeds.com/2015/08/17/an-insight-into-amish-life/ , and being invited back to his home to meet some of his family and learning more about each other’s culture and life. Since then, apart from the annual Christmas letter exchange, I have stayed in touch with Brian, David’s son-in-law, via email. Email?! Yes, luckily, Brian works for a manufacturing company and his job requires him to use computers etc. so we have been communicating while he is at work. Apart from our departure date from Vancouver in June, our meeting with David, Brian and their families on the 20th April was the only thing we had scheduled on our US/Canada leg of this trip.

Seeing David and Linda again was wonderful and, as so often happens, it felt normal to be seeing our Amish friends again. Brian and Edna and their five children, Amy, Eric, Lydia, Lucas and Amanda, arrived by horse and buggy shortly after we arrived. Dinner is nearly ready but Brian offers to take us for a short buggy ride. You will have seen Anthony’s video. The horse and buggy has one feature we wish we had with Streak and Storm: reverse!! Yes, we did a 3 point turn with the horse and buggy on that little narrow lane to turn back and go home. Well, I can see many more advantages of horse and buggy over Streak and Storm really but that’s another story.

A gentle ride with Brian and Dreamer

A gentle ride with Brian and Dreamer

Sorry Streak, we have a new steed

Sorry Streak, we have a new steed

We are greated with a huge dinner of barbecued chicken, fresh vegetables, fried potatoes and salads followed by 2 different home made of course, pies. It was such a lively and fun evening. After dinner, David takes us see the large 16 ft trailer that’s sitting in their front yard – what could that be for?! The trailer hold benches of different lengths of 6 to 12 feet long and boxes of hymn books for their bi-weekly church services, and because church is followed by lunch, boxes with all the cuttlery, glasses and table cloths. David and Edna are hosting this Sunday’s service. The Amish hold their church services in their homes and take turns following an annual, but flexible, roster. As an Amish church district is made up of roughly 25 to 35 families on average (at which point a district is split into 2), and families attend different districts’ service on their ‘off’ Sunday, you are never sure how many people will attend the service!!! And of course families have between 5 to 7 children on average each so that makes for huge numbers at any church service. This massive trailer belongs to the church district and is moved between host families by 2 draft horses.

David leads us to the basement of his home where the service will be held: they have different length benches so that they can easily fit in different shapped basements or barns and we are shown how the benches which serve as pews cleverly transform into tables for the lunch after the service: the legs of two benches are sloted into a wooden stand at each end which raises the bench into the table top and one sits on a church bench, so 4 benches turn into one wide and long table and bench seating. David hands me a copy of the Ausbund hymnbook, the oldest songbook in the world still in continuous use, which was first printed in1564 and used in all Amish churches today. It contains centuries-old songs originating with Anabaptist captives held at the Oberhaus castle prison in Passau, located in present-day southeastern Germany. He shows me page 770 and explains that this is always the second hymn sung in every Amish worship service, hymn # 131 “Das Loblied” or “hymn of praise”. The thought of every Amish service singing the same song at the same time gives me goosebumps. I can’t hide the impact that has on me. David asks me if I/we’d like to attend the service on Sunday. What an incredible priviledge to be invited. Of course I would love to!! At the same time, in another part of the basement, Brian asks Anthony if he/we’d like to attend. Funnily but not surprisingly, we both respond exactly the same way: we would love to but need to run it by the other first. How could we miss up such a kind opportunity to witness an important part of Amish culture. We are warned that the service lasts 3 hours and each hymn takes 20 minutes each. The hymn #131 comprises just four seven-line stanzas only – I am getting an idea of how slowly hymns are sung!!

We get back to our hotel, narrowingly missing the fox that ran between our bikes and look at accommodation options for the next 3 nights. For some reason all hotels in the area are 80% booked, including the one we’re staying at but we find one in Warsaw, not far away. That is the beauty of travelling with no fixed plan: a 2 night stay suddenly ends up being 5. Interestingly, we find out that Warsaw is the prosthesis capital of the world. Any of you with a new hip or knee, it most likely comes from Warsaw.

Heading back to our motel in Plymouth


For anyone visiting the area, the Menno-Hof centre, in Shipshewana gives an excellent insight into the history of the Amish and Mennonites. They’ve certainly had a turbulent history. Plan on 2.5 to 3 hours for a visit.

Car park in Shipshewana

Menno-Hof centre in Shipshewana


Knowing we had nothing planned between now and Sunday, Brian kindly invites us to visit him at work if we’d like a tour of the plant. Of course! He works for a company that designs and manufactures aluminium outdoor cabinets. As soon as we enter his office, we are both instantly struck by how incongruous it all seems: all this technology, computers, CAD design, mobile phone yet Brian cycles a little over 6 miles to work, starts at 6am so that he can leave early afternoon, cycle the 6 miles back home and still have the afternoon and evening with his family, living his traditional Amish life. Such life balance. I truly admire this honesty in lifestyle.

Brian’s office


The 2 hour tour of the plant is fascinating – Brian knows every step of the process and knows everyone in the plant. It is funny how only a few days earlier we visited the Honda plant and here we are now in a different plant, on a smaller scale but no less impressive, in a different way. I was particularly intrigued by the powder coating process: the powder is sprayed using an electrostatic gun which imparts a positive electric charge to the powder, which is then sprayed towards a grounded object by the powerful electrostatic charge. The sprayed part is then heated, and the powder melts into a uniform film, and is then cooled to form a hard coating. As we are about to leave, a colleague asks Brian if they can have a meeting once he’s free of his visitors. No, it can wait until Monday morning as it is 2pm, time for Brian to leave work and return to his family. Once again, an example of how important family is. I love that! We will see Brian next on Sunday morning around 8am…

Challenger Designs plant, Nappanee

Returning to the present…….

After leaving Streak and Storm in the barn Sunday morning, Brian leads us to the house. Brian takes Anthony under his wing and stays outside with the men and his wife Edna comes to greet me and leads me inside the house which is already full of women. Women greet each other with a handshake and a kiss. And so do the men. The atmosphere, as people arrive and the room fills, is calm and quiet. Everyone and even kids just whisper. I cannot help but think back to kids that stayed at our hotel and were so noisy, screaming and runing and slamming doors, with their parents either oblivious to the noise or beyond caring….

Just before the service, Brian thoughtfully leads us to the back of the room where the service will be held so that we don’t feel like everyone is staring at us. As people arrive, he quietly explains to Anthony how and why people are seated in the room the way they are.

The three-hour service is spoken entirely in Pennsylvania Dutch and German. It begins with the congregation singing 2 hymns very slowly in German. A male song leader starts the first syllable of each line and then the rest of the congregation joins in, chanting very slow, drawn-out notes, with the last syllable the only short one, ready for the song leader to start his next first note. “Das Loblied”, the 2nd hymn lasted 25′. I was able to join in the chanting after a while as I could read and understand the German but sadly I didn’t understand the hour long sermons – the language and accent too difficult for me although I was surprised at how many English words and expressions were mixed in.

The last part of the service was “business”. This was another fascinating aspect of Amish life. Instead of national health services or medical insurance, they rely on each other to cover medical expenses of members of their church district. Everyone contributes based on their income. A true community.

As soon as the service is over, there is a hive of activity and suddenly, pews converted to tables, tables are layed and lunch is served: coffee, sliced homemade bread, lunchmeat, Amish peanut butter spread with marshmallow cream mixed in, cheese spread, and pickles. And because there are so many people, there are several sittings. Three of Linda’s sisters take me under their wing for lunch. After lunch, the ladies sat in circles in the kitchen and lounge while the men sat outside in one large circle, chatting for a few hours. David introduced Anthony to his son-in-law, then another son-in-law, then another, until it appeared everyone was in on the joke and introduced himself as one of David’s son-in-law. Suddenly, we had spent 7 hours with them all. Time for us to leave.

We cannot thank David, Linda, Brian and Edna enough for their kindness, generosity and trust. It was an incredible priviledge to be able to attend a Sunday service with them. A true connection and friendship has been formed and we are extremely grateful for our friends’ warmth and openess with us. I feel we were more than mere witnesses to their culture. I feel like part of me has been left behind. We are sorry we don’t have any photos of our amazing experience to show you but respecting their culture and beliefs was paramount to us and the images of that Sunday and our time with our friends will never leave us.

– Anne

Apr 20 2017

Finding our feet and dusting off the cobwebs – the first week.

Long distance motorcycling is like riding a bicycle, you do not forget, but there are a few wobbles as you start out. We have been on the road for only one week, yet it seems so much longer. The amazing first day still seems so unreal, going from Streak and Storm in a different city to watching the sun set on Niagara falls less than 10 hours later. Pure pleasure.

Reality the next day greeted us, overcast and raining as we crossed the border going over the bridge past Niagara Falls into the USA. Six months entry courtesy of our B1-2 visas suddenly made me aware of how little time we have to complete this journey. We can stay in the USA until 14 October 2017, which is after our planned completion date to be back in London! Rain increased and we had two hours on Interstate 90 (I90) at 70mph (110kph) testing our Klim waterproof clothing and new Sidi boots. All passed with flying colours.

Entering the USA at Niagara Falls


We had considered heading to Nashville in Tennessee for a little country and western music, but a quick internet check showed the hotels are full, Easter holidays – it will have to wait for another time. As you know from Anne’s previous post, we headed south towards Pittsburgh to visit Fallingwater, so our westward journey has not even started.

When we flew into Montreal, we could see snow on the ground to the north and quickly became aware that Spring is not as advanced as we saw in Europe. As we rode southwards I watched the wind swirling last year’s leaves on the road as the first buds start to blossom into leaf amongst the the grey and black trees lining our route. We also noted that animals here have the same problems crossing the road as back home with the same sad result, everything from racoons to white tailed deer. Night riding is probably not a good idea.

After Fallingwater, which is approached by a lovely winding road (route 381), we backtracked to Ohiopyle for lunch where we discovered the Great Allegheny Passage, a wonderful repurposing of an old railway track for hiking and cycling. There are even campsites along the route for the hardy individuals who traverse the whole length. Any takers on the couch?

A wonderful walking route


We walked a small section crossing the Youghiogheny river twice as it meanders in a horseshoe shape with great views of the river below. The old railway bridges have been converted to pedestrian/bicycle use and should be good for decades to come with the lighter payloads of feet and bicycle tyres.

On the Great Allengheny Passage


Our westward push takes us in bright sunshine along I70 at a fair clip: here, all traffic moves at the speed limit, even the big trucks, it pays to keep pace with the traffic. The gently rolling hills give way to flatter country as we cross the Ohio river and enter the state of Ohio. Our destination of Bremen, Indiana is too far for us to cover in a day, especially since we do not leave until 11am. We are not called the 2slowspeeds for nothing. We chose Marysville, Ohio as our midway stop just over half way and beyond Columbus so we avoid the rush hour traffic the next day.

En-route we stop for lunch and meet yet another friendly person interested in the motorcycles and our journey. In the last week we have met many such people. While the government may have changed here since our last visit, the people we meet from day to day are the same as they were in 2015.

Marysville turns out to be the home of the first and largest Honda car manufacturing plant in the USA and has a heritage museum http://www.hondaheritagecenter.com, so a visit is planned. They also do a small group car plant tours twice a week, but this is booked out weeks in advance. We hide our BMWs at the end of the parking lot and are greeted with cookies and told there are a couple of cancellations for the car plant tour and we are welcome to join. Someone in the group took 2 years to get on the car plant tour and we get in without a booking, our luck continues.

Early Honda motorcycles manufactured at Marysville


Anne on the F1 racetrack


A Honda engine in expanded form


Everyone dresses in white at Honda, to show that people are considered equal, reminding me of those futuristic sci-fi programs where you know someone will try to escape. I wait in vain for the alarm to sound. Talking of movies, I was reminded of ‘Willy Wonker and the Chocolate Factory’ as we prepared for the tour, those of you who have seen the movie will recall that not all the people made it through the factory tour. We had a brave couple with the surname ‘Ford’ who I said would definitely be the first to go.

The Honda Marysville Auto Plant, known locally as MAP, is approx 4 million square feet or almost 375,000 square meters in size and employs more than 4,500 people producing Honda Accord and Accura ILX and TLX models in two production lines. We are told that the tour will cover 1.5 miles or 2.5 kilometres within the plant. We are also told that while we will not be able to follow the process from start to finish in sequence, we will see all production stages except the paint shop. It quickly becomes apparent why, the plant is three dimensional, conveyors move parts above our heads as we see steel being cut out of a roll, the first stage of the car manufacturing process.

Here is a connection to Anne: in the early 1980’s, Anne was a steel broker in London purchasing tens of thousands of tonnes of steel from Eastern Europe for sale in the United States; some may have even ended up here in this plant! The cut steel then goes into the largest press I have ever seen, no photos allowed unfortunately but the size of a 3 storey building, stamping car body parts which are then taken by robots and welded together into the initial frame. Car bodies then disappear up towards the roof on our left side, to then reappear from beneath the ground on our right. Conveyors criss cross above our heads in a complex maze moving parts around. I hope someone knows how this all goes together in case of a breakdown. I could go on about the various fascinating plant processes, but will conclude with an interesting observation: while some processes are fully automated, manual checking at every stage exists in the plant. It is a strange combination of hi tech and low tech, which I had not fully appreciated before undertaking the tour.

As we depart this amazing place, we have seen rolls of steel become motorcars driven off the production line. This takes about 12 hours, including 10 hours in the paint shop, just 2 hours to construct, amazing. I find it somewhat incongruous to think that we leave here to visit our Amish friends who use a horse and buggy. Is there an opportunity for Honda here?

You must be impressed by the lengthy blog entry that I, Anthony, have crafted, but perhaps wonder what Anne does as I work my fingers to the bone on the virtual keyboard. Careful surveillance revealed the following:

Anne asleep while Anthony works on the blog….


Anne asleep again, need I say more….


The nexus between title and the blog content may seem a little tenuous at this point but while we have rolled on without interruption, a few niggles have emerged. As all our equipment is now over four years old, we are starting to see the first cracks emerge. We both have seats that have started to split and the waterproof tape inside the panniers has decided to go walkabout. Easily fixed by the appropriate glue. Small items appear to have gone missing, which probably means we, well I, have misplaced them. They will emerge at some time in the future as we use more equipment and start camping. I am also having to get used to the information displayed in front of me. I pulled over with rising tyre pressure, only to realise it was the reset milage counter! Maybe I need new glasses. Anyway, the cobwebs have been blown away and our feet are firmly on the ground in North America. 1000 miles or 1600 kilometres under our belts, we are on our way…

– Anthony

Stop press – All missing items found…..

Apr 17 2017

Fallingwater

Riding down the moss lined narrow lane through the forest, a sense of calm surrounds you. All we see is the winding lane, the lush forest, spring flowers everywhere, violets, daisies, and Bear Run creek below to our right.

Approaching Fallingwater


There is nothing to indicate that the place we have come to visit has welcomed 5.5 million visitors since it opened as a museum. We park the bikes and walk up the boardwalk to the visitor’s centre: everything is low key, low impact wooden buildings you don’t see until you get up to them.

Our 11am tour group of 9 people is invited to walk down the gravel path to the bridge on the right. It is a lovely walk through the forest. The birds are chirping and the rushing water of Bear Run creek gets louder and louder until suddenly it is revealed: Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece!

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house


Fallingwater was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s, one of the most prolific, unorthodox and controversial masters of 20th-century architecture who created over 500 structures over his 70 year career, and is widely recognised as the best example of “organic architecture”, integrating buildings with nature. Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann, a prominent Pittsburgh couple, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build their summer retreat, knowing he shared their love of nature. They had wanted to make the view of the waterful a feature of their new home, never expecting to have the waterfall to become part of the actual house! Rather than simply look at the waterfall, Wright wanted the Kaufmanns to live with it!!

Cantilevered terraces of local sandstone blend harmoniously with the rock formations, appearing to float above the stream below and glass walls open the rooms to the surrounding landscape. As you enter any room in the house, your eye is drawn outside. But as you look at the detail inside, everything is carefully planned, in balance, serene.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house

At Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house


In 1963 the Kaufmanns donated Fallingwater to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, together with 1,543 acres of surrounding land. Their son Edgar J. Kaufmann jr wanted visitors to have the full experience that Wright created within the spaces of the house: we were able to walk into every part of the house, like any of their guests would have, with no roped off areas, and with all the original furniture, mostly of which was designed by Wright specifically for Fallingwater.

What a privilege it was to visit Fallingwater – another man made structure that moved me in an unexpected and indescribable way.

– Anne