Road Trip VIII - Off The Interstate I

We crossed the Macinaw Bridge on to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and turned west on Rt. 2 along Lake Michigan. Even though the views were spectacular I was looking a road north to take us up to Lake Superior. I picked a road off the map and turned north onto the road less traveled. 

There a community of Amish on the Upper Peninsula. They moved there looking for affordable farmland that wasn't being encroached on by development. It's got be hard winters, but when we were passing through it was the first week of September and it was beautiful. 

The first indication were the road signs. You see these in Pennsylvania regularly, but we saw them in Michigan, North Dakota, and Kansas.

 

 

When we stopped for gas, three young people in traditional Amish dress came out of the store and climbed into a buggy, turned out onto the road and headed north. I asked the clerk and she told me there was a large community up the road and we should watch for signs as the Amish sell at roadside farm stands to supplement their income.

 

A few miles north, there was a sign and we pulled over. I didn't want to get trapped with the trailer, so we left it on the roadside and walked up the driveway, leaving the 21st Century behind. The path went over a small bridge and climbed up to an large open area. A large two story farmhouse to the right, the barn dominating the scene to the front, and a chicken house and some storage buildings to the left. 

 

Children running around, clearly curious about the strangers in the yard, but not approaching. Rows of wash hanging on lines. A young woman, perhaps in her late twenties, came out to the covered stand that was set up on the edge of the path. Mrs. ASM asked some questions, drew the woman into conversation. We learned they had moved up from Ohio to join this community, drawn by the chance to own property. 

 

The produce and products she had for sale were all handmade, either by her family or by neighbors. We bought apples, a quart of strawberry-rhubarb jam, a large bottle of maple syrup, and two loaves of bread.

 

I tried to take it all in, capture a moment where I was seeing a different way. Not that they didn't have some technology, even a house with a roof and windows is technology, but they were choosing, deciding what they accept, setting limits and living apart.