Fun Fall Times in Shipshewanna

 It's good to have things to do when your mind is occupied with tests, results, meds and side effects. It feels most days like that's all I have in my head and my body constantly reminds me of where I'm in this cancer journey, so if we can do something ELSE, let's do it! Eldy is so wonderful about that. He's always up for day trips and special trips to help and he's the best navigator/planner to do it efficiently and frugally.

One of my favorite things to do is take little day trips or side trips that have tours online. I love the Heritage Trail Garden Quilt tour in the middle of summer--blog post link here: summer quilt garden tour 

My next favorite thing to do when visiting Shipsewanna, is to check out the Giant Hay Bale tour in the fall, from Aug. 31st thru October 4th. In early September, when the summer gardens have been pulled out, hay bales appear all over Amish country and a little tour is available. The tour takes you through four charming towns of Shipshewanna, Middlebury, LaGrange and Howe. There are about 32 bales to see this year. My favorites are interspersed throughout the blog today...

You can get a map at the Shipshewanna visitor's center in downtown Shipshewanna. The address is 350 S. Van Buren St., Shipshewanna. I was unable to find an actual map online this time. You can go online and see photos of all the hay bales and their locations in a sort of different map if you go here: hay bale tour

I believe there are nine hay bales just in Shipshewanna...The minions are in abundance downtown! The Grinch is there, too. Here are a few more of them..."Six, Seven" was a popular expression thrown out last year by the kids at school ALL THE TIME! Where it originated was online, Tiktok maybe...it drove the teachers crazy for a time being, the meaning not really known. It was a non-sensical "brain rot" expression, sort of a way to say something was "so-so"....Sparky thinks a teacher was behind this artwork, haha...

This one below is in front of the visitor's center in Shipshewanna....Perfect theme!

This one below is over by Das Essenhaus Restaurant in Middlebury..

Can you stand a few more??? The detail on the hides of the Highland cows was beautiful.

How about the Wizard of Oz? Incorporating a little more to the hay bales, but still allowable. This one is in Shipshewanna on a side street.

Sparky thinks this one reminds her of graffiti artwork...spray paint was the medium on these bales over at Rise and Shine Bakery in Middlebury. Of course, we had to stop and get "crack donuts"--those heavily cinnamon sugared donuts at the bakery!

It was a beautiful day to drive around, shop, explore, and eat...Not a cloud in the sky...We went in the afternoon and felt the sun's angles were better for capturing decent photos, rather than starting out in the morning. One last photo...we missed this one, but it sure has a cute name! This photo is from a page listing all the bales and where they are on the Shipshewanna visitor's page on the internet.

See you on another day...Sparky has a full week off from school, and testings, and scans....Eldo is busy planning something special...Thanks for following along!