The Ragtag Daily Prompt today is VACATION
Back when we lived in SW Ontario my husband worked at factory in Mitchell, ON, that produced rubber car parts for the big auto makers. The plant operated 24/7 almost all year, except for two weeks in the summer when it shut down for necessary maintenance of the plant and its presses. This gave the workers a nice long vacation — in the hottest part of the summer.
We weren’t interested in the sweltering South in mid-July, but we did make half a dozen trips to Pennsylvania to visit the congregations of our church and fellowship with the church folks there. This was back in the day when the state’s Tourism slogan was “You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania” and we did indeed have a few. Still do.
There are four congregations of our church in PA: Mifflinburg; Belleville (in “the Big Valley”); Shippensburg, and Fleetwood (not far from Reading.) Bob had a prior acquaintance-by-letter with a fellow from the Belleville area, plus two couples from Fleetwood visited Ontario soon after we arrived. So these places were our first destinations in PA, but over time we’ve visited all four places and made the acquaintance of a number of families. The farmlands and rolling hills of southern Pennsylvania are beautiful country — especially once you’d driven through the cramped little coal-mining towns en route!
On one of these vacations we stopped at a farm near Mifflinburg to visit a family who, like ourselves, had recently joined this church from an Old Order Mennonite background. The Byler family operated a dairy farm and was busy with normal farm-related things when we got there, but they hospitably left their tasks to visit with these new people — from Canada, of all things! People who originated in a strange place called Saskatchewan.
We enjoyed our visit, but noted that it was getting close to dinner time and thought we should be pushing along. However, they urged us to join them for a simple dinner and we did. Sweet corn was in season, so they picked a few more cobs, boiled enough for us all, and cobs of corn, buttered, was our entree. For dessert we enjoyed the whoopie pies the wife had baked that morning, together with servings of ice cream.
The Waldorf -Astoria couldn’t have produced a more delightful meal.
Christine's Collection 
Mmmmh, yeah, nothing like freshly picked corn on the cob!
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Agreed. I read one time about a couple from the US visiting England. The wife stopped at a roadside and bought “fresh-picked corn” from a farmer there. Six shrimpy things that barely made enough for the two of them. She bought another six later — and discovered she’d bought half of what he had for sale. N.B.: If you go to England, take your own corn. 😉
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😄 Noted 👍
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When you’re near Reading, PA, you’re less than an hour from me 🙂 You’re right about the beauties of this part of the state. I love the drive out to Lancaster with all the hills, valleys, and fertile farms, tone of flower gardens, and lots of roadside stands. It’s a beautiful place.
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I suppose you’ve been to Hershey’s Chocolate World then? Quite a set-up in the place where all the delicious chocolates happen. 🙂
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Yes, but it’s been many years ago, when the kids were young. I think they’ve done a lot of remodeling since we were there.
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It is indeed!
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