Here is a snippet from the first day of my five-day drive from Michigan to Austin pulling the trailer, with four campgrounds along the way.
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Driving thru northern Indiana was a joy for so many reasons. The slow, two-lane road. Blue sky and sunshine. Expanses of corn and soybeans. Cool air blowing in the open windows. Really, sheer joy. Here’s one detail.
Northern Indiana is Amish country. I did not know this, but the yellow horse-and-buggy “Share the Road” signs along the side of were an obvious hint, quickly followed by a black, square buggy ahead of me. And then another one. And then an open buggy with a neatly dressed boy and girl sitting close but not close to each other as they rolled up a dirt road into a field.
And finally there was another black, square buggy driving towards me. I pulled over and slowed down.
A girl was at the reins, and several other children sat next to and behind her. As we got close, she looked straight at me, smiled, took the reins in her left hand, and waved with her right. Maybe because I had slowed down? Or because I too was pulling a trailer? Or maybe smiling and waving is a thing for them, just as is dressing smartly for the day or planting flowers in front of their houses.