Yay! We finally made it to Ephrata. My best friend, Ashley, and her family moved here last Spring. Having had some time to adjust, they have decided that they love the area. The schools, parks, shopping and the library are close to their house.
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| Ephrata Borough, Lancaster Co., PA |
As you can see, it is a quaint town that make you feel like you have stepped back in time, and when you see the horses and buggies of the Amish you may think you have. This was taken at the local Walmart.
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| Horse and Buggy parking only! |
This year was exceptionally hot with days of triple digit heat indexes. Like many areas in the northern part of the country, very few homes have central air. But winter is coming, and the boys are looking forward to the snow. They have already located a good hill for sledding/snow boarding.
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| Main Street in Ephrata |
There is a nice park just blocks away from Ashley's house with a large picnic shelter, playground, a walking path along the creek, and plenty of benches to sit and watch the kids play or just relax with nature.
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| A park within walking distance |
When you have kids, knowing where all the parks and playgrounds are becomes important. This park has a ball field, playground, and walking paths, one of which leads to this pretty lake. It was late afternoon, and the sun was playing off the trees and their reflections in the water.
Just a few miles down the road from Ephrata is another small town called Lititz. It was a nice day to stroll up and down Main Street and visit the Wilbur Chocolate Company. From the moment you step inside your senses are assaulted with the fragrance of chocolate. They sell a huge variety of chocolaty treats, which are made upstairs above the shop.
There is a natural spring in Lititz Springs Park. It flows into a pool and then down a shallow "stream" with stacked rock walls on either side. It is filled with ducks, coming and going. It looks like a lazy river ride - ducks just walk over to the edge and plop in.
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| A lazy river for ducks! |
Here is a short video of the ducks swimming up and/or downstream.
This is a natural spring and the water is quite cold, and very clear. When I looked into the spring where the water was still, I actually couldn't tell there was water there.
This tells more about the history of the spring and the park.
Here is the lion guarding the spring. I believe the original lion was carved into the rock below, but has worn away over time.
After walking through the park, and sampling chocolates at Wilbur's we enjoyed some great pizza at a Roma Pizza on Main Street.
On another day, we visited Ephrata's Green Dragon. The Green Dragon is a farmer's market and flea market all rolled into one. There are many vendors including the Amish. You can find just about anything there from fresh baked goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses to clothing, sunglasses, household goods and too much more to list. People come from miles around to shop here, and it only operates on Fridays.
Ten people in five cars visit seven wineries in three days. 
Amber sat down hard upon the steps, still hot from the afternoon sun. She thrust her chin into her hand, trying hard not to cry. Callie was leaving tomorrow. It was totally unfair. Her lower lip trembled as the tears started to fall. At ten the whole world ends when your best friend moves away.
We were vacationing in Madeira Beach, FL, as we do most years. It was a beautiful morning with barely a cloud in the sky, and nothing to portend what was about to happen.
