Sixth stop

Wednesday morning we took our time getting up before hitting the little town of Ephrata, PA, where I was born and spent the first 15 1/2 years of my life.  The boys truly were not very thrilled to go, but I found it important for them to know more about me and my history. Especially since I spent as much time in Ephrata as Juan spent in Bogota, Colombia. 

First we drove by the last house we lived in, a house we had built when I was 5 years old, so it's pretty much the only house I have memories of. It used to be a light blue, but now it's white. They changed the front porch area and added a room on the back where we had a backyard patio. The little trees my dad planted have all grown super tall, but I couldn't believe that the swingset my dad had built out of telephone poles over 30 years ago is still standing today.  I'm sure it seems a lot smaller now, though, surrounded by such big trees. 

Ephrata is situated right in the heart of Lancaster Country, a rich farming/Amish community. We lived in a neighborhood, but we'd go for long walks or ride our bikes often down this specific country road (Zooksmille Road) to one of our favorite landmarks. 

This beautiful covered bridge sat about a mile or so from our house. 

Now you can even read about the history of the bridge when you visit.

We also drove into town to drive by my old church, Grace Fellowship Church, where most of my childhood memories are preserved. My dad pastored this church for 16 years before we moved to Indiana. 

We visited a little Colombian restaurant that a fellow adoptive parent of a child from Colombia told me about. We ordered some empanadas to take back to Jonathan and his family so they could get a little taste of Colombia. We obviously had a little fun with some picture props while there, too.

We also drove by the first house I lived in (the old church parsonage), the second house I lived in (the street where 5-year-old me got hit by a car), and a few other places I frequented as a child/young teenager). Ephrata brought back a lot of memories, especially since the landscape hasn't changed much at all in the last 25 years due to its conservative, small-town culture. 

After visiting Ephrata, we headed out closer to my brother's place, but not without stopping for lunch to make sure my niece, Shawnee, was doing a good job at work. :) She made us some really good pizzas, and she sat and ate Colombian empanadas with us while we ate our pizza. 

We also stopped at my old high school on Horseshoe Lane when we found out how close it was to our hotel. Honestly, I couldn't find anything that had changed. Driving up to it brought memories back of certain classes, where the bus dropped me off, and the cross-country course I used to run with my brother, Matt, with the Coed Cross Country team my sophomore year. 

I loved taking this trip down memory lane, and I found Lancaster County to still be just as beautiful as I remembered it, if not more (because some things in life just can't be appreciated fully until we're older).

Speaking of things you don't fully appreciate till you're older, I think spending a day with your sibling definitely falls into that category. 

Next stop: a day with my big brother and his family.