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Down on the Farm
Escape to Simplicity, Education and Livestock!
By Jacqueline Rupp
Farm stays can be as action-packed as you'd like. At Buck Valley Ranch in Warfordsburg, Pa., for instance, you can learn horseback riding and travel the wooded trails. Guests can also play lawn games such as shuffleboard, croquet and badminton together. Daytrips away from the farm are always an option.
"Most people who come to our farm do chores in the morning then see the many sights in the area – caves, Raystown Lake, amusement parks, hiking, biking, railroad museums, Amish farms," says Linda Vance, proprietor of Cedar Hill at Spruce Creek in Spruce Creek, Pa. "In the afternoon, they come back for more chores, sit around the fire, relax on the porch and catch fireflies at dusk."
The most fun may come from participating in daily farm chores. Now you may be thinking, "Chores? That's the last thing I want to do on vacation." But this work emphasizes fun. The most parents have to do is get the perfect photo of the kids feeding the animals.
Mermell recalls her son's encounter with guinea pigs. "He delighted in having the tiny fur balls run all over him as he lay in the hammock," she says. "Little kittens, sheep, bunnies, frogs (lots of frogs!), snapping turtles, snakes, even fossils in the shale along the path – every year there is something new."
"A farm vacation is a way to experience a totally different lifestyle," says Charles Gerlach of Berry Fields Farm