Friday September 25, 2009

 

 

“Old Gang” Bus Trip

Thursday, September 17

 

 Utz Potato Chips

Brown’s Orchards

 

 

The Utz Potato Chip factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania, was our next stop.

 

 

Unloading potatoes

We learned that Utz unloads eighteen to twenty-two trailerloads of potatoes per day, and ships about forty loads of the finished product each day.

 

 

Potatoes entering the factory

 

 

 

 

The potatoes are quickly washed and moved to bins – all by machine.

 

 

They are immediately sliced, fried, and placed in even larger bins. 

Photos were not forbidden, but we were asked to be careful in what we took, so I did not take a full factory photo of the chips traveling through various stages of being salted and seasoned.

 

 

A storage room.

 

 

Every product made by Utz was sold at this store – even the chocolate-coated pretzels we saw being processed at Wolfgang Candy earlier in the day.  Utz makes the pretzels and Wolfgang chocolate coats them.

 

 

We enjoyed a beautiful ride through the countryside to Brown’s Orchards, Loganville, Pennsylvania.

 

 

Like Harley-Davidson was generally of greater interest to the men, this stop was pleasing to the women.  Many of the men enjoyed coffee in the Snack Bar while the women browsed through the fabulous baked goods, gifts, deli, and products from the orchard.

I didn’t think it appropriate to take photos inside, but did take several outside.

 

 

Fall is in the air at this place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The beautiful view across the valley as I stood in front of the bus, with my back to the buildings.

  

 

 We boarded the coach for the last time, and headed to Lancaster where our cars were parked. 

It was great to be with friends and enjoy an interesting, relaxing day. 

 

~~~

We arrived home about 7:30 p.m. and prepared to leave again in the morning – for a trip to Maine to surprise our daughter Diane and son-in-law Mark.  Their six children have planned a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration on Sunday afternoon.

Due to Cerwin’s fall in May, where he tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder, we hadn’t taken a summer vacation – because he needed therapy every other day following surgery.  We usually dash through Connecticut on our way to Maine, and decided to spend Friday and Saturday traveling at a slower pace.

~~~

 

Tomorrow night:  Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut.