Clara Yoder steps off the Pioneer Trails bus at the end of the 19-hour ride from Florida to Middlebury and says, "It's awesome. You don't have to worry about anything. You just sit back and relax, and they do the driving."

She and her husband, Lee, returned home to near freezing Indiana temperatures Saturday after vacationing two-and-a-half weeks in sunny Pinecraft, Fla.

The Yoders take the trip every year during the time Lee's factory shuts down for the holidays.

"We love it," she says, tugging at some boxes and luggage and maneuvering her way past a group of about 50 other suntanned travelers, several in skirts and bonnets. They, too, lug away their shares of citrus, backpacks, inline skates, food coolers and strollers from underneath the bus into the waiting buggies and cars.

The Yoders and the others have Dave Swartzentruber, founder of a business called Pioneer Trails, to thank for starting what's fondly referred to as "The Amish Bus."

Swartzentruber saw a need in 1984 and met it. "I realized Amish people were going to Sarasota," he said. "There's an Amish-Mennonite community called Pinecraft."

He grew the business from a few rented vans to the nine full-size buses that run today. "It's just gradually been growing," he said, adding Amish travelers make up about 65 percent of his clientele.

A trip to Florida in a horse and buggy, typical Amish transportation mode, would take weeks. Swartzentruber bus drivers can deliver passengers from Shipshewana to Sarasota in about 19 hours.

Passenger Devon Miller found the bus trip back home to Nappanee comfortable. "It was full. Not crowded. Just full," he said.

In all, 150 riders made the trip from Florida back to Indiana on Saturday, a peak day.

Peak time for the bus service between northern Indiana and Florida runs from November through April, according to Swartzentruber.

Thanksgiving time, after the Amish get all their crops in, through February is a busy time for Pioneer driver Dwight Campbell. He's been at the job two years and has chatted with enough people to know what attracts them to Pinecraft.

"It's just a place to get away," he said of the community on the outskirts of Sarasota. "There are no horses and buggies. Just bikes."

Pioneer offers travelers getaways to places other than Florida. In fact, about 85 percent of Swartzentruber's business comes from offering charters and tours, most of those geared to the Amish. Alaska, New England, Nova Scotia and New York City are favorite destinations, Swartzentruber said.

One-day tours and trips to zoos, parks and museums also are popular draws, said Campbell. So are lumberyards. Casinos and professional sporting event trips are not offered.

Lamar Eash just returned from his first trip to Florida, but traveling on Pioneer is not new for him. A while back, he took one of the charters on a 14-day trip to the Great Smoky Mountains.

"I just like traveling," he said, adding he took a side trip to Sea World during the recent two weeks in Pinecraft.

Eash kept his beard, but did wear shorts at the beach. He and his wife rented a small house.

For Nappanee resident Oscar Schmucker Jr., the deep-sea fishing and visits with friends and relatives who have relocated to Pinecraft made for a relaxing Florida trip. "You don't see snow there," he said.

Still, he was glad to leave the bus and head for home. "I have 19 grandchildren here."