Happy Mother's Day everyone(even if you aren't a mother!)

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On The Road Again...
Happy Mother's Day everyone (even if you aren't a mother)! Posted: 08 May 2016 04:50 PM PDT When I left Nashville, IN I drove to Seymour where I had booked a room at a Day's Inn.  Definitely don't book a room there, at least not this year.  It was one of the older hotels I had been in.  However the bed was good, and I had a good night's sleep.  However the door was very hard to open and it felt like the handle was going to fall off.  The bathroom sink was open so don't take off your rings there!!!  The tub had the closure mechanism pulled out and in the middle of the tub.  And the continental breakfast was juice, coffee, your choice of bran flakes or fruit loops, and a small tray bread, donuts, and breakfast sweets.  One couple came in and left immediately.  You are warned...! I planned to take the route that was in a magazine of the barns and covered bridges around Seymour before I headed out.  I think the round barns knew I was looking for them and hid!  I didn't see one of them.  The covered bridge I most wanted to see, I was able to as well as take some photos...this bridge is the Medora Covered Bridge, 1875, and is the longest intact bridge in the US.  It is not used for traffic but you can certainly walk through it... I couldn't find any other of the covered bridges that were on the map I was using of the Medora area.  So I headed for U.S. Route 50 and headed for my next stop.  Wherever I looked, it was multi-colored hues of green.  I saw two male cardinals which brought a very large smile to my face.  I haven't seen a bright red cardinal or his mate for several years.  We don't have these type of cardinals in New Mexico.  Not that bright beautiful fire engine red!!! I passed a couple of Trump signs and was tempted to rip them up.  This whole election drama is really getting to me.  Today Google's headlines said "Two most hated people in the country, Trump and Clinton, will be going head to head."   I was just about to pass an old rickety garage, when I also saw across the street from it, two abandoned brick school - one was the Butlersville High School and the other was the Butlersville School.  Both reminded me of two elementary schools I attended in Fort Dodge, Iowa - Duncombe School and Hawley School... I drove by hundreds of the old type telephone/electric poles with the glass insulators on them.  Do you remember those?  And they are still on working poles.  Indiana has signed on US Route 50 stating "Indiana's Historic Pathways."  The other thing that brought back memories was the bump, bump, bump as I went over each slab of concrete.     Ohio calls US Route 50 "Ohio's Byways." I looked at my mileage and saw the wrench showing, which meant that I needed to have my oil changed.  Why is a whole other story. I stopped at the first small garage I saw, and asked if they could change my oil right away.  The guy that he couldn't because he already had two other people coming with their cars.  He suggested garage just a block or so from him...it was J.K. Kar Kare, and J.K. was the owner and only employee.  He said he could do it, but that he was just finishing up replacing a radiator for someone.  Then I heard him start up Matilda, and put her in the second bay.  His sign also had his full name, followed by MD - a motor doctor.  I loved it.   Within a half hour Matilda was good to go, and JK and I had a nice talk.  He told me it looked like I had a new part put in under the front...to which I nodded...he said, well it was put in properly.  I wanted to tell him about all the hoops I jumped to have Matilda ready by May 1st.  He also had check all the fluids, topped them up, checked the tire pressure.  Then his phone went off, and he said that was his bride calling.  Then he said that a very close friend of his had passed away in Florida.  And last year he -JK- married his wife, who he had known already.   So he went on about that ... this is what I mean when I say it is great to have a fifteen minute friend to talk with. I had not realized until I was almost out of Ohio and into West Virginia that I had been almost right next to the Ohio River from Indiana through Ohio.  How neat is that! I headed off on U.S. Route 50, headed for Fairmont, West Virginia.  I stopped at a Go Mart to gas up, and decided to have some dinner there.  I got a fish sandwich which was incredible.  I couldn't finish it all.  I also had the gal waiting on me to pack up a piece of HOMEMADE Coconut Cream Pie.  I ate that in my hotel room later.  Very good, although crust was not baked long enough. Got to the Clarion Inn in Fairmont, WVA.  Nice place, nice staff.  And the breakfast served was first class and the best I have ever seen in a hotel.  And NO biscuits and gravy.  Scrambled eggs that were very good, hash browns, crisp bacon, juice and coffee.  Fresh fruit, and sweet breads.   Left the Clarion, on my last leg of this portion of my drive-about... got back on US 50, and drove through some  very beautiful areas of West Virginia...up and down hills and mountains, and no place to stop.  Lots of truck traffic which I thought was odd until Frank told me today that many semis take this route because there is no other road in WVA that runs east/west in that area.  It was slow driving, but the distance from where I was in Fairmont to Frank and Janice's home was 183 miles.  And I loved the beauty all around me, and all the little villages I drove through.  I got into Virginia, and stayed on U.S. 50 until I came to Route 17, which would lead me directly to Warrenton, where one of my bucket list places was - The Red Truck Bakery...  And of course their signature sugar cookie... So, I got three of two different scones, two chocolate cupcakes, with a ganache topping, a brownie, their Signature Meyer Lemon Cake...I took a picture of the Red Truck Cookie and then promptly ate it...the rest was for all of us.   Arrived at Frank's yesterday, very happy to be able to have a good rest and lots of catching up with everyone.  And of course we had a very nice dinner with lettuce and radishes out of Jan's garden.  Yummy! Today after a good sleep, Frank took Jan and I out to brunch in Orange, VA.  Very good food - I had Eggs Benedict, and a bowl of fresh fruit, and a big spoonful of grits...I haven't had grits for so long, and these were outstanding...here is Jan and I... Then we went over to a vineyard that Frank and Janice like.  Very nice place, and a nice staff.  I tried a red wine which was good.  It is in a beautiful location near Old Rag Mountain.  DuCard Winery - it is fairly new...we had stopped on the bridge over a creek that burbling along, bringing back memories of the creek I used to play in and around, when Jan spotted two snakes - both copperheads - she said they both looked like they were getting ready to shed their skins... And with that, this blog is finished...have a great evening -  Life is good! I love you all!Love and abrazos, Sally
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Edna Shyrley	> > Family, friends, any furry animals and birds... > > Posted: 11 May 2016 0...	Jul 26 (2 days ago)
Edna Shyrley	> > Nashville - A Neat Little Village in Indiana... > > Posted: 05 May 2016 0...	Jul 26 (2 days ago)
Edna Shyrley	> > Day Three: Yippee Coyote!!!!! > > Posted: 30 Apr 2016 08:09 PM PDT > > Ye...	Jul 26 (2 days ago)
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Edna Shyrley	> > Greetings from Clarksville, Indiana... > > Posted: 04 May 2016 08:27 PM P...	Jul 26 (2 days ago)
Edna Shyrley <ednashirley@peoplepc.com>	Jul 26 (2 days ago)
to me -----Forwarded Message----- From: "On The Road Again..." Sent: May 4, 2016 2:03 PM To: ednashirley@peoplepc.com Subject: On The Road Again... On The Road Again... Posted: 03 May 2016 05:52 PM PDT I am going to back up a little and tell you about my drive to McAlester, OK.  But first I want to show you the photos of the clouds going up to Mountainair, and then the photos I took of the snow on the ground... If you take the first picture and place the second picture on its right, it encompasses the mouintains on either side of the road.  The first picture reminds me so much of an artist's paint brush, with sweeping strokes.  The other picture reminds me of bread dough being braided and.or rolled.  The winds were exremely high, and when I tried to open my door to get out, I wasn't able to do so. Past Mountainair I pulled over and put down my window and took these  photos...Mountainair is 6000 elevation, Lemitar is only 4000... Many of the houses in New Mexico are made from what is available for building.  I have an adobe, made from clay, for example.  Going east in New Mexico, there were many houses, some standing and being lived in, and others tumbling down and abandoned.  The ones I passed on US 60, after Mountainair, were beautifully built structures using flat pieces of sandstone, of which there is an abundance.... I could not believe all the frieght trains that I passed.  It seemed as if they were waiting patiently in line to be allowed to move.  And they were stacked up not only towards the west, but also towards the east.  It seemed like every five miles there was a freight train waiting. Leaving on May 2nd, headed for McAlester, Oklahome, I got on US 60 and headed east.  There was a big sign just as I was leaving, announcing that I was driving on THE WOODY GUTHRIE MEMORIAL HIGHWAY.  How exciting is that??   Because I was sure that I was taking the right road - US 60 - ignoring a sign pointing to Oklahoma City.  Although I had added many miles to my drive, I did stop at a small wayside where I spotted four of five wild turkeys.  I assured them that I did not have a gun.  I was able to catch two on my camera, the others having just disappeared!.... There was also a historical sign which I took a picture of, but it is really too small to read.  What it says is that around 1936 Texas built a large number of these waysides for drivers to use.  Most of them are still in use.  The stone for the table and benches, which was in moderate shape, came from the stone around the area... It was at this point that I knew I was on the wrong road - US 60 yes, but going further north and east, and I wanted to go east.  So I got out my handy dandy road map, and saw where I was, and I found a road I could take south, get on I 40 for a while, then drop further south, to Wioka and McAlester, OK. I love barns and was fascinated by one that I could see as I was driving.  It looked silver...and it was, as it was covered front to back, side to side, and its rounded roof, with tin - you know the kind that people like me, have to cover their roofs?  I had to take a picture... The Texas Panhandle is flat and prairieland.  It reminded me of the midwest.  I could see for miles.  Along with that, were the little structures for pumping natural gas, as well as tyrannosaurus rex type structures that are pumping oil.  There were hundreds of the natural gas structures in every farmers fields.    There were wind farms everywhere which I was happy about.  And, I finally saw my first armadillo, unfortunately dead at the side of the highway.  I saw three more also. Then the landscape suddenly changed, and I guessed I was in the Texas Hill Country.  Beautiful, lot of wild flowers, cattle munching grass, horses, tails flying, running across their field.  My opinion of some parts of Texas changed. Drove into Oklahoma, found the highway I was to take, and drove south, then east, and then south again.  I wanted to see the roller coaster road.  When I got close to Wioka, which is where it was supposed to be, I stopped and a very nice elderly man made me a map.  Never found the road - however, as I drove to McAlester, about 30 miles east of Wioka, I could have been going on the roller coaster road - it was up and down, up and down all the way.  The trees were lush and green, with pink, yellow, red, and lilac wild flowers lining the road.  There was basically nowhere to stop to take pictures.  Not much berm, no rest stops, and the roadside ditches were filled with water. I made it to McAlester, and to my hotel.  Checked in, asked where a good steak house was.  Texas Rose was the name.  I drove on the frontage road down to it, got out, and walked in.  There were some men waiting for a table, and one of them started talking to me, asking me where I was from, where I was going, just chit chat.  I had a good steak, baked potato, and a house salad.  When I asked for my bill my waitress said, " Sugar, it has been paid for.  And I was asked not to tell by who.  You know, Sugar, this happens all the time around here."  What a nice end to a long day.  But I certainly can do without all the Sugars, Sweeties, etc.  And by the way, on my way in to McAlester, there were huge cast iron buffalos on corners, next to stores and banks, and when I drove into Best Western,  this greeted me... The McAlester High School teams are the Buffalos! More later, perhaps tonight or tomorrow morning - my drive from McAlester to Festus, Mo., was a long one, but there were many lakes and rivers, which I will discuss them.  Tomorrow the Cave House. Life is Good! I love you all, Sally . You are subscribed to email updates from On The Road Again.... To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States Click here to Reply or Forward 2.35 GB (15%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 37 minutes ago Details