Since we haven’t been able to take an extended vacation this year, David and I have settled for day drives within close proximity to our home.  We are getting to know our state, at least our part of the state and the more I see, the more I realize what a beautiful state we live in.

Sunday after church I was feeling like eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel so we drove the short drive from our house to the nearest restaurant.  When David went to sign us in, they said it would be over an hour’s wait to seat us. We both looked at each other and said we could do a lot in that hour. So, after taking care of the chickens, we set out to find another Cracker Barrel. The next closest one was just out of Bloomington so we drove there and got right in.

After my wonderful breakfast of French toast, eggs and sausage of which David ate the eggs because I don’t think any eggs are as good as our own, we set out on a drive on roads we’ve never been on before.

Back roads in the hills and valleys of south central Indiana.  We live in a very pretty part of the state where tourists like to come.

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Beautiful vistas all around us.  I love my state.

I especially love the country. I’m a country girl at heart.  I grew up north of these places where it is more flat.

We never use to see vineyards in Indiana. They were more in California, but in the last decade or so, vineyards have been popping up all over our state. This was the largest one I had ever seen.

Grapevines for as far as one could see.

Past these pillars, in the year I was born, this farm was established.  There is no house here anymore, but the two pillars that mark the entrance are still there. I wonder what happened to the people here. Where did they go?  Do their children and grandchildren still own the land?   It’s sad when a family farm leaves the family.

There are many trails to take around this area.

This one takes you past this lake and over a dam.  I wish I could still walk the distances I was walking just a few years ago, but since my heart trouble, I cannot walk very far without getting winded.  I don’t like it, but there’s no fix, I don’t think.  I see the doctor next week.  Maybe he can find out what the problem is.

This business planted trees here. They look like walnut trees.  We passed this bakery at one time during our drive.  Never would have known about this area or the bakery if we didn’t take back roads.  How much people miss driving highways and interstates all the time.

Of course we had to take pictures of old barns. Many are  becoming a thing of the past. When I see one that is well cared for, it makes me happy.

This was a tiny little barn or shed.  I just liked the color.

This barn was almost hidden by the large Weeping Willow in front of it.

David spied this cute little house as we sped by. So he had to back up so I could take pictures. I always wonder if the people in the houses see me taking pictures of their homes.  This one was so cute and interesting. I would have loved to have seen inside. It looked like it could only have one or two rooms so I wondered if it was a getaway home in the country for someone.

I loved everything about this little house. The color, all the things on its porch and on the sides of the house.  It was very interesting.

It even had an old wringer washer on its porch and deer antlers on its front.  I love country people. They are so imaginative and do such wonderful things to their properties that many city people can’t. So many people live in HOA’s that tell that what they can and cannot have on their property.  I couldn’t live that way.  My house would be banned from these places.  But some people like it.  What I don’t like is city people moving to the country and trying to change the country into a city.  I hear about people who move to the country and start complaining about the farm smells or the chickens or roosters making too much noise.  If they didn’t like that kind of thing, they should have stayed in the city.  I love the country and I see way too much of it being taken over by “developers” who build so many houses so close together and take away the country feel of an area.  David and I see that happening all around us and we keep talking about moving and building on our hill where the developers could never interfer.  But I love our home and would hate to leave it, so we wait and see.

We saw this gorgeous bird wading in the river.  I’m not sure what it’s called. I will have to search my bird book. We see blue herons around all the time, but it’s the first time we’ve seen a white one.

When the city moves in, birds like this move out.  So sad.

We saw several of these trees, but I don’t know what they are called. They are much prettier than my picture shows.

It was a fun day and a fun drive. We had intended to be out for only a couple of hours, but it ended up all afternoon and we got home just in time to feed our pups.

Here’s to country roads and the magic found on them. Bye.