Riding lawn mowers everywhere

In my lifetime, I have known a few people who had riding lawn mowers. Those were mostly those who had extensive acreage to mow and who had a lot of money.  Well, in Tennessee and Kentucky, I think nearly everyone who has a house must have a riding lawn mower.

People from all ages and sizes were out mowing their lawns.  The lawns were well maintained, so I would bet that they mowed them at least once per week.  On my travels, I was surprised to even see bulletin boards advertising riding mowers (sorry, no pics of those).

Definitely a large lot

Another large lot

This was in front of some company

Okay, so not everyone mows the lawns (or fields as I would call these) on a riding lawn mower.  This guy is helping out at the company in the previous photo.

This is how to do it

Just one of many riding lawn mower lots

This guy in Ohio has it right:

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They don’t bale hay

Being a farm girl at heart, I seem to pay attention to unusual things.  One of the first things that I noticed is that farmers did not actually make hay bales in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.  Well, let’s just say they did not make them the way that I have been accustomed to bucking.  Here are a few images.

From what I could tell, these huge hay rolls just hang out in the fields wherever they were made.  In this next photo, though, you can see that these rolls were not allowed in one field.  I did not have time to stop and analyze the differences between the fields or to ask questions, but I thought it curious the rolls were clearly restrained in that one field.

It seemed quite strange that these rolls would be left where made.  These were the only hay rolls that I saw on a truck:

Granted, I have not been there in the winter, but here in Oregon, the cows would eat the hay bales if they remained in the field.  These hay rolls were at least near to the barn.

In my earlier years, I looked fondly on hay time because we hauled the hay bales from the fields and stored them in the barn.  Below is the only one that I saw, and they actually have bales! (That building is more like where we parked our tractor, but it’s similar to a barn.)

An old fashioned

When you think of Kentucky, what do you imagine? In case you forgot, they make Bourbon in Kentucky. We went to a presentation at Locust Grove about how to make the old fashioned cocktail. At Locust Grove, we listened to two women discuss the history of the cocktail and the old fashioned beverage. They showed us how to make the traditional cocktail, one with strawberry and rhubarb, and one with black cherry.

The lineup

The black cherry was made with a double oak bourbon. All of them were very good, and my favorite was the one with rhubarb, of course.

and snacks

The house at Locust Grove

Main house

and the area around the main house.

Small shed

and the garden next to the shed.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Captain’s table. It was a beautiful evening.

Sunset

Numbers of attendees

I must admit that I have not been acting myself. In the past, I would have logged miles each day and number of attendees, but my mind must be focused elsewhere because those numbers escape me. I figure when I return the car next Tuesday, they will tell me how many total miles. As far as attendees, the organizer at each site should have those statistics. I know that today at Gateway’s Edgewood campus we had 31 attendees, which was quite impressive. Other sessions have ranged from 3 to nearly 90 participants with some including only students and others with a combination of students, faculty members, staff, administrators, and people from the community.

For next time (yes, I want to continue this), I hope to have better publicity and perhaps pull more community members to campuses. That will require earlier planning, but I would be happy for that.

Breakfast rooms in motels

I have seen many things in the breakfast rooms as I travel, and most of them are rarely positive. In some motels, guests have been courteous and chatted with strangers, in other motels, kids have run around unsupervised, and in most motels, people avoid each other. In several motels, I have seen people cheerfully helping others with the waffle maker.

This morning an older woman went back to make a waffle for her second course (I have never had courses for breakfast, but some do). Apparently she was sharing the waffle with her husband who had been getting her coffee and other things during their first course of breakfast burritos. When she sat down with the unattractive waffle, the husband said, “Cut it here, and you take the pretty half.” Oh, how sweet. She did, and he even commented on how good his crumpled waffle tasted. There are good people out there who appreciate the little things.

Driving in Ohio

There was definitely not enough time in Ohio. I saw glimpses of Lake Erie, and I drove on rural routes. Otherwise, I didn’t see much. My highlights:

• The Amish. Clothes hanging on the line and no electronics. Personally, I couldn’t do it, but I admire their lifestyle.
  

  Following the buggy.

• Roller coaster roads. At a posted speed limit of 55mph, you come to the top of a hill without being able to see what’s ahead. It’s scary at first, but then it becomes like a wild ride.
  

  The roads

• Road kill and those that feed on it. I was quite impressed by a vulture buzzard pulling a dead raccoon by its tail to get the raccoon out of traffic.  Two other buzzards just watched and waited.

  I didn’t get pictures of road kill (I know you are disappointed), but I love this one:
  It was a gorgeous day for a ride through the country, and I just love this photo:

  

  Rear view

Indian Mill, IN

Most people know that I like the outdoors, and whenever I saw a sign for a park, I tried to stop.  This was one place that caught me by surprise, and I’m very happy that I stopped.

Sign, of course

Curious one-lane bridge

But where does it lead…

The mill

The bridge

A beautiful spot

The mill stones

 

Clifty Falls near Madison, IN

After 2 days presenting at Jefferson Community & Technical College in Louisville, KY, I took the long road to visit my mentor in Yellow Springs, OH.  On the way was a great stop at Clifty Falls State Park.  Unfortunately, the water level was extremely low, but the rock formations must make beautiful waterfalls.  Here’s what I saw:

Main falls

Part of the walkway

Top of the falls

Behind the falls

Rocks along the trail

Looking up from the last image (one of my favorite shots)

Jeff, my guide

We were on the “rugged” trail (the sign makers need to come to Oregon)

The falls from a distance

A closeup of the falls from a distance

There are many more photos of the park on my Shutterfly site.

Louisville, KY

I have had an amazing time in Louisville (pronounced  loo-uh-vull). This is another place that I need to revisit.

Downtown Louisville

I was able to visit some beautiful places:

Locust Grove

Captain’s Quarters

Cave Hill Cemetery (that’s a real dove)

At Cave Hill Cemetery

A pedestrian bridge across the Ohio River

Ohio Falls

 

The dam

My last evening was spent at the Bristol in Jeffersonville, IN.

Dinner

It was wonderful, and I hope to return soon.

My introduction to driving in OH

My first time in Ohio, I came in from Indiana. (I never would have imagined that would be the case.) The signs were not optimistic as I arrived, though.

I guess that I’m in the wrong lane and must make a choice

Then I was welcomed and encouraged to discover

Uh, more welcoming, I guess

Options for exploration

Signs are getting better

And then…Traffic is moving well. There are two lanes, and the person in front of me is driving an SUV.  I had been happily following for many miles. Then, from an on-ramp, this young woman crosses double lines, cuts off the car to my right, and pulls between me and the SUV.  She is obviously in quite a rush. So, what does the person in the SUV do?

Slows down and rides beside the car to his right for several miles

LOVED IT!