First of all, I forgot to mention that when we left the restaurant in Louisville, that we found a field full of fireflies. That particular insect isn't to be found in Southern California, and more's the pity. We caught of glimpse of more of them, last evening, but I'm jumping ahead too far.
Yesterday morning, when we got up in Seymour, IN, we were only minutes away from the town of
forestcats grandparents' farm, which had been sold off years ago by her grandmother. We drove into town, parked, and took a stroll through their business district. There's been a lot of changes (a tattoo parlor!!!), but some things were the same, such as the hardware store, where we found bulk seeds for sale. We've samples now of a few different types to try in the garden when we get home.Then, we went to the farm. We were met by two dogs wearing bark collars, and our progress was commented on by two turkeys. There were also calves, goats, and a hound dog who wasn't equipped with a bark collar, whose baying was quite musical. The farm is in good shape, though the buildings have been replaced. Apparently the fellow who owns it now is a farrier and pastor. Nice work, sir.
Following that, we drove a short distance down the road to the home of Mrs. Kiefer, her grandmother's good friend. The woman had just the previous day celebrated her 96th birthday, and she was delighted to see us; she gave my wife a long hug. We chatted for quite a while, and she gifted
forestcats with a packet of photos that included childhood photos taken on the farm we'd just visited. Nice. After a long talk, we popped out to get some lunch, and returned to share with her.Following that, we found the cemetery where her grandparents are interred. She cleaned up the undergrowth surrounding the headstones, and after a bit of emotion, we got back on the road.
The iPhone app that we used sent us back across the Ohio River at Madison, which we expected, but took us over back roads for much of the way to our destination in Ashland, KY, and it was a beautiful drive. We avoided hitting a dog, a cat, and a groundhog on the way, and we saw a number of barns and shops emblazoned with quilt block artwork.
forestcats demanded that I get photos of same, but wearing glasses and sunglasses made it near impossible for me to use the camera adequately, and she was disappointed with my work. Oh, well. She took on the duty, then, and we would speed down the road, only to screech to a halt to take a photo of another barn's adornment. I suspect that she's posted these to her Facebook account. Finally, we got to an Interstate, and we were astonished to see two deer along the way, roadkill!We did get to Ashland, a bit earlier than we'd feared, and after checking in at the hotel, we went out to get a bite to eat. There was a Five Guys not far away that
forestcats had noticed, and since I'd eaten at the one in Rancho Cucamonga, she'd wanted to try for herself. Since it wasn't a novelty here, it was empty, and we got food pretty quickly. Still pretty good; too many fries in an order, just like I'd seen before.After such a busy day, we collapsed in the hotel; I finished another book before I went to sleep, which I'll detail at another time.
We'll see how today goes.