Farmer John and P51 Lee - your photos are nothing short of stunning!! WOW!!!!!!
FOR TODAY: The Sunday Drive. Back in the 1950s it was quite popular to take an afternoon drive out into the country, smell the fresh air, and take in the bucolic beauty. So today in memorializing this relaxing tradition; we all pile into a 1950 Mercury 4 door sedan, winding those windows down as Dad cranks up that big ol straight eight. Dad reves the engine before he puts her into gear. Carefully he backs out of the driveway and heads down Maple Ave. After stopping at the stop sign he hangs a left onto Main. Being mindful to stay within the speed limit while in the city limits, Dad tromps on the gas as we cross the city line.
About 7 - 10 minutes out of town we are crusinin up Mountain Rd. In the distance we see farmer, Amos Moses, on his tractor doing some plowing. "Wow! Farmers don't ever get a day off. Always somethin to be done on the farm. " Mom chimes in with " that's right dear." Dad replies " At least he's his own boss. He doesn't have to take orders from no boss." Of course Dad has never met Ida Moses, the farmer's wife. 
Dad swings a hard left onto Pasturegate Lane. Through the front windshield I see railroad tracks and of course this excites me! I think to myself ... " Will I see any trains today?" Not too many trains seem to run on Sunday afternoon out here in the country ... but one never knows ... railroads are unpredictable. My hopes are high! 
It's not long before we come across this old abandon spur. At least it certainly looks abandon to me. I ask Dad if we can stop and get out of the car to check it out. Dad replies " See that sign?" then continues to answer his own question with " Railroad property keep out. That means no we can't check it out." He does pull off to the side of the road for a few minutes so I can get a good gander.
Later driving along, we see these deer grazing trackside. Really pretty flowers, cows, and a dilapidated old barn are off in the distance.
We make a brief visit to Uncle Slim and Aunt Grace's house. They are surprised to see us! Uncle Slim says "Grace saw you a drivin up the lane and she's a puttin on some coffee. Won't you all stay for a bit?" Cousins Helen Mae and Rosemarie are glad to see us too! Dad and Mom decide to stay for an hour or so. I'm glad to see family! Uncle Slim works for the railroad and he's always got lots of great stories to tell. 
After we leave Uncle Slim and Grace's house, we come across these MOW workers. Since there's no car or truck around I figure they are all staying overnight in that old caboose. 
Later as we pull up to stop at a grade crossing we spot this raccoon. He looks like a king right at home on top of his castle! 
WOW! If we'd got to the grade crossing a little sooner, we would have been able to see this entire freight train instead of just the tail end. Darn!! Mom says " Look at that scare crow! I think I'll make one for our front porch for Halloween." Dad chimes in with " Yeah that farmer would probably let you have that one. From the looks of that crow sittin up there on its' shoulder that scare crow is not doing its' job effectively. I'll bet that farmer will fire him." We all chuckled upon hearing that. 
Well this is our last grade crossing before gettin back to the city. As I said earlier, " railroads are unpredictable." We pull up to the grade crossing just in time for this 13 car Ma & Pa freight train to cross. I count the cars ... four boxcars, 3 empty gondolas, 2 covered hoppers, 1 flat car loaded with lumber, two 50 ton hoppers loaded with coal. Oh yes, and one caboose ... so that make 14 cars! 
Well here we are back in town. Dad makes a right onto Maple off Main. No sooner I think about how great some soft serve ice cream would taste right now, Mom says " Dear, let's stop at the Dairy Castle before going home." Dad nods in agreement. I just love these Sunday drives! I wonder where our drive will take us next Sunday? 
