"...And I can take you for a ride on my big green tractor
We can go slow or make it go faster
Down through the woods and out to the pasture
'Long as I'm with you it really don't matter..."
But today, I got some alone time for about three hours. It was fantabulous! I found a radio station boasting to be 'hippie' and for 'baby boomers' but, the songs were from the the 60s and 70's and they weren't really from the era of my parents. And I thought they were baby boomers? I think the radio station was a little whacked in boasting the description of themselves, but good music none the less. And so I was off down the road, headed west.
I was in search of a few cemeteries I wanted to photograph. It ended up being five cemeteries, so I sort of hit the unexpected jackpot. I had looked these cemeteries up on Bing.com before leaving the house and had even screen captured the maps on my laptop before I left. I got lost. I'm not quite sure how this happened, but I admit, I am horrible at reading maps. I can read the sun however, it wasn't out today and with the cloudy skies and drizzle, not to mention the winding county and dirt roads, it just threw me off in my quest.
I really don't mind getting lost. After living in Chicago for about 5 years, one important lesson (out of many) that I learned about driving is that you can always...ALWAYS turn around and go back the same way. It might take a great stretch of road, a shady neighborhood, a few potholes and some time, but you can always turn around. I'm not afraid to stop and ask for directions. I refuse to use a GPS. I feel like it's cheating when it's just me and I have the time to make a wrong turn. I already looked up where the points of interest were located and I new the general direction I was headed and the main roads to travel. I figure I would just take off in that direction and at some point, I would see signs for the first destination. I have always driven this way. I love the road less traveled.
This afternoon, on the road 'less traveled,' I got lost. So, on three separate occasions, I had to stop and ask directions. In all three towns where I stopped, everyone was so cordial and helpful. I really love small towns for this reason. Everyone in these 'population of less than 1000' towns people know an outsider, but they are willing to help you find your way around. So, I got pointed in the right direction and my trip was awesome.
My last stop before heading back home was in Fairview, IL at the QuickStop Gas Station. When I pulled in, I noticed 3 pumps. On the two sides of where I pulled in were what I call 'monster trucks.' These are the extended quad cab, rumbling kind with huge tires and steps to get up into them. And on the third pump I see a John Deere garden tractor with a trailer. And all I could think is 'only in a small town!' I was furiously shoving my credit card into the gas pump machine so I could get my tank filled before the mystery driver came out from paying inside. I wanted a photo of that tractor at the pump just for giggles. You just don't see that every day in town.
The gas was still pumping when this older guy came walking out of the QuickStop Mart and got back on his tractor. Thank goodness he chatted it up with the driver of the monster truck next to me (they knew each other, of course), so I had time to finish and speed up behind him as he pulled out from the lot. The picture below was all I got, but he was definitely the epitome of 'Sunday country driver!' The bright orange triangle hazard sign in the back is practical, but what he really needs is a red bandana just tied on to the back.
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