Meanderings in the Countryside ... Farm Roads and Country Drives ..

This last week we were out meandering in the countryside on an overcast cool day. Enjoying the country roads .. seeing the farms dotting the countryside.. and all the cows out in the beautiful green spring fields munching away on the new sprouts of goodness shooting from the earth... 

We had driven by this abandoned farm a few times and on both occassions I had left home without my sidekick ..no not Abbey .. but my camera .. but on this day out I happened to have it with me so we stopped and walked the grounds and enjoyed the old place. 

This farm had 2 beautiful old wood barns .. the first of the two was slightly smaller and had an amazing shake roof ..

When I went to photograph the front of it I was delighted to see that the barn had a face and it appeared to be smiling at me .. can you see the face and the 1/2 smile ?

Many of the fields have purple blooms throughout .. and they are simply breathtaking sort of puts me in mind of lavender fields .. however these are just pretty weeds ...

The old white farmhouse still sits proudly at the front of the property with the old trees surrounding it. The trees are just budding out so they are still looking a bit dreary and dull from winter but I imagine this weekend after an abundance of rain and now sunshine those branches will be overflowing with beautiful green leaves of goodness. 

The fields to the right of the house were brilliantly lit up in yellow and white .. although I would love to say they were some amazingly beautiful flowers.. this was simply a field of yellow and white dandelions .. nonetheless I thought it was quite pretty ...

The 2nd barn and the biggest barn on the property looks like a beacon of strength from the front .. but sadly it has fallen in on the back right side .. you can kind of see day light through the front opening there ..  

The inside is still beautiful .. and I think with some love and tender kindness the barn could be saved if one had a mind to do so ... As the stalls and pens and rafters still all looked in amazingly good condition considering .. 

As I turned around at the end of the barn and looked back out the doors I saw to my delight that the opening of the barn "the eye of the barn" .. was looking back at the farmhouse making a stunning frame around it ..  what a fun photo to discover and I was thrilled to get home and see it had turned out. 

And you know that feeling you have that you're being watched .. we seemed to have that feeling that day .. as we headed back to the car .. across the farm road .. we had quite the audience. The girls had walked in from their beautiful field of green goodness and were quite the curious ones looking on at us as if to say "Hey what are you all doing ?" 

We love cows .. so we ventured to the other side of the farm road and gave them a day they won't forget their very own "Glamour Shots" .. I think they did well posing don't you ?

Well it's Friday .. and who knows what we'll be doing this weekend .. thus far no plans .. but there's always the hunt for something vintagey awaiting .. or a country road that needs exploring .. or just a relaxing weekend at home enjoying the quiet and contentment of one's own home. 

"Happy Easter" ... He has Risen ... Praise the Lord on High !

A Beautiful day for a Country Drive

Ah .... how I love Country Drives...

I remember growing up we took Sunday Drives or Country Drives often. I love the drives .. seeing beautiful places and getting a treat along the way. 

For our years in CA.. we loved to leave the inland desert and drive to the coast. Drives along the coast through little beach towns and then open vistas of ocean in between. Occasionally we would drive up north into the countryside through the beautiful winding hillsides and I loved the quiet and the beauty of the open land that was dotted with old oak trees. Over the years as CA has grown and grown and grown .. the drives became less with  less open land and the lost art of slowing down and not being in a hurry. Taking time to "smell the roses" as they say or in our case just enjoy the beauty faded with the people living there. Fast paced driving took the enjoyment out of country drives with people tail gaiting, weaving behind you or flashing their lights off an on. Rudeness has become the rule of the road sadly in so many places.

Well we gave a country drive a go this week here in MO. It was a last minute idea ..which in my opinion are always the best. The pace is slower here ..not by much in town but out of town it is moreso.  So we headed out a road we saw last week that would give us a 42 mile drive to Table Rock Lake. 

It was such a nice drive .. and I only had to pull off the road 3 times to let anyone by ..no flashing lights or tail gaiting .. just me doing less than the speed limit and trying to be thoughtful in pulling over so those that wanted to get home or to their destination could do so at the speed they wished.

Anyhow along our country drive the land and hillsides and vistas were just breathtaking. We came upon the small town of Galena.. and then upon this old but amazingly crafted concrete bridge that's no longer in use for cars but can still be used to view the river and the surrounding beauty of the hillsides by walking across it .. This bridge is called the Y Bridge which you'll see later...

  

I love old bridges .. they were so beautifully crafted in the day and there truly is a feeling of stepping back in time when you walk across this bridge .This bridge opened in November 1927 it's nearly 100 yrs old and still standing proud. It crosses the James River ..which was just stunning.  More about the Bridge here: http://stateoftheozarks.net/culture/history/bridges/ybridge.php

Our view from the Y bridge looking south down the James River. 

The bridge you see in the distance is actually for the train to cross.

 And here is the reason it's the Y bridge ..at one end it's shaped like a Y .. which allowed traffic on and off the why with ease. I love the shale cliffs and the beautiful trees that cover the hillside.. so picturesque. 

(the bottom of the Y split pict. from state of the Ozarks)

Hwy 425 the scenic Ozark bypass .. getting back on the road and heading south ..

We plan on heading back to enjoy this drive again in the future .. along the way we were delighted to pass by and make a quick U turn at the town of Crane, Mo. I had heard of Crane but never realized it actually had a sweet old main street that had shops and diners on it. It was late in the day so we hurried through a few shops which were charming ...so we'll make it a point to go back and spend an afternoon having lunch and homemade pie and doing some antiquing too !

Here's a beautiful Scripture pictures I created from one of the photos I took .. with one of my favorite scriptures .. Enjoy and feel free to share it.

Until Next Time ...