A Local Country Drive

Some long time readers might remember this 2010 FJ that I bought in June of 2021, soon after I moved here. I traded it in for a 2019 Silver 4Runner TRD Off Road that following fall and the 4Runner was the ONLY REASON I got rid of it. It already had the rock rails and the kind of wheels I like. Well strange things happen in the world of cars/trucks online ... I found it a few weeks ago on cars.com and my brain cells went to work. LOL

For the past few months I have been riding my bike only on the city bike path instead of out here due to the grain hauling semi's I had seen on my last bike ride. I wanted to come and see if all the fields had been harvested so I could get back out here for my riding. If they were, the grain hauling semi's would be out of my way until next fall. This is the starting point of my rides, where I will turn right then an immediate left. After that I can ride as far as I want in any direction on the cross roads.

I had no doubt the fields would be empty since November is already half over. Plus it gave me a chance to take a drive in my 'new' FJ. I have noticed even before this morning, a change in cars changes my driving habits. In Tacoma's, 4Runners or FJ's I will drive that narrow, curvy, hilly country road at speed limit or below it and enjoy the scenery ... whereas in a Z4, a Mini Cooper or the Veloster I just traded late yesterday afternoon ... that same narrow, curvy, hilly country road becomes a F1 race course at the highest speed possible. It was nice to take in the scenery this morning.

So at 48° and the windows rolled down it was a great early morning drive through the countryside. I would have brought the Nikon with the zoom lens but when I checked it before I left the battery was completely dead ... so the iPhone took all of these photos this morning. There were times I wished I had the zoom lens with me.

Anytime you see a photo from inside the car, I am stopped to take the photo. With very little to no traffic I could stop in my lane.

I made a right hand turn and was shocked to see brand new asphalt on a road that I ride. It use to be rough, with potholes and some gravel. Notice the attention to detail by the county highway department ... placement of the rock to keep the edge gravel/sand from eroding.

What can I say ... I am just an FJ man ... as long as rust is not an issue.

I had bad timing on this photo ... he was spreading fertilizer on his field. He had just turned around when I took this and had not started the spreader yet.

This area of southwest Indiana really is pretty country.

Out in the middle of nowhere I see something that I had to pull in and take photos of it. Who would think that out in the middle of corn fields, there is a playground, a small softball field, along with an old country cemetery. The cemetery I can understand but not the playground and ballfield.

This is an another road that I ride my bike on. It seems like every road in this area, including through town and where I live, is narrow. So narrow you wonder how your car fits.

Not the biggest grain silo you will see but quite a network.

In front of this gravel road is a sharp turn to the left on the paved road. As I made that turn on a bike on past rides I would see high speed trucks slide out of a pile of white smoke from the gravel dust. Today I decided to see where the road went. I had a good idea where it would end up, but I needed to find out. This road would be one to ride on when riding my gravel bike. For those that don't know a gravel bike looks like a normal road bike with larger size tires but smaller tires than a mountain bike. The best of both worlds.

That is the same silo network I mentioned earlier, only from the back side. 

With temps getting back into the high 60s and maybe even 70° today, I will be back outside most of the day "herding" leaves, and pulling weeds in the flowerbeds. The hydrangeas have been cut back for next year. Luckily my trash collector takes anything and everything that fits inside the trash bin. Plus I doubt if the neighbors would enjoy me burning leaves around here like I use to up north.

Some long time readers may be wondering why Watson, Henry and Walter didn't go with me on the local drive because Heidi, Stella and Sadie use to ... Well Walter HATES riding in the car and goes spazo, Henry would love it but that makes Watson wanting to go because Henry is. Watson won't go though because he will not jump up in the back of the FJ cargo area. (training will resume) He is definitely too heavy for my to help him get in the back. 

So all three stay home and sleep like they do every morning after their breakfast. 

Beautiful weather here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.