Project 365: Photo of the Day - November 16, 2011

On the Road Again

After I finished my business at the conference, I rented a car at Enterprise and got directions to Terre Haute, Indiana and headed off on my way. I knew that it was at least a three-hour drive, so I decided that I would really, take my time, enjoy the scenery, take smaller country roads and get out and stretch my legs often.

I had my phone plugged into the speaker system, listened to my own music, had the GPS running and called every family member I knew to keep me company along the way.

But nothing in the world is like driving through southern Indiana! You feel as though you just stepped back about forty years or more. The roads are clean and smooth, but only one lane in each direction in most towns. Most towns only have a "flasher light" to define their "downtown" and there are only a couple of buildings clustered here and there that give you any indication of a "town."

But the people are friendly. They smile. They gladly offer directions or want to talk about the crazy weather that blew through Aeoli last night and ruined their town square (I passed through there and did see the damage, but it wasn't anything as bad as their descriptions).

I stopped in this one town, Orleans, Indiana because, well, nature called! And I saw this guy coming out of an antique shop with a deer head complete with antlers. I started a conversation with him and asked permission to take his photo. He was more than happy to pose for me. He was so proud of his new purchase! I was more intrigued with the formation of his facial hair. Not really a beard. Not really a moustache. Not really white. Not really the color of his hair. But it was interesting enough that here I am talking about it!!

Also in this town I walked through their square and shot images of how they decorated for the holidays. I was touched by this veterans memorial. I took one close up of one brick because it honored a WWI veteran. Sense of community is what I felt as I stood in this town that existed before the Civil War!

I passed by signs, giant billboard-sized ones, that said, "Every thirty seconds abortion stops a heartbeat," and "Jesus will save us all." There were huge crosses at the front gate of some of the farms. I tried to snap these as I was driving but unsuccessfully and my daughter was impatient for me to get there!!

I did take this one shot of a boat on a lawn next to an American flag. I loved the sign on the top of the "ark-like" boat which was advertising their Christian Book Store!

I passed by a huge silver building and by the time it was too late to take a photo, I realized that it was a White Castle building. This isn't their corporate office, but it was a very large building. I think it was a packing plant. I know that Joel would have liked that photo!

At one point I stopped at a Wendy's for some lunch. After eating my baked potato and chili, I was about to stand up to leave when I saw exactly what I had just been learning about at the NAMP conference! Being wired, always. Here were two southern Indiana guys, out for lunch, texting away! Something was obviously very important!!

And so, I was on my way again. After getting detoured onto a very, very deserted road (thanks to US 46 being closed for improvements), I was a bit nervous because I was VERY low on fuel and had no idea how far I was from the next flasher light town!! I bet that I was on fumes by the time I pulled into the gas station (that was so generic that the sign only said "GAS" and no brand!!). The guy was teasing me because I had pulled up to the pump with the gas cap on the wrong side. Oh well, it WAS a rental and I didn't look before I got into the car.