Road Trip to Nashville, Part 2

Sorry I'm so late getting this posted. All my photos from our Trip to Brown Co, were deleted so I had to reload them and edit the ones I wanted.  That takes such a long time, as I realize fellow bloggers know all to well. But it is worth it and oh so much fun to see the pictures that you get. I am sure glad I don't have to take them to a store to be developed, I don't think I could stand the wait. And then I remember throwing half of them away because they were no good. Whew....the good ole' days were not always so good. However, I do realize that some people still like the film style photos, right Gyspy?  I think that is good keeping the old along with the new.  Well I don't have as many 'shopping' photos today because after we left Nashville we went into Brown Co. State Park.  These little yard flags were for sale everywhere you looked. I thought this one was cute...however, if you buy it here you can expect to pay more. They really jack up the prices here, probably because it is a big tourist town.

 It should read "welcome all of you who read my blog."  :)

This was all we bought except for the taffy and almonds. I love moose and so when I saw these socks, I just had to have them. They were only $2 can't beat that sale. I went into a yarn shop, as I crochet, and this yarn just jumped off the shelf at me. I bought a new coat in August at the State Fair. It was on the clearance rack at the Dept of Natural Resources building (DNR). They run the state parks in Indiana. Anyway, it is brown/tan, and this yarn will make a gorgeous scarf to match it. I am going to use the Broom Stick Lace pattern to make it. That is such a gorgeous stitch, can't wait to get it done. Of course I will post a photo when that happens, but don't get too impatient that is a stitch that takes a lot of time to do, plus I have to wait until I get home to start.  I use a PVC pipe with rubber bands on the end so I won't loose my yarn.

The socks have moose tracks all over the foot area.

Remember it is still raining and cloudy so the pictures are still not as sharp. Just yucky weather, but hey it is what it is. We left the town of Nashville and moved on down the road to the park, here is the entrance sign.

Abe Marten Lodge is a hotel in the middle of the park. It is very pretty. We stayed there once and my parents stayed there too. This time of year you might as well forget getting a room, they are full.

At the North Gate you drive through a covered bridge. Trailers are not allowed to pass through here, they must use the West Gate.

See why trailers can't go through this? Can you say, "Where did my A/C go?"

Little dark I know. Look at all those wet tire tracks.

And.....we are out of the bridge.

As soon as we passed through the gate these trees were on the ride side of the road. I thought wow the leaves are going to be beautiful in here. But actually I think these were the prettiest trees in the park.

The park's swimming pool sits right off to the right of these trees. Naturally it was closed.

A close up!

If it had not been raining and cloudy can you imagine what this would have looked like? Look at the depths of layers in the trees. An artists' dream to look at this and paint. You see artist painting on the side of these hills all the time. That one little tree bottom right is all alone in the color dept.

This is the horse man's camp. There are some really neat trials here for horse back riding. Some people we have heard have stopped going down there to ride because of all the Rattlesnakes! And yes we can prove they are in the park as we had one in our campsite one weekend! Savannah, our daughter's Great Dane found it. And that same weekend a family from Brownsburg, In. was there camping and their little dachshund was bitten by a Rattlesnake and by the time they got him to a vet he had passed away. We have not camped there since. They reintroduced these snakes into the park because they ''USED" to be there.  Really, that was "BEFORE" there was a campground, with small children and pets. You would not believe the number of people who do not know there are poisonous snakes in Indiana parks. They are here too, mostly Copperheads, and you can be sure we watch the dogs carefully. But at Brown Co people see Rattlesnakes all the time, they don't here so we feel a little better. I realize "we are out in the sticks"  where predators live and you have to be cautious. We are for sure.

Here is a rest stop at the end of a trail. Cooper stuck his head out the window and barked and the horse above turned to see where that was coming from.  :)

Poor fellow with the red halter on looks pooped out. Hard work walking trails and carrying a man on your back.  They all looked tired, I'm sure the trails were muddy so that makes it harder on them.

We used to have horses, 2 Quarter horses, one Arabian, one Appaloosa, and one miniature. Our farrier (person who trims their hooves and puts on horse shoes) some people call them black smiths, ours was a woman. That is very unusual for a woman to do this profession but we knew of two. Anyway, she and her husband used to go to Brown Co. and ride their horses. She was telling us one day when she was at our house that they were now checking horse trailers when they arrived at the park and counting how many horses they brought, so that they could match that count when they left. Why you ask? Because people were bringing in their horses and leaving them. The price of hay and feed has almost tripled from when we started owning them and people can't afford it. And...you can't sell them to anyone because no one else can either. So sad!!!! She was always asking us if we knew of anyone who would want a horse. And I'm sure after the drought this summer that is not going to help the prices either.

After we left the park we were driving home and I periodically see a road I want to go down. So we took this one. It was very remote, but at least it was paved. The trees were pretty on this stretch of road.

Then we came upon a boat ramp. I was looking at the water and trees when all of a sudden I saw a tree limb with yellow leaves floating in the water. Then it was moving this way and that way, then suddenly it hit me it was a beaver!!! I missed him :(  But I did get his lodge. We waited and waited but he was not about to come back out. You can really see where he has the water dammed up and the water is muddy in the back of the lodge compared to the front of it. I still am holding out hope of getting the beaver here at Hardin Ridge.

See those yellow flowers/leaves?? I believe that is what is he was dragging. So cute! Maybe he was taking them home to the Mrs. 

It was getting brighter, can you tell? I loved the rise of the hill side. 

Behind this really neat fence was the most beautiful log cabin! It was up on the hill and in too much forest to get a good picture. And someone was on the porch, didn't think that would look too good taking a picture of their house :)

And to make it better; old wagon wheel rims and Yuca plants. Wow! Great landscaping.


So from Hardin Ridge we send hugs and best wishes.

Road trip to Nashville,IN...Part 1

The rain was starting to get on our nerves or maybe "we" were getting on "each" others nerves, so we had to get out of the trailer. We decided we might as well see the rain in another county and on other leaves.  We had been wanting to go to Brown Co, or Nashville In, to get some taffy. They have many many shops there, and this time of year people flock there to see the Fall leaves. It wasn't as busy today because of the rain. Yes, it was raining there too. It rained all the time we were on the road, just a mist but needing the wipers, and that is annoying at times. I was trying to snap pictures in between the wipers going back and forth. I am sorry that the quality of the pictures isn't as good today, but I was taking them through the windows. And if not from the window I was outside & it was so cloudy and dark they just didn't shine! But I did get a few to share so sit back and let's go to Nashville In.........

Driving on St Rd 446 toward Bloomington

Still on 446. I put these on for 2 reasons. So you would see what we saw, and to show you how pretty it is around Hardin Ridge. We see these hilly curvy roads whenever we go to Bloomington.

Now we are 46 towards Nashville, In.  The trees are just starting to turn in that area. We are further south at Hardin Ridge than Nashville is.

Sorry about the antenna in the photo. It was starting to rain harder so the pictures seem blurrier.

We're almost there.......You can see the brown sign (but you can't read it )

In downtown, on the street corners they have these hanging baskets and lanterns . The flowers were still very pretty.

Here are two shops. You can see that houses have been converted into stores. They always have them decorated for the Fall season. And some of their items for sale are hanging on porches.

I loved the name of this store, since I am fond of acorns. These rocking chairs and swings that they had for sale were just gorgeous. They were made with 2 different kinds of wood, we didn't look at the price...scared to :)

Here's the store we came for. I LOVE taffy and they make the best.

They must have at least 20 different kinds. We bought Cinnamon Swirl (for Art), Strawberry, Strawberry/Banana, and my favorite Vanilla.

We decided not to get any fudge. For some ODD reason it just didn't sound good. I know we must be sick. I guess we figured we would  consume enough calories with the taffy.

More store front decorations. The mums were just beautiful.

We went into a book store that we have visited before. We bought a book there a couple of years ago on how to cook on the open fire. We have used many of the recipes and thought we might find another book that struck our fancy,I did but too much money. Gee when did books get so pricey?? I did see this little book and just loved the cover. Reminds me of the squirrels and chipmunks in the park, scurrying to gather enough nuts for winter. The question makes you wonder what the book said doesn't it? Well for $12.95 you can find out. Nope! Think I will just come up with my own ideas. This did give me an idea for a blog though.....mmmmmm be thinking on that question. :)

I'm not sure that another nut is going to fit :)))

I mentioned the other day that I was on the hunt for the Pileated Woodpecker. I was warned that they are very skittish....so I thought just in case...

Not quite the same as getting a picture from your own camera. 

Now...people say our dogs are spoiled, this little guy was riding downtown Nashville in a Mercedes Benz, and he was riding tall. 

This is one of my favorite stores. They sell all kinds of cook ware, jellies, candles, candy, homemade brooms, and all kind of pottery. They have a restaurant here also and they sell the best fried biscuits, they serve them with honey, or apple butter mmm  mmm  good!!!!

Here is some of the pottery/crocks that they sell.

Remember in yesterday's blog I told you old timers used to boil Sassafras roots for tea. Well guess what you can buy at this store? I don't know if it would be good, but you could sure smell Sassafras in the store. They had Sassafras candy too.

Love this store too, however, you had better have lots of money to enter here!

We bought 2 lbs. Ha Ha Ha....just kidding. How about 1/4 lb. 

Ok if nuts aren't your thing,  how about these BIG feet? You could own these two lovely 'feet flower pots' for a measly $102! I'll bet you want a couple of pair right? And...that does NOT include the flowers.

Part two of the trip will be in tomorrow's blog. 
So from Hardin Ridge we send hugs and best wishes.

Campsites, ducks, and lakes...Fall color too.

It has rained, rained, rained here ALL day.  I love to hear it on the rv roof but not all day. I also like the sun shining through the windows. And not being able to get out and ride the golf cart or walk is disappointing. I did something to my ankle last night when coming into the trailer and when I got up in the middle of the night I couldn't bear any weight on it. Hurt alot. I think I pulled a ligament or tendon coming up the steps. Art was out cleaning sites and unloading wood and I put heat on it and tried to work the stiffness out. When Art got back he wrapped it  and that helped alot. (Sure is nice having your own EMT on hand) Tonight it feels almost normal, but haven't done many steps today, that probably helped the most.

We had such an exciting day, I think we slept most of it. We would wake up and talk for a while, be still, listen to the rain and then....(snoring) repeat x 3 :))  It was nice to have such a relaxing day. I have several photos I took over the past few days so I thought I would post them, they are so pretty and the tents in the trees look so natural.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy the Fall foliage. Oh and the other pictures too.

This is what we see outside our window when we sit at the table and eat.

Remember the picture a couple of blogs ago where the deer was looking over the pond? Well I found another creature looking over the same pond.

This one didn't run from me though.  :)

Hard to say much about the Fall colors just have to post a picture and let it speak for itself.

This is a Sassafras tree.  Old timers used to boil the roots in the spring to make tea, and drink it to thin their blood after a long winter. If you break open a twig, it smells soooo good.  

I am still trying to get my own photo of the beaver. Here is his house though, there were to many people down by the lake when I took this and I have been told you have to be very quiet to see him. One day I need to go down and sit on the beach and hope I get lucky.

I mentioned tents in campsites...well this one is a 'his' and 'hers'. Aren't they cute?

Or maybe this is parents one tent, children in another.

Definitely couldn't use this tent as camouflage. It stands out like WOW look at me!

I like how they coordinated the blue color in the accessories.

This one reminds me of a Hershey Kiss. Make a huge S'more wouldn't it??

Funny how some trees start turning and some remain green as spring.

Another unusual tent shape.  Love the blue.

This trailer caught my eye with the American Flag and a Marine Corp. Flag.

When Art and I went to Hardy Lake which is around 15 miles southeast of Seymour, In., I saw a sign that said church services. This is what I saw, I think this is so neat. Can't you just see an outside wedding here. Well you would have to have a small guest list.

Here is Hardy Lake, not as pretty as Lake Monroe but not as big either. However, I just love the look of lake shores.

Look at that blue sparkling water and clear blue sky!

Here is Lake Celina. This is another Forest of Cradle run park. It is in Southern In also. You are not too far from Kentucky when you are here.

This lake seemed a little more rustic. And it seemed cleaner.

There was Indian Lake also but we didn't look at it. This is the park entrance sign.

Shhh....can you hear this stream bubbling over the rocks? I did and it was amazing.

That little stream was in the Celina Recreation Area. Reminded me of a mountain stream. After we left Celina we drove on down to Spring Mill. In here at the lake were these ducks. I LOVE ducks! We have raised so many on our farm. They can be very entertaining on water, bobbing on their heads with their tail feathers in the air.

Ahh..no tail feathers here.

                   Now how many times do you find yourself sleeping like this? :)
 

Camper coming in for one of those beautiful sites....better hurry the season is almost over.
From Hardin Ridge we send hugs and best wishes.