MishisM

I spent this past weekend in Indiana, at the MCBA Nationals (chinchilla show). I had a grand old time; didn’t show, but did a lot of schmoozing with other ranchers trying to glean as much information I can. Also, I came home with about 400lbs of feed and supplies. My trunk was riding pretty low.

The best part of the trip though, I think, was the getting there. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a proper road trip to places I hadn’t been before. Key West this past winter was a pretty big trek, but I don’t know, it was so scheduled and LONG (hello, 14 hour drive, and that was just to Daytona) that the motoring end of it really wasn’t that enjoyable.

But once I got off the Ohio turnpike and took back roads through to Auburn, Indiana, my love of driving seemed renewed. I got stopped by a couple freight trains – something that rarely pauses drivers these days since most roads are now built over tracks. I saw a lot of homes with propane gas tanks. I saw families out in the yard, playing with their dogs. I even saw a fox, totally unfazed by my auto’s passing as he pounced on a bit of earth.

Every time I drive through on back roads like these, I get a quick picture of what life is like for the people who live there, an Americana that is so foreign to me that it appears marvelous.

Damn these gas prices, making my favorite hobby so unaffordable! I really miss being out on the road, but at least I have the York show coming up in a couple weeks, and Plymouth, Ohio next month. =)