Going For A Ride

by bill - 2024-12-14 18:22:33 ( in culture, writing, travel, usa) [php version] rebuild

I went for one of my weekend drives. I almost said Sunday drive, but it was a Saturday. Anyway, I brought our dog, Cleo, with me this time. I never used to, but nowadays I take her almost everywhere because she and our newly adopted Yorkshire terrier, Lily, don't like each other.

I'd been online just prior, looking at nearby houses on the market, just because. I found one south of here, in the town of Lynnville, that looked interesting. It was an excuse to get out of the house, if nothing else.

On the way down, I saw several separate flocks of turkeys in fields along Highway 431. The map program wanted me to head north and get on I-65 before heading south, but that seemed silly. Instead, I got straight to the point and took 431 south, a.k.a. Lewisburg Pike. Further down, we passed a field with horses, donkeys and alpacas. On the way back home, I saw a couple of emus among other farm animals. I did a double take. My first guess was ostriches, but I'm pretty sure they were emus. Cleo never saw any of that. She's not tall enough, but I told her all about them. And I'm such a good storyteller, she immediately plopped down on the seat beside me and closed her eyes.

I kept taking the more scenic of the map's suggested routes, and 10 miles from our destination, Cleo started whining. She even cried out a couple times. I asked her what was wrong, but she wasn't talking. I thought maybe she had to pee so bad she was about to burst. I knew she didn't have to poop because I'd walked her just an hour prior, but maybe she'd drunk a lot of water after that, I didn't know.

As soon as we got to Lynnville, on the north side of the town square there's a little parking lot next to the train station, or maybe it's a train museum. I don't think those trains are in use. UPDATE: Yep, it's a museum. I probably walked right past the sign and never read it.

Anyway, we parked and got out of the car. Cleo peed just a token amount -- you know, one of those Cleo-was-here squats -- and that was it. She was not in desperate need of a potty break, just extremely bored. Just like a little kid.

Central Lynnville is very quaint. Typical postcard little town. Click here, but we were there to check out that house for sale. Just another mile away, I turned left onto that street.

At the second house on that street just off the main road, they had a huge sign on their porch offering a million-dollar reward to help solve the murder of someone -- a smiling, handsome dark-haired man -- probably the former occupant of the house with the sign. It was sad, but also kind of creepy. I wouldn't want to move to a street where someone had been murdered. The people trying to sell the house at the end of the street probably wished they could take down that sign. And where did those people get a million dollars to award to anyone? If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't be living on such a cramped little street.

A few houses further down, the map app said "You have arrived" but we hadn't yet. For a second, I wasn't even sure the addresses went as high as the one we were looking for, but it was at the end of the street.

I recognized the house from the listing photos, though it looked a lot more cramped in person. Also, there was some scruffy little dog there to greet us. He wasn't in the online photos, either. Cleo never noticed. Too small to see out the windows, remember. I was hoping the dog belonged to someone who knowingly let it run loose. Not good, but hopefully not abandoned.

At Cleo's request, we took the Interstate home instead of the scenic route. It was almost her dinner time.