Road Tripping to Chamois

Tommy and I love to 'road trip'.  Jump in the car and drive somewhere we have never been,  just to see what is there. We do this a lot and intend to do it more since the price of gas has dropped over the past few months.

This week we went to Chamois, Mo.  Tommy went with Jody a few weeks ago. Since that trip he has wanted me to go and see the 'sights' for myself. Sounded good to me!

I collect all sorts of things.  One of my favorite hobbies is taking photos of old houses and barns, in various states of decline. To spend time in places with a history, or a story to tell. Buildings that once housed families and barns that held their animals and supplies. I just let my imagination roam freely and soak up it's history.

                
This old house was in the middle of a field of corn.  A patch of ground had been thoughtfully cleared around it.  Trees grew up  inside the old house, forcing their way through the old boards, and the rusty tin roof to freedom on the outside.

It is probably the old home place.  The new generation to inherit the farm, didn't want to part with the past. They left it as a reminder of people who loved them and left them the land.  In my imagination at one time this was a lovely home.  Two stories tall, with a fireplace in the middle for heat. Heat that never completely reached the rooms up stairs. There is a double porch, sagging and ready to fall with the next windstorm or growth of the tree. The porch seems misplaced. I wonder if it extended more toward the middle of the house and the tree had already claimed that area, causing the porch to split in half. I will never know but it was an idea to explore and to imagine.

When we stumbled on this piece of history, we were in the middle of a huge S curve, with no place to turn around.  Finally we found a goat path, turned the car around, driving slowly so we wouldn't miss the entrance, an old dirt road from 100 years ago.

Driving past one corn field and venturing into the next we came to the old house.  The farm house is surrounded by huge shade trees.  Isolated in the midst of massive corn rows.

 As hot as it was that day, I walked toward the house. While standing in the shade of the oak and maple trees it was a least 10 degrees cooler. A breeze was blowing. Even though the air was hot,  filled with the smell of growing corn and rotting wood, I had the feeling I was not the first person to enjoy this breeze. To stand here and appreciate the hardships generations before us endured.

The dilapidated house had several chimneys. The door to the entrance of the home was open. The old screen door was closed, however the screen was in such a state of decline, it might as well have been open too. Trees were also growing from the inside out. Through  windows and pushing hard against the roof.  From the side view, I could see the kitchen area in the back. Foliage had taken over this area. It was not about to give up it's secrets to a stranger.  I walked off and left it to its memories.  They weren't mine to share anyway.

I live 10 miles, 7 as the crow flies, from a nuclear power plant. We had crossed 2 rivers, the Missouri and the Gasconade and still at one point the future was staring us in the face. It did not fit in with what I was seeing that day. The plant it is a waving reminder that time does not stand still.  Change will come.


We were traveling part of the Lewis and Clark Trail. The road looked like it had been paved by an asphalt snake. I am glad they left the roads curvy and sharp. We have enough interstates.


When we crossed the Gasconade River, there were birds flying everywhere. In my pictures they look like small black dots or mistakes. Far from it, they were interesting to watch. We also saw a family swimming in the river. They hadn't ventured out too far from the banks.  That is something I would never do in the Missouri River.  The river is one of our favorite places to fish. I have yet to be there when a under current  didn't explode a huge tree at least 30 feet long and 4 feet around up out of the water and fling it like it was a small branch. Racing along about 30 miles an hour, only to suck it back under the water. Waiting to erupt somewhere down the line. 

It looks peaceful, flowing easy and steady. I wonder what Lewis and Clark thought when they saw her for the first time? They were probably thrilled, finally they could put those boats down, they had been forced to carry through the woods and steep hills. What an adventure that would have been!  To see America as She was originally.

This barn caught my attention. I don't think it is all that old, I just liked how it looked.  It is not in the best of condition but it might be usable. It too, was in the middle of a corn field.


Soon it was time for our return trip, more photos were taken. Mostly of the old barns. However we did see a doe and her fawn in the middle of the road. The photo is blurry but it is the first time I have been able to catch them on film.  I am so proud of this less than perfect photo.

If you close one eye and squint, and let your imagination fill in the blanks, then you can see Mama and the baby cross the road.

I can't go any where without finding a mirror image and a perfect tree.  First the tree, I took shots of it from all directions. The one I like best turned out to be the one with poison ivy growing up it.  Who knew???
                                                          

                         
 This was taken at a little pond, somewhere not far from the road. I had a wonderful day tromping through the weeds, slipping back to  the past for a few hours.  However, next time I must remember not to wear flip flops!!  When a wander goes exploring, they need to take care of their feet as well as capture their version of the past.