Nice day for a road trip

Took a ride 30 miles west to Jo Daviess Co. Illinois where I grew up/ lived there 40 years. Like to take some back roads through Apple River Canyon St. Park and along the river. Past some windmills, bridge was out at the park but couldn't get a pict. because of cars behind me. Heard the July flood tore up some bridges and there was random piles of river gravel all over. Wife showed me a Facebook video of the old iron bridge with water just below the deck but it stayed put, south side of the next bridge down is gone- it's about a mile from the farm I grew up on, good bass fishing hole above the bridge, used to ride my bike down, bridge was probably built in the early 50s. Pict. with the little shed used to have a saw mill powered by a W something Farmall, maybe a 6, set there for ever, don't know where it went-center of next pic. left of the trees is a machine shed roof and two silos- home farm. Then on RT.20 east, since they widened it it's a lot safer and faster but no where to pull off on the ridges to snap a pict. like there used to be. Then I stopped at the farm, nephew farms it now-- I wanted to see the pond he built probably 8 or 10 years ago. He wasn't there so I walked down to it. He's a busy guy with three semi trucks plus farming. He's got a young gal for a partner and they got two farms rented together, got cows and calves all over and I think she's in charge of the cows and what they feed them for a ration. Always like this old barn, all that's left of an old farmstead, barn gets a new roof next year. was shocked to see some old horse machinery down there, I was supposed to clean that all up over 50 years ago. He built the pond himself, moved the creek and straightened it, had a pipe shoved in the spring crossing the creek and into the pond until the cows knocked it down. He was back from hauling some cows when I got done but they had to go do something on another farm. Only picture I took there was the two silos I hated so bad. Had a lot of equipment setting around, an IH1456, 2 or 3 Masseys, a John Deere, nice looking dozer, couple semis, think one was on the road. And on the way home I saw this Caravan of Dodges, all looked like the same model, Challenger maybe, don't know, must of been over 50 of them. They pulled in behind me and followed about 20 miles until I turned off.

gab- Thanks a lot....I enjoyed the ride.

Thanks for the pictures!!!

I was just over that way Saturday afternoon. I bought a set of tires from a fellow in Scales Mound. I made the mistake of going through Galena going over and got stuck in a bunch of tourists. Took me an half an hour to get through there. So I came home on Council Hill road.

So we where not too far apart. LOL

Half hour ain't bad to get through Galena on a weekend, wife and daughter talked me in to going to the fall craft show with them a few years ago. Couldn't take a full step in any direction without getting stepped on or hit with a baby carriage. I've been to Scales Mound many times, about ten miles north and even to Council Hill a time or two. If we go to Dubuque from where we live now we go across above Apple River and Scales Mound through New Diggins , Hazel Green and come out above East Dubuque.

nice pictures, do you get paid from the electric co to have all those windmills on ones farm and if so how much and how deep do they put the lines under ground?

Ha-Ha... Galena is a really nice little town, but a good place to AVOID this time of year. Seems like half the midwest goes there on fall foliage tours in the fall. Wife and I drove into a SEVEN mile traffic backup south of town one Sunday morning in the early 1980's. Spent two hours trying to get thru town in about 1974-1975 on a college field trip. Having lived in rural Freeport for 2-1/2 years 30 years ago I know too many ways around the congestion now.

Kenny is a good guy and a good neighbor- you were about a half mile from my house, it's just down at the bottom of Fahrion Road.

Don't know what they get paid but think it's pretty good, also have no idea about the lines. Those towers are about 15 miles west of me. When they were built there was another wind farm planed out. The northern end of it was to be just on top of the hill west of me and go southwest but the people around here raised so much hell they must of forgot about it.

You're right, him and his brother and sister were all good kids. Do you live on the farm on the hill side to the north and a hair east?

That's me. Gray house on the hill, pine trees and sheep in the front yard.