Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wednesday's Wander to the Wayside

I had to go to town today to pick up some prescriptions, so decided to take a few pictures. Nothing special, just things along the way.


I thought these statues were a thing of the past, but we are in the south. And I think that sometimes they're just displayed as an antique. Or not.

Everything is so brown here right now, so this patch of green moss really jumped out at me.

This is one of those photos that you really do have to enlarge to see what I was taking a picture of! It's an old homestead type place with the old-timey string of goards and a martin house. Both usually get taken over by the sparrows. And yes, I could use my zoom on some of these photos, but then you don't see the surrounding area!

Another one that needs to be enlarged. I love this place with the old barn. The horses hang out on this east side of the barn in the morning, and switch to the other side in the afternoon.

I get a kick out of some of the street signs around here. This is just a few, though some I passed were better (like Murphy's Law Lane) and I just couldn't get the other cars off my ass long enough to take a photo! Maybe I'll start paying more attention and make this a regular feature.




Our woods are mostly hard wood trees, so they lose their leaves in the winter, leaving a huge landscape of brown. But I thought this was kind of pretty.

These next photos are for Dana at Life is Good. She and her husband, Joe, are moving from Florida back to their home in Indiana (kicking and screaming the whole way), and will be driving to within fifteen minutes of our house. So, after some discussion as to whether either of us is an internet predator, they have decided to stop for a face-to-face meeting! They found a hotel at the interstate that takes pets (they have a recently rescued maltese, Beau), so I ran by there to check it out and see if it was a 'safe' area. I took lots of photos so they could see that it's nice looking, has plenty of dog walking area, is right across the parking lot from McDonald's and a Ruby Tuesday, etc.

I'm not going to say the name, because I don't want any googlers coming here wanting reservations, so I'll just say that last year it was a Rd Rf Inn, and now is a Qlty Inn.

This is the view behind the trees of the back edge of the hotel lot.

This is one of the driveways leading up to the hotel there on the left. Go right and there's the McDonalds.

This is the view from the driveway leading to McDonalds. Very well lighted, by the way. And plenty of room to walk Beau as the lot between them is grass and cleared.

Pretty much the same view but a different angle. That's Ruby Tuesday (my gosh they're expensive!) straight ahead on the left side. The interstate is right behind that.

This is the check-in area. Again, well lighted and very clean 'looking'. I only went in the lobby and didn't look at a room, but they were cleaning and it smelled and looked very clean - and not like one of those truck stop ratty looking places where you're afraid to go walk the dog after dark. It's $10 extra for a pet.

I'm really excited about this meeting, and look forward to it. We'll just play it by ear as to how much visiting we do (as they will obviously be exhausted after their long drive from Florida), or whether they feel up to coming to my house. I'm sure we'll be posting photos, so stay tuned at the end of February! Anyone else coming down I-75 between Atlanta and Chattanooga, give me a shout out!
I can't leave without sharing one of my cloud photos! It looked like a giant space ship!

16 comments:

glnroz said...

I enjoy the rural area photos. I need to post some from around here, I suppose. Most people think of Texas as cactus and desert. lol

My Aimless Infatuation said...

I always enjoy your photos,the street sign post are a great idea,there are some really funny ones around here too. I know you all will have such a fun visit when Dana and Joe drop by......I'm jealous.

Bernie said...

What do you mean nothing special, these pictures are great.
I am impressed with your brown grass ours is completely white with more snow on the way.
Loved viewing your area through your lens......:-) Hugs

Rosaria Williams said...

These are my favorite pictures. Lovely.

Midlife Roadtripper said...

Oh, it does look like a spaceship, coming to take us away. Always interests me to see the creativity in photos chosen. The street signs. I would never have thought to look at those. And then, I remember the autumn leaf landscapes you took a couple months ago. I was thinking "brown" just as I read it.

And gourds. I grew them in my garden one year. The most beautiful things I think I've ever grown. Bumper crop and good intentions to put them to good use. Like that every happens.

Thanks for this photo essay. Enjoyed it. Let us know how the visit goes. And just think what those trees will look like in Spring.

Jeanie said...

Your photos were great to see. There is something pretty in itself about winter time trees. I have noticed some interesting street signs also...I always want to know the history of how the streets were named.
How fun that you get to meet a blog friend and so nice that you did such a thorough check of their accomodations. Please give us a report on the visit.

Unknown said...

I love that you get this open expanse of nature to walk in! Especially loved the brown forest, and the UFO cloud, and the area around the hotel. And the surprise of a cactus growing in the middle of winter in Georgia on Sidekick Lane!

Lila (pronounced LEE-la) said...

I love the brown winter scenes, especially here in the mountains of Western NC, where new vistas open up when the leaves fall. As for street names, one of the great things about living way of town is that when you build your house on a road that has no name yet, YOU get to choose the name. I like when they choose something creative instead of just naming it after themselves.

Ginger said...

I always love seeing your driving pictures of your area. I like the first picture...something about that really speaks to me.
How lucky you are that you get to meet Dana and Joe. Give them a hug for me. The hotel looks like a nice safe place and lots of room to walk Beau.
Don't you hate that when the road can be empty until you try to slow down and take a picture and then the cars start lining up behind you? Never fails.

ethelmaepotter! said...

Oooh, I love these photos! That first small barn - wonder what it's purpose is, or was? Too small for anything I can imagine, and what is that large stone building in the background?
The black jockey made me laugh - just the other day, on All In the Family, Archie Bunker received one as a gift, and, in typical Archie fashion, said, "It's a shrunken colored guy." Hard to believe people still display these things, isn't it?
Great post!

Anonymous said...

All this time, and I finally find a friend willing to take such investigative photos for our trip home. That motel looks SO NICE!! We won't have to worry about our car being emptied of our life's trash.....hmmmmmm....maybe we'll leaved the car door's open.

I wouldn't mind LIVING at that motel! McDonals!? I'll have to stay in the room with Beau and Joe can bring me my beloved Big Mac.

I promise you that no friendly blogger, or members of her family, will be brutally murdered in the making of this memory.

Or is that what ALL axe murderers say...........

Timoteo said...

Such a charming area where you live...quaint rural America is alive and well.

Girl Tornado said...

Neat cloud.. it DOES look like a big ole spaceship! ;)

It's great to meet fellow bloggers... funny thing, Dana just commented on my blog the other day, so I just now went to her blog right before I came to your blog! I didn't know you guys knew each other - how cool is that? Pretty coincidental.

Looks like a nice Quality Inn. Hope there's no bedbugs. *wink*

Donna B. said...

Save travels Joe and Dana and Linda, what a trooper and good friend you are to investigate where they will stay and rest. I am sure that gave them one less thing to have to think about. Loved the Street Signs, like I like your old buildings...

Wendy said...

Love all those street sign photos!

Also, the lawn jockey thing isn't just in the south. Our neighbors have one (and as you know, we live in Denver). They are Baptist, though, so that might be the connection.

Ridiculous.

Mary@Holy Mackerel said...

Love the cloud photo, and the other pics as well. Gorgeous out where you live. I can't wait until the snow disappears and we have grass again! Thanks for sharing.